Brookvalley Farm Blog: Today's Lens (08/08/14)

Today, we start out at Brookvalley Farm, but then travel once again to Merli-Sarnoski Park for a change of scenery before coming back to the farm. I had a nice, though brief, visit with my neighbor who works at the park (around here, neighbors can be anywhere from a few acres to a few miles away - this one is right up the road, and though I see him in passing [usually in our cars], I seldom get to chat), and then took a quiet walk along the shore before heading back on a different path just to see where it led.

As always, if you’d like to comment on individual photos, please visit the Today’s Lens Photo Library.

This is a look at Powell Pond from the BVF homestead yesterday afternoon.

The water was so calm; the reflections were incredible!

If there are any foxes (I just spent ten minutes looking that up because I had learned in grade school that the plural of fox is fox, just as the plural of deer is deer, but it appears that I was misinformed, and the correct plural of fox is foxes--just in case you experience the same intellectual melt down that I just did) or coyotes around this year, they're not visiting BVF or the surrounding area very frequently; the rabbit population is like nothing I've seen before. This little one, and several of its brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends can be found hanging around the barn, house, fields, paths, streams, heck, they can be found everywhere!

I have heard several blue birds calling in the woods, but I very seldom see any. This one looks to be young and fuzzy yet, so with any luck there will be more around to increase my chances of seeing them.

I'm not even sure why I stopped to take this photo, other than to check my exposure settings. Sometimes I look at it and really like it, and other times I'm not sure what I was thinking.

This cute little hummingbird did a fly-by right near my left ear. It's amazing how loud their wings are when they get that close. This is a female ruby-throated hummingbird, and you'll notice, as with most female birds, she lacks the colorfulness of the males (no ruby throat for this girl).

This bee was enjoying the Eutrochium (Joe-Pye weed) flowers along with several of her friends. I believe it's a carpenter bee, but I'm not sure. If anyone knows of a good website for bee identification, please let me know. I've tried to find one, but always end up browsing through Google images until I find what I hope is the correct one.

A blooming lily.

Can you see it?

How about now?

This bull frog hung out in this position for quite some time.

Or, maybe this is better?

I was even able to walk around and get this image from the front.

This chipmunk thought it was hiding, but I knew better! And, now you do too.

A sunning turtle. Right after I snapped this, he slid into the water.

And, almost immediately, this bull frog took his place.

A view of the swampy end of the lake, and most likely the area of the lake that earned it its previous name of "Mud Pond."

There are so many interesting little things to see in this world. We just have to take the time to notice.

There were a lot of ripe blueberries around the lake. The birds will be feasting soon.

If you've never been in the woods to hear an acorn fall, I highly recommend you take a walk and listen. It is almost unimaginable how loud these little things sound when they fall.

An early fall? Gosh, I hope not!

For whatever reason, this mushroom caught my eye. Does anyone know how to tell the poisonous one from the edible ones? If so, can you teach me?

As happy as this fly seems to be at discovering blooming golden rod, I dread it. Any allergy sufferer will feel my pain when I say that this is the worst part of the end of summer and coming of fall.

This is where we'll leave Merli-Sarnoski Park and head back to the farm.