Elk Knob State Park, NC
We returned to Elk Knob State Park, NC – this time with some decent weather. It was clear enough that we got a nice view from the top of the mountain. Here’s a few random things I saw along the way as well as the view from the top!
Scorpion fly feeding on a dead caterpillar on the leaf of a fern, Elk Knob State Park, NC
Agelenopsis sp. female in funnel web at Elk Knob State Park, NC
A bumblebee on a flower at the top of Elk Knob State Park, NC
(Click photo to enlarge) The southern view from the top of Elk Knob State Park, NC – panorama consists of seven photos stitched together
Peek-a-boo
I was out hiking the other day looking for harvestmen and spiders, but almost every large rock I turned yielded a salamander! Here’s one of the little guys hiding in some leaves.
A salamander from western North Carolina
The above image is actually a stack of two photos to get the depth of field I wanted on the face of this salamander.
Waterfalls of Glen Burney
Last Sunday, despite the gloomy weather forecast of 50% chance of rain all day, we decided to head out and hike the Glen Burney Trail along a small stream near Blowing Rock, NC. Its a great little 3 mile hike that visits several different falls along the way. I decided to get my feet wet, literally, to get some of these shots of the falls from various angles.
Glen Burney Falls along the Glen Burney Trail
Glen Burney Falls along the Glen Burney Trail
Glen Burney Falls along the Glen Burney Trail
Glen Marie Falls along the Glen Burney Trail
Glen Marie Falls along the Glen Burney Trail. I selectively removed all colors except green for an artistic effect. Original shown above.
Full Moon
I have a new found interest in astrophotography…lately I’ve been reading a lot about it. I really enjoy photographing the night sky, however it is not an easy task! I don’t have any great pictures of the stars just yet, but I’m working on it (when the weather cooperates). So I thought I’d share a photo of the waxing gibbous moon from a few days ago and one of the full moon that was visible two nights ago. I never invested in a telescope…but I’m adding it to the wish list now.
Waxing gibbous moon observed on 7/27/2012 from Boone, NC. Shot at 135 mm and cropped.
Full moon observed on 8/1/2012 from Boone, NC. Shot at 135 mm and cropped.
The truth about daddy longlegs
The arachnid order Opiliones has several common names in English including daddy longlegs, grand daddy longlegs and harvestmen. I have many wonderful things to share with you regarding the natural history of Opiliones so I’m going to post it in a series of about five posts. Here is the first fun fact to whet your appetite. Keep an eye out for the others very soon!
Longlegs fact #1: Daddy longlegs are NOT spiders.
They are also not insects. So what are they? Well, I’m glad you asked. Daddy longlegs are arachnids belonging to the order Opiliones. The subclass Arachnida includes spiders, scorpions, mites/ticks, daddy longlegs, and several smaller groups, all of which belong to different orders. So daddy longlegs are distantly related to spiders, but are actually more closely related to scorpions!
These incredible arachnids are easily overlooked, as they are most active at night and many species are very secretive in their behavior. Here’s a few examples of species from Costa Rica:
Prionostemma sp. feasting upon what remains of an insect
Cynorta marginalis eating an earthworm as a second individual sneaks up.
Poecilaemula signata (male) with enlarged chelicerae
The orange harvestman, an undescribed species
For more arachnid photos see my Arachnid gallery.
Appalachian Golden Hour
Since I moved about 6 weeks ago, I have been exploring some new great locations to photograph the sunrise and sunset here in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. Yesterday, I found a great spot for both the sunrise and sunset and I was lucky enough to have something more than a grey, overcast sky (as lately it seems there is a 50% chance of rain all day, every day). I hope to continue this series of posts as I discover more great places to photograph the landscape here in the High Country of North Carolina.
Sunrise on Blue Ridge Parkway
Above: A view of the sunrise from an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
Sunset in Boone, North Carolina
In addition to capturing some nice colors in the sky, I also took a few nice macros of a bumblebee on a thistle with a red sky in the background. With and without flash.
Bumblebee on a thistle
Silhouette of a thistle with bumblebee
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