Photos by
Roger Powell
Blog

2011-07-03 wildlife
Snake Hunt
Every summer around the beginning of July, we go down to the Blackstone Canal to look for water snakes. They seem to come out of the water and spend a lot of time basking on the banks at this time of year. Of course, we're also happy to see other kinds of wildlife as well.


Fritillary on Swamp Milkweed



Painted Turtle



Garter Snake



Canal Bench



Damp Muskrat



Water Snake in Grass
2010-04-24 landscapes
April Flowers Bring Big Shovels
Late April brings a carpet of flowers and, sometimes, broken water pipes and excavation equipment.


Phlox



Dig It



Shovel Ready


And even though the flowers are up and blooming like crazy, vegetables are just getting started with a little artificial climate adjustment.


Coldframe
2010-03-28 architecture
Chair
Here's this month's Pretentious Fine Art Photograph (TM) - the light was just too interesting to pass up:


Chair
2009-11-15 domestics
Western Massachusetts
Here are some pics from a short vacation in Western Massachuestts - the B & B where we stayed, and some scenes from a fiber farm. I particularly like the morning light on the breakfast table.

Spinning Wheel



Breakfast Table


Curious Donkey

Millstone



White Llama
2009-10-07 landscapes
Midwest Landscapes
There's something very restful about Midwest landscapes. They're so unpretentious; just acres and acres of rolling fields under the sweep of rolling clouds. A few trees on the horizon. A red barn here and there to break up the monotony. Nothing to cause the viewer any anxiety.

Wisconsin Soybeans


Illinois Wind Farm


Cloudy Skies
2009-07-05 wildlife
A Sunny Day (finally!)
At last, a sunny day! A day like this calls for a walk through the Audubon sanctuary. Let's hope this is the start of a trend!

The big snapping turtle was still there, he hasn't moved from the spot where I photographed him last month, wrinkled snout poking into the air. Some of the other visitors were expressing uncertainty as to whether he was really a turtle, or something else ("... an alligator? A dinosaur?"). I didn't bother photographing him again, because it would have just been the same photo on a different day.


Dragonfly on Water Lily





Bumblebee on Pickerelweed



Swan Siesta



Turtle Trio
2009-06-28 wildlife
Snakes Alive
Today we took our annual outing to the Blackstone Canal to look for snakes. We met our quota, seeing four northern water snakes and a garter snake. The canal is a herpetologist's wet dream, teeming with snakes and turtles. We also saw one intensely cute, but probably doomed, solitary duckling that seemed to have lost its mother. We wanted to take it home, but Nike would devour it even quicker than the snakes and turtles.


Napping water snake



Not the same snake



Lost duckling



Portage



Painted Lady
2009-06-22 wildlife
Midsummer Wildlife
Yesterday, on the first day of summer, we went for a walk through the nature preserve. Here's what we saw:


Balloons



Wrinkled Snout



Standing Heron


Happy Summer to all!