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Common Buckeye

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:24:36 -0800

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Just a reminder of summer on this cool November day.
A common Buckeye balancing on wildflowers in Virginia. Taken on a day when several records were broken when the temperature reached 98f in mid September.

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you.

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:25:10 -0800

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A section of the Shenandoah River as it runs through Shenandoah NP. Mostly the river is wide and flowing quite gently (see below). But here a ridge runs across the river making a small weir. The sun glinted off the the water and the sound of the water gurgled and rustled as it became agitated.
It was so idyllic and spellbinding.
I have taken the title from the old folk song 'Oh, Shenandoah'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etC59HVD-tg

Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:45:59 -0800

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The Blue Ridge Mountains seen from the Range View Overlook on the Skyline Trail in Virgina.
This scene taken at sundown, looking south, typifies the blue hazy effect of this wonderful area. The trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.
The Skyline Trail is in the Shenandoah NP and joins with the Blue Ridge Parkway as it winds its way south through some spectacular countryside.

White Costas

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:54:23 -0700

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Seen in Indonesia this plants' local name is "White Costas" but I don't know its botanical name. It is similar to the Ginger flowers but any ID help would be much appreciated.
The bright red cone contrasts beautifully with the white flower emerging from its crown. The white flower starts as a bud, there is already a second flower starting next to the open one. Then once open it lasts just one day before collapsing and falling off.

Monticello

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 06:30:10 -0700

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The home of Thomas Jefferson, the third US President and the author of the Declaration of Independence. He designed and built this house in the late 1700's. It is a few miles south of Charlottesville, Virginia set on top of a small hill overlooking woodland. It's styling is based on Italian architecture and Monticello in Italian means "Little Mountain"
He was an amazing and forward looking inventor too and this house still has many of his ideas inside it. Although he used slaves to help run the estate he did offer them better conditions in which to work and reside. The estate was self providing and also provided for the local area as well.

Sunset tree

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:56:53 -0700

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A bare tree reaches for the evening sky as the last of the sunset disappears over the horizon.
This was taken at the Browntown Valley Overlook, looking west, on the Skyline Drive in Virginia, USA. Part of the Blue Ridge Parkway the Skyline Drive runs through the Shenandoah National Park.

Street Art

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:57:37 -0700

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On a recent trip to Denver, Colorado we visited a street art competition which covered a 2 block area of the lower downtown zone. We could only get there shortly after the start of the event and many artists were just laying out their pitches. This young lady however was well into her work, see below, and had already completed part of the piece. It is all chalk work and the creation soon expands as she rubs in the colors to her laid out framework.
It was amazing to see the beauty of the various scenes being created by these special types of artists. I left the area wishing that there was no rain over the two days of the competition.

Lotus Flower

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:32:08 -0700

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A Lotus flower starts to re-open after a storm had passed by.
It was quite mind blowing watching this single flower's actions. Before the storm it was open and facing skywards, see below, but once the rain started it began to close up. Gradually it lowered and moved under one of the large green leaves that formed the basis of the plant. It sheltered under the leaf until the rain stopped and then reversed the process. It took it about 10 minutes to move from the open position to being closed and sheltered.
I wish I had a time lapse set up on the camera to record it, (and a dry place to stand with the camera). Quite fascinating.

Bee on a Sunflower

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:40:04 -0700

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I thought I would get deep into nature this weekend, but with no car I couldn't go far!!
So I dropped into a sunflower and captured this pollen covered Bee doing its thing.

Snowy Egret

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:41:31 -0800

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Balancing on a fence by an estuary into the ocean this Snowy Egret looks for food.
Captured in Santa Barbara, CA.

Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife

A frosty Cauldon Canal

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 04:58:59 -0800

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A 2 day freezing fog left most of the trees covered in a heavy hoar frost. When the fog cleared and the sun came out a new level of beauty was on show.
Taken in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England during my recent trip there.
The Cauldon Canal was one of the main sources of moving finished pottery wares from the factories in the 1800's If you own Royal Doulton, Spode, Minton or Wedgewood it was probably made in this city.
My first image with my new P & S - a Sony DSC W330 Cyber-shot. Still cannot use my DSLR due to my shoulder injury.

Gull on a low fly past

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:27:18 -0800

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What I could be a California Gull (thanks Maureen) or a Western Gull (thanks Nathan) skims the surface of the calm water in the harbor at Ventura Beach CA.
The tips of its wings just kiss the water as it moves effortlessly in search of food.

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Marbled Godwit

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 14:43:03 -0800

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One of the many shore birds I saw when I was in California in 2009.
I'm having to rely on archives due to a shoulder injury. So be prepared for more images from my trips.

Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife

Red Rocks Ampitheater

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:06:33 -0700

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Probably one of the coolest places to stage a concert. The Red Rocks Amphitheater just outside Denver, Colorado is set in a natural bowl surrounded by megalithic rocks. These rocks enhance the accoustics so dramatically. The rock formation above, called Creation Rock, is to the right when looking from the stage. An almost identical one named Ship Rock, is to the left.
This link gives some great details about the site.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rocks_Amphitheatre
Below you can see the setting with the stage at the left end of the road and right in the center of the three rocks. The view from the stage must be stunning with a full house. Most of the worlds top rock bands have played here over the last 40 years as have many top artists from all genres of music.
Sadly for me there were no concerts planned within the time of my visit. The weather that day, although taken in June, was cold and snowy with a heavily clouded sky. Just the odd breaks allowed a little blue sky.

Willow Tree

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:33:39 -0700

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A Willow tree by the River Thames shows its Fall colors as the green changes to yellow. A bright day emphasizes the emerging hues and shows the park to perfection.
There are some 20+ kms of mixed use trails alongside the river, a great hiking area without too much elevation change.

Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:56:28 -0700

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An archive shot from my Colorado trip in June. The foreground shows the entrance way into the Garden of the Gods park with its Gateway rocks standing proud. In the background is Pikes Peak, a 14,000'+ mountain towering over the town of Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods.

Ritchie Falls

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:43:44 -0700

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Ritchie Falls is a series of three falls with heights of 10, 5 and 1 feet per section. This image taken from below the third hardly shows the highest fall but gives the scenery better. The sound of the whole Falls area was quite remarkable. From the rush of the higher falls to the gentle splash of the lower one blended with the peace of the forest surrounding the river.

Fast water

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:46:16 -0700

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A section of the Gull River popular with "white water" enthusiasts in their kayaks. The fall colors are fading rapidly after several cool nights but the bright sunlight helped to brighten the remaining colors.

Clark's Nutcracker

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:39:37 -0700

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An archive image of a Clark's Nutcracker. Their long pointed bill enables them to to feed on pine nuts. They tend to walk rather than hop when on the ground. Very distinctive & contrasting Black/White/Gray plumage when flying.

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Line through Byers Canyon

nobody@flickr.com (deegs) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:39:37 -0700

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View in LARGE for a better view.
The Colorado River's head source is only a few miles east from Byers Canyon but already it is a fast flowing river.
The Denver & Rio Grande Western line follows the twisting river as it hugs the rocky mountainside. I had hoped to capture a train going through but a small rock fall had blocked the line. While the track crew cleared the debris I drove further down the line.
I drove past this train when it was stationary waiting to go through the canyon. It was 2.4 kms (1.5 miles) long and each of the hoppers was full of ore. It needed 7 engines ~ 2 at the front, 2 at the rear and 3 in the middle ~ to move it.
Once it re-started I made a mad dash to get back to this spot before the train arrived. I made it by about three minutes, still hurriedly setting up the tripod as the first engines came into view.