your moment of zen (some nature photos I've taken this month)

[peacebird]

[geckosfeet]

1. Thanks. What are the flowers? Looks like some type of orchid.

[peacebird]

3. Good eye! They are Showy Orchis, a beautiful woodland orchid!

[geckosfeet]

8. Very nice. Are you on the west coast? We get the pink Layslippers here in the east.

Similar foliage but the flower is a bit different. Blooms this time of year.

[peacebird]

9. East Coaster myself! - here's a photo of a pink Ladyslipper I took the same day!

I'm out near Charlottesville Virginia.

[geckosfeet]

10. Ah. You are farther south. I am in MA. We only get the Lady Slippers.

Have not seen any of the other variety in the wild.

[dgibby]

12. Thank you for posting this.

I grew up in western Va (Clifton Forge) in the Alleghany Mountains. We used to go out into the woods every spring to enjoy all the wildflowers, and these pictures bring back very nice memories.

:hug: :hi:

[a la izquierda]

2. thanks for these...

i love owls, though that picture is a little creepy :)
i needed a little pick me up this morning. it's sad when you wake up on a sunday morning, and pretty much the only thing your blessed to have is a roof over your head because stress is clawing at you.
i need to take more pictures.

[WhiteTara]

4. you are in the hands

of the Goddess. You can not fall. Your (our) task is to stay grounded in the center of our own being. :hug:

[a la izquierda]

7. Thank you

:hug:

[peacebird]

5. that beautiful Barred Owl sat serenely as we walked right up by his tree!

He was HUGE, close to 2ft tall. So serene, utterly implacable. He flew in, picked a perch and then just calmly allowed us to approach. He was awesome.
I find going out into nature calms me down and centers me. I hope you can find peace there.
:hug:

[a la izquierda]

6. I know what I need to do...

and your pictures reminded me: go mountain bike. When I get stressed, I go ride deep into the woods and ride.
Thanks. It's been an odd, very stressful few weeks.

[cilla4progress]

18. 9 mile mountain bike yesterday

with my husband! Pretty good for this 55-yr. old lady! I agree about nature...it's sometimes the only solace. I've started a poem about water. All the rushing water we saw... mountain streams (Cascade Mtns. / Pacific NW) just made me think of that other oily water in the Gulf. I am so thankful to be here, but so distracted and bereft about that water there, and the lives - esp. wild - going down with it. Only thing I could think to do was send a little $$ to a non-profit there. Wish there was more I could do...

[a la izquierda]

21. Not bad at all!

I'm in training for the MS 150 road ride, so mountain biking gives my butt and brain a break. Road biking can get monotonous, but scary at the same time (gotta watch out for idiot country drivers that don't care for cyclists). Mountain biking requires one to constantly pay attention, so when I'm stressing out about the fact that my husband's bitch of a former boss denied his unemployment claim (and we subsequently blasted through my savings and now are positively struggling to get by)or; having a panic attack about my dissertation and the job market, I can get out on my mountain bike and if I stop paying attention to the trail, I crash into a tree.
Nature will make you pay, that way.

[cilla4progress]

25. Cool!

I know what you mean...my husband told me we were going to "ride" back down the ridge to our house. Between the hummocks and the grade, we had to "walk" the bikes down! Horses do the same for me...keep me in the moment. I think my physiology needs this to retain some shred of sanity! ('Cause I find myself doing it an awful lot... :) I figure it must be healing.)

[hlthe2b]

13. that is an amazing photo...

[NNN0LHI]

11. Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing. I like wildlife photos a lot

Here is Mr. Red Fox in my back yard last year:

?t=1274624632

Here is a Blue Heron I seen in front of my house last year:

?t=1274624675

On a side note when I was walking down to the beach last night with my dog she real quick snatched up a Toad that looks just like the one in your photo. She dropped it faster than she picked it up though. They must excrete some kind of bad tasting stuff when they get attacked because my dog couldn't get that thing out of her mouth fast enough. She started foaming at the mouth and everything. The Toad hopped off no worse for the wear. I think my dog got the bad end of that deal.

Don

[alfredo]

14. Excellent. If you want to see more nature photos go to our

Photography Group.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=280

Join in if you wish. We do not bite.

((updated to add link))

[NNN0LHI]

16. Didn't even know we had a Photography Group

We have everything.

I will be stopping in there. Thanks for the tip.

Don

[alfredo]

17. Yeah, join us! That forum has made

me a better photographer.

A call for submission:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8397270

[peacebird]

23. Wow! I did not know we had a photo group! Thanks for the tip!

I will check it out!
:hi:

[alfredo]

26. You don't need to be a pro. The whole reason is to share and learn.

[lunatica]

15. I encountered an owl just like that

It would fly further ahead of me down the path and showed me that they really don't make any noise when they fly. It was magical. Not even a whisper

[peacebird]

24. Wonderful, isn't it, to be given the chance to see such a creature in it's habitat?

[woo me with science]

19. Love them. nt

[voteearlyvoteoften]

20. I vote for the owl picture

Love the glowy eyes

[H2O Man]

22. Recommended.

I've encountered more toads this spring than I have in many years. I consider that a positive sign.