Random
Pictures
from December 2007
- January 2008
Frozen Waterfalls(01/27/08) Melting Ice(01/24/08) Moss(01/24/08) Downy Woodpecker(01/24/08) The Arc de Triomphe(01/19/08) Roadrunners and Kingfishers (01/19/08) Sunset and Fog (01/12/08) Chipmunk (01/11/08) Sharp-Shinned Hawk?
(1/11/08) I think this is the Sharp-Shinned Hawk but I am not 100% sure. This thing was perched right above our house. I think it was trying to have a little bird meal but my dog who was going nutzo barking at it eventually scared it off. It was shrieking the whole time as it flew away. Bald
Eagles (1/5/08) We went back to
check on a couple of resident bald eagles and saw 3 out of 4 (the
mom/dad and one of the nearly 1 year old juveniles) Quadrantid
Meteor Shower (1/3/08) SNOW! (12/26/07) Frost
Flowers (12/25/07)
In the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas - 5 miles southeast of Pettigrew in Madison County
The picture on left is above the Mulberry River near Byrds and the picture on the right...well I noticed after I while that I was being watched!
These Cirrostratus clouds immediately reminded me of the famous French arch.
The Kingfisher was spotted while stopped taking a picture of the look-a-like Arc de Triomphe cloud. The roadrunner was pretty funny. He would turn left and right and ruffle/raise his feathers on top of his head. He was definately telling us to get lost or else.
Sunset and Fog shortly after a rain
I noticed our cat at a window and while I have seen her doing the stalking thing before I have never seen her tail flicking as crazily as it was this day. So I go to the window and immediately see her target only a few feet away.
This is suppose to
be one of the best showers of the year but I only saw a handfull
and only caught one with my camera.
We got snow most of the day but the temperature stayed
just above (32.3!) so it didnt stick so we only managed a heavy
dusting as it continually melted.
This is the perfect time of year for the
formation of Frost (or Ice) Flowers. The conditions for the
formation of Frost Flowers are pretty simple: a unfrozen wet
ground + below freezing temperatures at the surface. They form
just above the ground surface around stems of plants, shrubs and
even small trees. They are formed as sap and water in the stem of
the plants expands (water expands when frozen), causing long,
thin cracks to form along the length of the stem. Water is then
drawn through these cracks via capillary action and freezes upon
contact with the air. As more water is drawn through the cracks
it pushes the thin ice layers further from the stem, causing a
thin "petal" to form. In the case of woody plants and
tree branches the freezing water is squeezed through the pores of
the plant forming long thin strings of ice that look like hair or
plastic. Frost Flowers are extremely delicate and the slightest
touch destroys them. They are also know as: "ice
flowers", "frost castles", "frost
beard", "ice castles", "ice ribbons", or
"ice blossoms". Frost Flowers can be found anywhere but
the best places to see them are in river/stream valleys and in
extremely shaded areas.