barren nights

[whippoorbill]

Thanks, Gentlemen.

At least the vet didn't have to put my dog down. Bennie was all bent up, arthritically, and couldn't even stand. He's pretty old, and I figured it was "time". Turns out he has Lyme disease -- and the doctor promises a strong antibiotic shot given this evening will help him out.

Bill

 

[infinite sameness]

My dog went through lymes once and after the antibiotic he was back to normal in no time!!!!!!! Bennie will be just fine!

 

[long-a-coming]

Bill,
I wish Bennie a speedy recovery.

My heart goes out to your friend's family. Life doesn't always make sense.

 

[whippoorbill]

Thanks again, everybody.

My dog went through lymes once and after the antibiotic he was back to normal in no time!!!!!!! Bennie will be just fine!

Good call, I.S.! There was a notable difference in Bennie within 24 hours. I wonder if Lyme affects animals differently. I don't think treatment for humans for this disease results in such a marked difference so quickly.

On another note, I took a new field recorder to the Friendship area last night. (If anyone here was driving the roads thereabouts at 1am, or so, I've got ya' on tape. Several cars glided by.) Just trying to get used to all the new recorder's (Fostex FR2-LE) bells and whistles.

The frogs have quieted, for the most part. The carpenters are still hammering away pretty good, though. It's still so nice to sit out there and listen, even if a lot what one hears is pure silence. About once every 30 minutes or so, a pine barren tree frog would let out a series of hoarse WONKs, which would startle a few others into WONK-action. But it's easy to hear that the eagerness has expired. A green frog slipped up to one of my mics and did a solo. No shyness there. I also parked the gear by the sole insect I heard all night. A tree cricket.

I tried to make it to dawn, which is the nicest time to listen, but I didn't have the stamina.

Bill

 

[whippoorbill]

Recipe for photo disaster: Turn vehicle, blocking sand road, pointing headlights directly into cedar swamp. Leave vehicle, hoping nobody drives along, and crawl into cedar swamp. Lie on ground and steady camera as best one can and set for a longer shutter speed (some blurring helps). Manual focus, then release shutter. Follow direction toward glaring headlights to refind vehicle.

It's another weird photo by whippoorbill. Forgive him; he knows not what he is doing.

Then... the magical pine-barren meadow below was captured and further manipulated when the photographer had consumed way too much coffee.

 

[whippoorbill]

pine-cone sandwich

 

[Teegate]

That pine-cone sandwich looks good enough to eat

Thanks Bill!

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Love the shots Bill, as usual.

 

[whippoorbill]

moontan journey

Getting to my secret moontan beach is the best part. (Who needs a suntan at the Jersey Shore when the full moon will do the job, in the pine barrens!)

Drat. I forgot my moonblock.

Bill

 

[manumuskin]

Now theres a few pictures in there that are top notch!You know I'm not big on the blurry ones but them others are award winners!Now if their were just some stones in there to give it that Callanish feel they'd be right downright haunting.
The Jessup of the Pines.
Al

 

[whippoorbill]

Now theres a few pictures in there that are top notch!You know I'm not big on the blurry ones but them others are award winners!Now if their were just some stones in there to give it that Callanish feel they'd be right downright haunting.
The Jessup of the Pines.
Al

Alfie,

I know you've never been a fan of my blurry photos. You already know how these are taken, since you've been in on a few of my photo sessions, but to explain -- the blurry sand road photos are taken from my vehicle while in motion. To me, these photographs are alive with the spirit of what it feels like to be driving back there in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, with pine after pine after pine whizzing by. Remember this one, Al?

This is the first shot taken with a vehicle in motion, from your vehicle, along a recent burn area near the Mullica River. Come on, how can you not like it?

BTW, my new field recorder did fabulously at Penn Swamp at dawn this morning, Al. I'm really excited about this one. Wildlife is semi-settled now, but a catbird put on a one-hour singing performance this morning and I was able to set up right under him. Once I get a feel for how the recorder works in relation to the recordee and where it's placed, and learning its proper gain settings, I'll be one happy camper.

It's really nice out there at night. I was all over, under last night's near-full moon, and saw not another soul. I thought I'd be half-dead when I pulled back out onto 206 at 7:30 this morning, but, instead, I was totally recharged.

Bill

 

[Teegate]

Nice photo's Bill! I was starting my day heading down your way today when you were ending it on 206.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Wildlife is semi-settled now, but a catbird put on a one-hour singing performance this morning and I was able to set up right under him. l

I had a catbird in the bush outside my front window one year. I really enjoyed that. They are like a mockingbird. This year I have a towhee in the lot next door. I love them too. Signature birds of the pines, both of them.

 

[whippoorbill]

I had a catbird in the bush outside my front window one year. I really enjoyed that. They are like a mockingbird. This year I have a towhee in the lot next door. I love them too. Signature birds of the pines, both of them.

The towhee was the bird that first intrigued me way back during my initial forays into the barrens, Bob. They'd commonly be scratching nearby, calling their "chewink!" or singing "drink your teeeeeeaaaa --ah!" And the cat birds would almost always be right there, scowing from a tree. If there are two signature pine-barren boidees, you picked them.

What I'm learning to love most about birdsong is the interaction between species; a symphony of bird cries, if you will. I'm stopping to listen more than ever now that I'm recording. If one tunes in long enough, magic eventually occurs in the mix of songs. I dunno; it's hard to describe unless you're standing there, focusing on the patterns. I often break off a stick and conduct.

Bill

 

[LARGO]

In this last pic you've achieved a surreal look as though the brushstrokes of the artist can be seen in the image. A painting one might see on the homestead wall. Is it real or is it Bill at work again?
Awesome. I could sit in that spot and stare all day.

g.

 

[manumuskin]

bat billy,

yes oncet agin I gaze upon yer photos and I really do like the sea breeze marsh shot.it doesn't look tampered with at all but I have stared at that blur till my head is a blur trying to figger it out.I woulda remembered it by that pine tree on the right but when i see it through the windshield its not at all that blurry.Maybe with a little of yer cavers cocoa concoction I could see the world blurry as you do.I crossed myeyes and all i saw was two blurry trees.
I'll keep trying
alfie

 

[whippoorbill]

In this last pic you've achieved a surreal look as though the brushstrokes of the artist can be seen in the image. A painting one might see on the homestead wall. Is it real or is it Bill at work again?
Awesome. I could sit in that spot and stare all day.

g.

Thank you, g.

I have an edited down (3.5 of 20 minutes) wav converted to mp3 of an audio recording I made while taking this photo (the gear was set up just to the left ...) that I'd like to make available. This sorta goes back to my previous post concerning birdsongs and is why I posted this particular photo. The mp3 is nothing special; it is not the same as sitting there at the beautiful location and staring all day, but one can get an idea of what I was hearing (and, maybe, the inspiration I had in taking this photograph). If you feel like sending me an e-mail @ soma611@gmail.com, I'll send you the mp3. I really appreciate the nice things you've said about some of my photos, George (and Bob; editing for the post below).

This is an open offer to anybody on the forum. Simply drop me a line.

Bill

 

[bobpbx]

In this last pic you've achieved a surreal look as though the brushstrokes of the artist can be seen in the image. A painting one might see on the homestead wall. Is it real or is it Bill at work again?
Awesome. I could sit in that spot and stare all day.

g.

You don't know what a shot like that does to the explorer in me. I gotta see whats over that horizon. Nice shot Bill.

 

[manumuskin]

kookabilla
you know I want a file to add to my collection that i need to start burning to cd's.send it to my e mail.
Alfie

 

[whippoorbill]

Tuesday morning, before dawn, is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids are consistently fine. Mr. Moon has waxed past first quarter and will set well past midnight (hindering view of fainter meteors until he sets); still, a luckily timed day off Tuesday will have me heading for the pines after work Monday evening and wandering the sand roads all night, with an eye to the sky. Life is good.