Lonetown photostream

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Lonetown Woods

A weblog about life in Redding Connecticut and the surrounding area. Animal life, geography, minerology, architecture, history and events are discussed.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

sky scraper


sky scraper, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

I realize this is a little off topic but I spotted this coincidence recently with a picture I took in San Francisco. This San Francisco scene was shot by me in 1999. This is looking down the hill on Washington Street toward the financial district and the Oakland Bay Bridge. Note the buildings on the right, and the trolley car.

San Fran earthquake street scene

 
Compare this photo looking down the hill on Sacramento Street, 2 blocks over from Washington, toward what is now the financial district, which was devastated in the great earthquake. It looks to me like its actually Washington Street. Sacramento Street has no trolley line. It may have in 1906 but today the trolley runs 1 block south on California or 2 blocks north on Washington(see above). The picture can be seen better in this link to the Wikipedia image. Arnold Genthe image
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Turkey Vulture


Turkey Vulture, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

This is my most searched item. It turns up daily in yahoo and google searches for turkey vulture.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Stealthy hawk


Stealthy hawk, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

I wonder where they got the idea for the profile of the Stealth Bomber? hmmmm.

This is Broad Wing hawk edge on.

Redding Hawk coming at you


Redding Hawk coming at you, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

I love this shot of this Broad Winged Hawk.

Redding Hawk beauty shot


Redding Hawk beauty shot, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

I am confidently told by the Flickr bird identification group that this is a Broad Winged Hawk.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Comorant on rock - defecates


Comorant on rock - defecates, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

My goodness, he just took a dump!

Comorant on rock shakes himself off

If I could shake off like this I wouldn't need towels either!

Comorant on rock - open beak


Comorant on rock - open beak, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Look at the eye in relation to the beak.

Comorant on rock


Comorant on rock, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Look at this beautiful eye!

Damn I love this bird.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Yellow Shafted Flicker


Yellow Shafted Flicker, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

He's checking the ground for ants.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Yellow Shafted Flicker


Yellow Shafted Flicker, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Note the way he stands just as he would on a tree.

Yellow Shafted Flicker takes flight

This great looking bird was having his fill of ants today. I think he may be nesting nearby.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Killdeer


Killdeer, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Check out the feathers on this killdeer

Butterfly and Lilac


Butterfly and Lilac, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Butterfly stopping to smell the flowers

Friday, May 16, 2008

Fuzzy WASP licks flowers.


DSC_0043, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Sounds like porn. Might get some hits!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Cormorant spots me.


Cormorant spots me. , originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Is the Double Crested Cormorant a cool bird or what?

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Woodchuck


Woodchuck, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Who knew the fur on a woodchucks belly was so red?

Natures Apostles


Natures Apostles, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Here's the picture I used to layout the oil painting seen below.

I think it came out well.

Apostles of Spring


Apostles of Spring, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

Oil on canvas. 24 x 30 inches. Interpreted from the photo above.

Natures fireworks


Natures fireworks, originally uploaded by BobMacInnes.

I love the way tight shots of some flowers look like a dazzling fireworks display.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Bird Murders Worm!

Robin Worm tug of war

In Redding this IS news!

Friday, April 4, 2008

My Dogs Eyes

Dog Eyes

Try and resist!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Ever see a wasps tongue?

Well now you have!

Newly hatched wasp grooming 3

Lady Bird Beetles

Hey,
You know what's hatching out now in your summer porches? Lady Bird Beetles.

Here's a couple of varieties I caught hanging out:
Ladybird Beetle
Ladybird Beetle

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Look behind you every once in a while

I remember an old Boy's Life Magazine article on hunting, probably around 1964, which cautioned hunters to check behind themselves every once in a while.

This crow reminded me of that article:

Lookout behind you!

That'a a raptor sizing him up. Fortunately for the crow the raptor went away hungry.

Hey, I'm worth a fortune in bed!

bedroom toys
Powered By Adult Store

Monday, March 26, 2007

Redding Red-tail Hawk makes big time!

This photo of a Red-tail hawk was used in a brochure by the Napa Valley, Solano Audubon to announce a talk on Raptors:
Red-tailed Hawk in flight

Isn't that beautiful? Now that's pretty close to Redding California, well, within 150 miles. So this hawk is a star, right?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=napa&daddr=Redding,+CA&sll=40.580585,-122.387695&sspn=39.845702,59.238281&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=7&ll=39.376772,-121.113281&spn=5.103029,7.404785>Map

From the brochure:

A Half Million Hawks Later – 20-Plus Years of Raptor-Tracking at the Golden Gate
a Napa-Solano Audubon program
Tues. May 8, 2007 at 7:00pm
at the Florence Douglas Senior Center
333 Amador St., Vallejo, CA
Founded in 1985, the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO) has been called the most citizen-driven raptor-monitoring effort in the US, with nearly 300 volunteers annually contributing more than 40,000 hours. Centered on the autumn flight of tens of thousands of birds of prey of 19 species over the Marin Headlands, the GGRO runs three ongoing studies – hawkwatching, banding, and radiotracking – and numerous short-term studies.

Come see and hear a two-decade snapshot of the GGRO – its successes and mistakes – from GGRO director Allen Fish. Learn exactly how hard it is to identify accipiters, and other hard-won raptor trivia.

For example, how do you tell a dark morph from a dark phase? A juvenile from an immature? Where is the highest recorded density of nesting Cooper's Hawks? How would you domesticate a Redtail and why? Does a California Bald Eagle carry a genetic map of the Pacific’s salmon-spawning rivers and duck-dense wetlands? How many Central Valley Red-shouldered Hawks survive West Nile virus? What can Golden Gate hawk counts teach us about climate change?

Allen Fish studied at UC Davis and did bird research with various government agencies (BLM in Sac'to!) before settling into the Marin Headlands in 1985 to run the new GGRO. Five years ago, he returned to UC Davis’ Avian Sciences Department to teach a winter course in Raptor Biology. Allen was raised in Redwood City, making altitudinal migrations each summer to the Donner Pass region. He currently lives in Berkeley with his wife, Allison, and two children, Jack and Margot.

Plane Spotting

I've been rather blown away by what you can learn from the privacy of your home, about the planes flying overhead.
I started taking pictures of planes with contrails and noticed alot of red planes like this:
Red hot with contrails

My neighbor told me, if it had contrails it was military.

contrails
either military or Southwest Airlines.



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You can tell the Type of plane, date it was built, what engine does it have, accident record, owner, airport registered at, altitude, flight number, and if the planes photo is on the web.

Amazing! Check out this Japan Airlines 747. Its been photographed all around the world and now...Over Redding!
Japan Airlines 747-446


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Cool, eh!

Woodpeckers

I've been able to learn something about the behavior of the Red-bellied Woodpecker during this past month. Some of which I haven't seen written anywhere.

First, why Red-bellies?

The sugar maples and ash trees in this area are being devastated by borers. I've seen many maples just rot standing, as they are gutted from the inside. The ash trees seem to lose their roots and topple over. Its an epidemic for those trees.

Apparently its a feast for the red-belly, and they are a-plenty. I have some particullarly nice photos on Flickr like this:
Woodpecker looking right
and this:
Woodpecker looking up
They have a distinct call, which I will perhaps tape in the future. Easy to recognize.

I came home early last Monday the 19th to a cacaphony of red-bellies. It seems I had stumbled on a Woodpecker orgy. 10-12 pairs were chasing each other between the ashes and white pines and some even clutched and fell together to the ground like leaves. I couldn't get close enough to photgraph it, they were far too shy but next time a tape-recorder will tell the story.

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