Since we’re apparently running spider week, here are mine. I took the pics last year at my parents’ place.
The pics are shot with the magnifying lens and each spider baby is about the size the head of a pin.
©Giliell
©Giliell
©Giliell
Barachois, Gaspe Peninsula©voyager, all rights reserved
This is one of two public beaches in a small community that sits on the northern edge of the Malbaie Salt Marsh called Barachois, which fittingly means salt marsh in French. We don’t come to this beach very often because it is mostly sand an I find sandy beaches pretty boring. I’d much rather go to a stony beach where you can beach-comb for treasure. I’ve found all sorts of interesting things on the beaches of Gaspe; fossils, agates, seaglass (I have a large collection of this), pretty stones only some of which I can identify, bones and driftwood. I collect and then negotiate with my husband about how much I am allowed to take home. As a result I have collections here and there. At home I’ve made a little beach that grows year by year, but here my treasures mostly live in jars because the real beach is so close by. I say you can keep your groomed white sand beaches. Give me the sticks and stones and bones on a beach full of treasure.
Nightjar has sent some exquisite butterfly pictures. I love the first one. The contrast between the blue butterfly and pink blossom is just amazing, and the focus is simply perfect.
© Nightjar, click for full size.
Enjoy!
Celastrina argiolus.
Colias sp.
Vanessa cardui
Weighty things on his mind today, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack did a lot of swimming at the beach today. Usually he’ll go after a stick a few times and after that he prefers to just paddle around close to shore. Today, though, he couldn’t get enough. Again and again he wanted us to throw out a stick for him to bring back. He kept it up for close to half an hour which is a lot of exercise for a 10 year old puppy. By the time we got home he was totally exhausted. He followed me into the bathroom, laid himself down and proceeded to sleep for the next 2 hours just as you see him here.
Gargantua Mountain, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Today we’re sharing Jack’s drive to get to his favourite beach. The road we take winds through Gargantua Mountain and it doesn’t matter how many times I see these cliffs they always take my breath away. It amazes me that trees can grow and thrive in these conditions, rooted in rock and hanging on the edge of a precipice. Everything here seems to grow madly and even the road isn’t safe from the creep of nature. All along it now we see plants biting into the tarmac and steadily moving forward. Every year it gets worse and there’s no effort to halt the growth. At one time there was a thriving campground and restaurant on the mountaintop, but the owner died several years ago and no-one took over. Now the buildings sit empty and the road is just used as a shortcut from here to there.
It seems to be spider week here at Affinity. Opus has sent us some incredible photos of a bright orange beauty.
I can’t remember if this appeared previously on Affinity, but even if it did it might be worth a second run. Several years ago I was walking down the driveway when I noticed that an acorn was walking the same direction that I was. It was actually a spider, probably a Marbled Orb-weaver spider. I was able to take a number of photos before releasing her to (hopefully) lay her eggs. It was a rainy day, so reflections were a problem. No matter, she was absolutely gorgeous! (In case anyone is interested: Nikon D700 and Tokina 100 mm macro lens)
The spider is gorgeous, Opus, and so are your photos. They are definitely worth a look. Thanks for sharing.
©Opus, all rights reserved
©Opus, all rights reserved
©Opus, all rights reserved
Today’s Monday Mercurial is Fleckchen, who has grown quite a lot and is quickly learning all of Molli’s bad habits.
Here #1 is trying to make him climb the slide, because maybe he’d enjoy a good ride as well?
“What is this?”
©Giliell
“NomNomNom”
©Giliell
David in New Zealand has recently been to the Adelaide Zoo and he’s sent us some very adorable Giant Panda pictures. David says:
This is Funi, one of the two Giant Pandas we have. They’re on loan from China as part of the breeding programme, but so far, no cubs. Wang Wang (yes, he’s the boy!) was hiding, but Funi seemed quite comfortable sleeping here. I have had days like that, but I didn’t always choose to sleep on the rocks.
Well, that does look like a heavy head to hold up. Thanks David.
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
Wonderful photos and a tongue in cheek title from Nightjar, who says,
Prompted by Charly’s post “Itsy Bitsy Spider (Not)”, here is a really itsy bitsy spider I found on one of my zinnia flowers. Not bigger than a typical ant, I only spotted it because it is totally not camouflaged.
Nope. Definitely not camouflaged, but certainly very, very small. Good eye, Nightjar. Thanks for sharing.(click for full size)
A tiny Crab Spider on a Zinnia, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Tiny Crab Spider, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
The Rivière aux émeraudes, ©voyager, all rights reserved
It’s fairly windy today and there are small whitecaps on the ocean so we decided to take Jack swimming in smaller, calmer water. He didn’t seem to mind. As long as he’s wet he’s all Happy Jack.
This is the backside of a place called Corner of the Beach. It’s a popular spot for tent camping, for those in the know. It’s just off the highway and easy to get to, but it isn’t well-marked. There’s seldom more than a few people here at a time and it feels like you’re deep in the wilderness. It’s quiet, except for the sounds of nature and at night there’s very little light pollution and the skies are ablaze with stars.
The second bird instalment during the week comes right before the weekend.
Today’s Friday Feathers come from Nightjar who managed to capture barn swallows. The one with the feeding is my absolute favourite. As usually, click for full size.
“Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!”
© Nightjar, all rights reserved
“This is so unfair, I never get first dips” © Nightjar, all rights reserved
“Was that all????????”
© Nightjar, all rights reserved
Malbaie Salt Marsh
This is part of the Malbaie Salt Marsh which is a federally protected nature conservancy. The marsh is the largest natural lagoon in Quebec and is an important habitat for over 200 species of birds and 25 species of fish. It’s also an important location for migrating birds. This photo was taken at low tide and you can just see the sandbar in the background that separates the marsh from the ocean. At high tide there are gaps in the sandbar which allow the fresh and salt waters to mix.
Belle Anse, Gaspe peninsula, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I went to a place called Belle Anse today, but we usually call the place Glass Beach because there’s always a lot of seaglass to be found among the stones. The secret to all the seaglass here is that a friend of mine feeds the beach. Every autumn she takes buckets of broken up bottles and coloured glass and tosses them into the surf. It only takes a few days for the sharp edges to round off and by spring all that broken up trash has become treasure. My friend is a stained glass artist and she uses the seaglass to make all sorts of beautiful things. Jack doesn’t care about any of that, though. He just thinks it’s another fine place to frolic in the surf.