Sunday, January 11, 2015

January 11, 2015- Week 4- winter is moving right along



It was a bitter cold week here in Iowa. We had some snow and then some temperatures that were supposed to rival that cold spell back in 09. It was rather disappointing when it only got down to -12.
So we bundled up and went about our business. Everyone understands that this is what living in Iowa in the winter is all about. We don’t like it necessarily. But new soft flannel sheets makes it all go down easier.

In the contest last week the winner was the dancing anemone.



The full voting was
Dancing anemone 28
side view closeup 15
front view closeup 8
full frontal picture 10


For this week’s contest I have about as grand a set of pictures as I have ever assembled. You will want to call your neighbors and tell them about this group. It is really something special.

Here are the

                                     Waterlilies of 2014



It was a spectacular year for waterlilies. I do not quite know why. It was a late year as the pond stayed frozen well into March. When the lilies started to bloom they had plenty of room. There was also room to watch the new buds forming, coming one after another. It seemed like there was something blooming every day for almost 2 months.


This first picture gives you an opportunity to see composition. There is sun. There are greens and browns. There is all that wonderful pink. Here you have pink waterlily hiding.
The picture was taken on July 23.





The next picture is the almost perfect white waterlily. It is just floating in all that black. It is hard to imagine that this picture was taken over the noon hour. The picture was taken on August 14.






The third picture is this wonderfully symmetrical top shot of the pink waterlily. It was taken on June 18.






Finally here is the yellowish waterlily in all its glory. This was also taken on August 14. I wonder if the picture would be better if I blacked out the lily pads? As I look at this picture longer, I see that there is the shadow of the flower on the green leaf. I would not want to lose that as part of this image.




There you have it. These are pictures that can compete with some of the great waterlily pictures over the years. Who will forget the winners from both 2007 and 2011? Yes, they were waterlilies. Maybe I will show you all the winners at the end of the contest




Bonus picture time

More waterlilies and some frogs. It was a good year for the frogs. It was actually a good year for pictures of frogs. They just kept lining up for group shots.  Most of the frogs  arrive by mail order, from the east coast. I am doing my best for biodiversity. For a while I had a possible frog shot in this week’s contest. I took it out as I did not think that would be fair. (I am not sure whether it would been fair to the waterlilies or the fronts.)




This next picture shows the waterlily buds. They just kept coming for months. For whatever reason the foliage was not as thick, which let you see the buds.


There were days when there were more than one lily.


The frogs also put on a show. Mostly they are shy and jump into the pond before I can approach with the camera. This year they were more willing to have their pictures taken.



This picture shows three flowers in different stages of development.


Frog and flower picture.





Here you can start counting frogs.


This is a closeup of a bud, with new leaves developing as well.



Many frogs.


What wonderful contrast between the black water, the green leaves and the pink and yellow flower.




I will close with this bigger picture of just about all the frogs.




Enjoy the pictures. The days are getting longer. Today the sun is even melting some of the snow.
Philip



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