As noted in a previous post, we've been watching a Great Horned Owl nest here in Clark County.
This week, the owlets fledged. Here's some shots of mom feeding one of the owlets a rabbit leg. She took the other leg to the owlet still in the nest.
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Thursday, April 25, 2024
Owls, Owls, Owls
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Solar Eclipse in the Path of Totality
Well....the long awaited and anticipated 2024 "Great American Eclipse" is here and gone.
In it's wake there are multitudes of photographic records of this amazing event. Here's our story....
Our home here in Clark County was in the "Path of Totality," meaning that the sun would be completely obscured by the moon during the event. I could shoot the same images that you see here from our deck...however, for me, part of the experience is watching others responses and also seeing the event from the landscape aspect.
I decided to shoot from our nearby Buck Creek State Park, and spent some time earlier this year checking various locations there using the PhotoPills App. This app allowed me to visualize what the placement of the eclipse would be in different areas f the park. I ended up choosing the Buck Creek Marina....a location that ha served us well for many other sky events. I shot the 2017 Partial Eclipse there in the exact same spot that we used yesterday.
We arrived at the Marina early, anticipating large crowds. The crowds didn't materialize as we thought.....although there were plenty of folks enjoying the astronomical show. As totality was reached, we could hear folks all over the Marina, Beach and even across the lake at the Visitor's Center cheering.
We were shooting the eclipse with our Olympus gear as well as with the Vaonis Vespera smart scope. You'll be able to see the difference in the totality images. The Vespera tracked the eclipse throughout...shooting an image every 2 seconds. Here's a video clip of a few of the 6,000 images from the Vespera.
Here's one of only a couple of totality images caught with the Vespera....note: user error. I got too excited and removed the solar filter before disabling the safety and the scope shut down. Oh well, better than nothing!
And the other image. This one shows Bailey's Beads....the effects of the sun's light reflecting off on the moon's craters.
In comparison, here's a totality shot form the OM-1 and 100-400 with solar filter.
As noted, one of our reasons for shooting at the park was the ability to see others enjoying the eclipse.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Immature Eagle at Old Reid
An interesting Eagle experience today.... Friend & fellow photographer Bill tipped us on an Immature Bald Eagle at Old Reid just as we were heading out the door this morning. So, of course we headed that way. The Eagle was brunching when we arrived and we shot some images (I've blurred the prey details). When the eagle finished brunch, it roosted in an Old Reid tree for a bit and posed for pics. We left and did a quick look at Buck Creek State Park. On the way home, we decided to drive through Old Reid again. The Eagle was perched on the edge of the pond, less than 100 feet from some anglers who were catching Crappies. It was keeping an eye on them! When they tossed a small Crappie on the walkway, the Eagle immediately flew over to it, grabbed it, and began munching. While it was pretty cool to see, this interaction with humans isn't a good thing. Unfortunately, wildlife that becomes habituated and begs for food from humans can lead to their demise. The Eagle obviously has been used to getting handouts prior to today. It was interesting to watch, though. It's the closest we've ever been to a wild Bald Eagle.
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Hooters!!!
I've been watching a Great Horned Owl in a cavity since mid-February.
I wasn't sure whether is was a nesting female, but after my encounter yesterday....we're going to have Owlets!
I say that because yesterday, the female was in the cavity, and in a nearby tree was another adult Great Horned Owl. It's now apparent that the "watcher" is the male, who keeps watch over the female that is likely sitting on eggs or possibly minding Owlets.
Here's some pics since first sighting the roost last month.
Waterfowl at CJ Brown Reservoir
Yesterday we spent the morning at the CJ Brown Marina. We had stopped there the previous evening on our usual drive and noticed a couple of large rafts of Red Breasted Mergansers just outside of the Marina. In past years, the Mergansers have ventured into the Marina and have put on the great show as they feed off of fish in the warmer waters inside the Marina boundaries.
So, with that n mind, we headed out before sunup. Sure enough, the Mergansers were fishing in the cove on the the north side of the marina.
Once the sun provided good light, we capture some images of them and other migrating waterfowl. Here's some looks....
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Pair of Red Breasted Mergansers |
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Merganser lost his fish |
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Bonaparte's Gull stealing fish |
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Male Horned Grebe |
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Female Horned Grebe |
Monday, March 11, 2024
Roadtrek Play Upgrades (Part 1)
We've been getting a lot of questions about our upgrades to our 2023 Roadtrek Play. I thought that I would just post some of the things that we're done to improve functionality for us....hopefully, some of this information will be helpful to others as well. The posts are divided into 5 parts....
Upgrade Posts List:
These are the upgrades in this post (Part 1):
- Bed Coverings
- Bask-a-Table
- Aisle Upper Storage Shelf
- Cup Holders (for table)
- Rear Corner Storage mini Buckets
Sleeping configurations in our Play can be used as two north-south twin beds, or as a king bed by using boards and bolsters which fit between the twin beds. We use the twin beds....they are more than adequate for us size-wise (they are each 39" wide by 75" long). They allow us to independently make bathroom trips without awakening the other, and also keep the aisle open for a more spacious feel. So....the bolsters that were to be used to make the king bed are stored at home, and we use 6 queen sized pillows and a couple of 18" x 18" throw pillows for backrests and sleeping.
We upgraded our bedding by using a couple of daybed covers purchased from Amazon. They each came with three queen size pillow shams and a decorative pillow. By placing the covers backwards (elastic fitted edge in front) there's about a 24" length of the fabric under the mattress on the wall side which keeps it in place. We love the red, black and gray plaid pattern!
We have a couple of baskets that we keep in the aisle. I purchased them several years ago for another RV, and happily discovered that they fit perfectly in between the beds. Here's the link for the ones I bought (they were not quite so much then). Note that there are a couple of sizes at this link, and ONLY the 15" wide one fits between the Play beds. You may be able to find a similar basket that will fit between your beds.
One of the baskets sits on the floor, and we use it to store our electric shore line, our EMS Surge Protector, and our water hose. The second basket sits on one of the boards which was originally to be used to make the king bed. That gives us a sturdy base and we use that basket to store our photo gear and laptops while traveling. Because the baskets wedge securely between the mattresses, it's very secure.
One of our most recent upgrades utilizing these baskets was the addition of our "Bask-a-Table." 🤣🤣🤣
The Play comes with a pole that mounts in a floor bracket and which holds a table top that snaps onto the pole. After using it for a year, we felt like the table was always an issue for us....it was a bit wobbly, even when secured tightly.
At some point we stopped using the pole and just started placing the original table top one the upper basket for meals, and also as a night table. After realizing that this was a better table solution for us, we constructed our "Bask-a-table" which we both like as an alternative to the original table.
While we can't place our legs under the table completely, we didn't feel it necessary since we usually sit at the end of the table or sit sideways against the cushions. I don't think it would be too difficult to come up with a way to raise the height of the table.
Gracie is sitting in about the same position that we like.
The table itself is constructed of 3/4" pine, which we stained and sealed to match our interior. We glued 1" shims underneath the top extending into the basket to keep the table secure. Because of our placement, the tabletop fits snuggly into the basket, yet easily lifts out for access to our gear.
The cup holders in this pic are from Amazon as well. They use a washable sticky pad to secure the holders to the table.....love them!
Then we glued a 1" lip on the front of the shelf. The cabinet doors prevent the shelf from sliding forward.
One last storage feature for this post....
These little Hanging Buckets from Amazon make easy access for charging cables, TV controls, and our heated mattress controls. They fit snugly in the slots in the rear van corners. To place them, you need to pull the clip on the back of the cup out a bit and slide one corner into the slot...then the other side will slip in.