Wednesday, October 7, 2020

A Naturalist's Year - 3rd Quarter

The days were getting shorter and the days were getting hotter as the third quarter of the year began. By the time the third quarter ended the days had become noticeably shorter and, thankfully, cooler. At the beginning of this quarter the incidence of COVID-19 had diminished to a low level in Canada and many countries in Europe due to the steps they had taken to limit its spread; however, across much of this country the disease has been increasing dramatically and setting records. So H and I have continued to socially isolate, gone to stores only when absolutely necessary and stayed away from other people – but we haven’t stayed away from the natural world: its beauties and marvels and creatures.

Day by day photos from the year’s third quarter begin here –








































 
 














 




 















 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 





 
















This natural world we enjoy is a dynamic system yet it operates in a reasonably ordered manner, and we live in what we hope is an organized society. Just as in the natural world where species are interdependent, we humans are interdependent; we depend on others for things we cannot do ourselves, and they depend on us in the same way.

Unfortunately, wishful thinking has trumped science and common sense for those who think they should be free to do whatever they want, no matter how foolish. But freedom can go only as far as it impacts the freedom, or lives, of others. It’s many people’s attitude of  “I've got a right to ...” that has led them to act irresponsibly and help lead our country into the crisis, now turned into a catastrophe, in which the nation finds itself as the year’s third quarter ends.

COVID-19 has revealed the gap between what the United States has promised to its citizens and what it has delivered. Without wise leadership this land of ours has yielded to COVID-19. Wear a Mask!

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for the pleasant diversion. I heartily agree with your concluding statements.

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  2. Hello

    Beautiful nature and wildlife photography. I agree with your statements too, we need wise leadership. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care and Enjoy your day! Happy weekend!

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  3. It's a mess, isn't it?
    I'm happy to be out in nature, too.
    Lovely photos.

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  4. Oh my! You are an amazing photographer and we've been treated to quite an array of your nature photos. Love the green frog...with the mustache! lol And there are so many different bugs! The Warbler was a gorgeous photo too! SO many! Thanks for sharing! Enjoy your weekend!

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  5. What a wonderful natural world with you, I was very happy to see so much. I am also outdoors a lot.
    I nod to your contribution to this, even when I'm in Germany, it's so confused, even with us it means wearing masks!
    Have a god weekend, Elke

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  6. Wow...great photos. The photo of the eagle is really breathtaking Woody. I love that box turtle and the falls too. Again, wow.

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  7. What an splendid catalog of nature's amazing and beautiful plants and creatures, and all so beautifully photographed! And thanks, too, for your concluding statement. So much sadness would have been prevented if similar words of admonition had come from our nation's leaders.

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  8. I realize this post is nearly 5 years old but just wanted to comment briefly on the seriously lovely quality of the vast majority of your photographs in it - which I believe were taken with a Canon SX70 bridge camera. Confession: I'm considering buying one (an SX70) myself, simply as a lightweight camera for documenting birds & wildlife, and haven't seen that many good samples taken with an SX70, which is why I appreciate yours. Great post, too, btw, even years later. Pardon my curiosity, but are you still using your SX70?
    Cheers from Oregon!

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    1. Yes, they were almost all taken with an SX70 and I still have it and occasionally still use it. My Olympus cameras produce better photos, but the SX70 is very versatile. It can produce excellent photos, especially when coupled with good post-processing (I use FastStone and Affinity DeNoise). If you can find an SX70, I'd highly recommend it (apparently they're hard to find and the price has gone up).

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  9. Thanks for the confirmation, Woody. I have to agree with you on most counts. My Olympus Mu-4/3 camera does produce superior image quality, but a small-sensor bridge camera is not only a versatile tool, but also most have the advantage of being quite lightweight. My current small bridge camera is a Canon SX50, and with good post-processing (I generally use an older version of Lightroom + some Topaz tools) is very capable. The only truly irritating thing about it is the lousy quality of the EVF (electronic viewfinder), which drives me nuts on occasion. I know the SX70's EVF is significantly better and that's honestly one of the big reasons why I'd like to find one. But you are right again when you note that their prices seem to have gone way up recently. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll stumble across a good copy, one day - but until then, the SX50 keeps on ticking, so to speak.
    Cheers from Oregon, where large numbers of geese and turkey vultures are on their southern migration, in search of warmer climates.

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Thanks for visiting "In Forest and Field" and thank you especially for commenting. It's always interesting to see other peoples' thoughts. Unfortunately, due to spam and trolls (not the kind living beneath bridges), comments must now be approved before being posted.

Woody