Nature Pics

[Voronwë the Faithful]

So awesome!

[RoseMorninStar]

OH! My!! Did you take that photo? Stunning!!

[Inanna]

Oh! It did get posted! I got an error and thought it didn't.

Yes, I took that pic. Child and I woke up at 3:45am, drove with a friend to the shore. And got it.
It was amazing. The later pics when the sun got brighter and the crescent was very clear didn't get captured (need solar filter) but the sight was amazing to behold. And fortunately, I had saved the eclipse glasses from the last total solar eclipse.

[Jude]

I read a blogger once describe this sort of scenery as "Tolkienesque". I totally agree.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Here's a picture I took at Big Basin a few years ago. I am hoping well be able to go back some day.

[RoseMorninStar]

Beautiful!
There are so many incredibly stunning parks in California. That can't be all that far for you, what's preventing a revisit?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Big Basin was in the heart of the fire last year, and except for one mile long trail to a nature center near the coast, the entire park is closed indefinitely. There continue to be small fires sparked by trees that are still smoldering almost a year later. I believe that most of the old growth redwoods survived, but almost every tree is scorched. A.all of the man made structures other than the nature center I mentioned above burned to the ground, including the historic visitor center (Big Basin is the oldest State Park in California).

[RoseMorninStar]

Big Basin was in the heart of the fire last year, and except for one mile long trail to a nature center near the coast, the entire park is closed indefinitely. There continue to be small fires sparked by trees that are still smoldering almost a year later. I believe that most of the old growth redwoods survived, but almost every tree is scorched. A.all of the man made structures other than the nature center I mentioned above burned to the ground, including the historic visitor center (Big Basin is the oldest State Park in California).

That is truly a pity.

[narya]

Yes, it is sad.

I recently went to Butano State Park, near to Big Basin. The campground is closed, but most of the trails are still open for day hiking, including the ones with thimbleberries.

[RoseMorninStar]

regner.jpg (177.53 KiB) Viewed 4059 times

We don't have any grand parks on a Western US scale nearby, but here's a shot of one of our small local parks. It's such a lovely spot. Kiwanis has a duck derby every year in this little creek on the 4th to raise money for local causes/projects.

[Inanna]

That’s a lovely park, Rose. Utterly beautiful.

[Maria]

I saw a weird bug yesterday:

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At first I thought it was a weird colored assassin bug and thus beneficial in a garden, but I'm not finding any pictures of assassin bugs that look like this.
I don't know what it is, but it's kinda pretty.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Beautiful, Rose!

Maria, yes, I think that qualifies as a "weird bug" but it is very interesting looking! How large would you say it is? It is hard to tell from the picture.

[Maria]

It was about an inch long, maybe 1.25 inches.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I tried to do a google image search, but I didn't come up with anything that looked all that similar!

[RoseMorninStar]

I wonder if it's some type of mantis. That is really weird, especially that .. spiky thing on it's back. (I'm searching...)

I wonder if it could be a temporary stage of something more recognizable.

[Maria]

It's a freshly molted wheel bug!
http://normalbiology.blogspot.com/2011/ ... erges.html
https://www.pbase.com/image/126804216
According to one of the links the color will fade to black after a few hours.

And I was right! It *is* a variety of assassin bug.

[Impenitent]

Some spectacular images from the David Malin Awards, Australia’s most prestigious astrophotography awards. You need to see them on a big screen to really appreciate them.

https://blog.csiro.au/david-malin-award ... otography/

[RoseMorninStar]

Wow. Lovely.

[Inanna]