Readers’ wildlife photos

We have a variety of photos today, with readers’ notes indented. The first is from Michael Glenister:

I took my kids to Ottawa last month, and when we visited the Mackenzie King estate we spotted some Ebony Jewelwing damselflies (Calopteryx maculata) by a creek.  Until we got close enough, we weren’t sure whether they were an unusually-shaped butterfly, or relatively large damselflies.  Although I grew up in Ontario, I’d never encountered this species before.

Some photos from breeding season. These robins are from Roger Sorensen:

About two weeks ago (July 8) I was battling my nemesis, weeding out some European Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides), a pretty, but invasive, wildflower. As I moved closer to the end of my driveway the old scolding of an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) got my attention and then, just a chance glance at my sapling Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), I spotted a dark mass among the branches. On closer investigation, there was a nesting Robin in the tree at about eye level. Today I peeked in to see what was going on and was greeted by at least 3 hungry gaping beaks. I’ll keep you posted as they, hopefully, fledge out.

Ivar Husa sent some lovely photos of our recent solar eclipse:

I was “one of a million” people who visited Oregon for the total eclipse and was treated to excellent observing conditions. There with clear skies above my 4,000 ft elevation near Long Valley, north of John Day, Oregon. I enjoyed totality for over 2 minutes, being pretty close to the center of path of totality.

I turned my birder’s photo equipment to the sun and was well rewarded for my effort, I believe. Equipment: 7D Mark II, and 400mm f5.6 lens with 1.4x converter, all Canon.

This offers a sense of scale for the solar flare.

I asked Ivar about the photo below and what it showed. His response:

The composite picture is, perhaps, the ‘condensed movie” for the time between first and second ‘contact’. The second being totality. At the upper right, you can see the shadow of the moon just beginning to cover the sun. At the lower left are successively ‘closer to totality’ looks to see the appearance of Bailey’s Beads. Multiple images were taken within seconds of each other as the sun slid behind the moon. Note, too, between the 4^th and 5^th images (in the composite) is a blue-green ‘marble’ that represents the earth, to scale.

It was such an amazing experience, to have excellent viewing condition, sitting at about 4,000 foot elevation, with dry, clear skies, Here is the Milky Way over my campsite.

Reader Barbara Wilson sent a landscape photo, but a sad one:

Not wildlife, but wildfire.  A flat orange sun at 5:00 in Corvallis, Oregon, 5 September 2017.  Morning and evening the light is pale gold, and in mid-day it is a slightly eerie cream color.  I don’t know where this smoke is coming from; there are major fires in the south and southwest parts of the state, all along the Cascade Range east of us, and well north into Washington and British Columbia.  The latest fire will change the Columbia Gorge for our lifetimes.  That is one of the most beautiful places in our beautiful state.  (Also home to many endemic plants, most of which are fire tolerant, fortunately.)  Google news about “Eagle Creek Fire” to find photos and films of its terrible beauty.