Eared Grebe

Partly Cloudy

Tropical Water Lily

Red-necked Grebe

Welcome to Summer

Reflection in a Geothermal Pool

When we were at Yellowstone I photographed the reflection of the sky in one of the geothermal pools at the West Thumb. With the color in the pool the reflection came out looking  a lot like an oil painting of the sky.

North Twin Lake - Yellowstone

Black-necked Stilt

The black-necked stilt is a shorebird that is found in freshwater wetlands in the western United States, Mexico and parts of Central and South America. They are mostly legs with only flamingos having legs that are larger in proportion to their body. We photographed this stilt at the Bowdoin NWR on our way home from Yellowstone.

Wood Duck

Dodge Nature Center

Pied-billed Grebe

Duckling

I am not sure what species of duckling that this was that I photographed at Lake Vadnais in mid summer.

Prima Ballerina

Even the Prima Ballerina must practice in front of the mirror.

Eastern Amberwing

The eastern amberwing is the second smallest dragonfly in North America. I photographed this male on the vegetation mats at Purgatory Creek.

Twin Turtle

 

Immature Pied-billed Grebe

Symmetry

Symmetry comes from the Greek word symmetrein which roughly translates as "to measure together". One of the most basic forms of symmetry is mirror or line symmetry. In a two dimensional figure, like the photo above, there is a a line that forms an axis of symmetry. On each side of this line there are matching points which are the same distance from the line, or axis of symmetry. So with water the axis of symmetry is the surface of the water. The points of the reflection are the same distance from the surface of the water as the identical points on the log. This is not a perfect example of mirror symmetry though because the water, and the ripple running through it, slightly distort the image.

Reflections of Summer

Reflected Clouds

Hey Does that Log Have Eyes?

 The American alligator is a marvel of efficiency. They are the largest reptile in North America and an apex predator. They spend much of their day sitting in the sun to help regulate their body temperature, since they are cold blooded. They are opportunistic feeders that hunt primarily by ambush. Sitting with just the top of their head above water they can appear like a floating log until something comes along. This way they do not burn up much energy hunting. Alligators are not picky and they will try and eat most anything that they can get into their mouths. They have existed in one form or another for over 150 million years, although in the late 1960s they were close to going extinct. Hunting, habitat loss and the predation of eggs forced the American alligator to be listed as an endangered species. It was removed in 1987 as there are now millions of alligators in the south eastern United States.