Flowers Galore + one frog! Photos by Bob Kelly

Thursday was a high percentage day with images captured at Reiman Gardens….here are several I liked.  Enjoy!

(Note, click on the first picture and then use the right arrow to click through to see them in a much nicer (larger) view.)

Keep Cool! - Photos by Bob Kelly

Maybe these images of ice, snow, and penguins will help you cool off, during this blistering hot Iowa heat wave!  The scenes were captured on a memorable photographic expedition to the Antarctica peninsula a few years ago. Enjoy!

Bob's Antartic Adventure - The Movie

Last year my friend Bob Kelly went to Antartica.  He shared many of his photos with us here on Bailey's Buddy and now he shares this movie which he made of many of the pictures from that trip.  His description is here:


Description

This FotoMagico slide show with music and sound effects has a duration of 18 minutes, 34 seconds.  It opens with several maps to orient the viewer to the location of this adventure, and is followed by a visual tour of our ship, the National Geographic Explorer.

The wildlife comes next as eight species of penguins are introduced, followed by some photos of an ice breaking experience we enjoyed!  A sequence of photos introduces you to Elephant Seals, Fur Seals, Crabeater Seals, and Leopard Seals.  You will see and hear Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, and Fin Whales.  Reindeer originally imported by Scandinavian whale hunters decades ago can be found on the island of South Georgia.

The Black Browed Albatross, a magnificent bird with a wingspan of 6-8 feet is shown flying elegantly and in the larger rookery found on a remote island which is part of South Georgia.  The wingspan is so broad on these birds that their wings fold up in two places to make them functional!

Several beautiful antarctic landscapes are shown next followed by many beautiful ice bergs of all sizes and descriptions.  The video concludes with a sequence on Easter Island, located 2600 miles west of Santiago, Chile out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Easter Island is the home to the giant stone heads or Moai (Mo-eye) that have captivated historians and archeologists for many years.

Note....before starting the video be sure to select the resolution of 1080p for the sharpest image, and also choose for it to be displayed full screen.  Those controls are down in the lower right corner of the video window.  Enjoy!!!

To watch the show  Click here

Bob's Adventure

Bob sent me an e-mail from Antarctica this morning. He suggested that I steal some images from his blog to share. You can see more of his incredible ice-berg shots by visiting his blog. Those of you who came looking for jokes today - There will be no Found For Friday as I put up jokes the last two days. In the meantime enjoy Bob's pictures and his comments about South Georgia and what he has to go through to visit there. The pictures will not embiggen if you click on them. It is very expensive to upload photos from there so this is what you get folks. (The first one will embiggen, however)

Bob writes

It is Friday, November 27, and as I write this it is 11:05 AM for these waters, and folks in Iowa may just be getting up....or not! The island of South Georgia is at our bow as I write this, and we will be disembarking in about two hours or so for our first of many on shore adventures. Prior to doing that we had to see an informational video from the government of South Georgia, and sign a document that we had viewed it, and were aware of their strict laws regarding the environment, animals, and what we may and may not do, while there. After viewing the video we had to take down to the mudd room (the place where we get on the Zodiac rafts) all of the items we will take ashore, so they could be examined, cleaned and vacuumed out. That included my high boots, gloves, parka, and camera bag. All items in bags and pockets had to be removed so all traces of soil, food, or other items that may be there could be properly disposed of before going ashore. All that is done and I am just now crusing along as the island gets larger and larger in the wide windows of the Chart room, just below the bridge. You WILL see more photos from South Georgia, as we will be circumnavigating around the entire island, and will stay here for nearly five days as we see hundreds of thousands of King Penguins, many seals, Elephant seals, and species of Albatross. It is cloudy, windy, and the temperature is about at 32 degrees F, at the moment. More to come....

This was just a sample - more at his blog.

Bob's Adventure has begun

Just to let you know Bob is now on his trip and he has posted from Miami on his way south. You can read about it here.

Bob mentioned that he will be in the Beagle Channel soon. He said he does not know why it was named that. It was named for the H. M. S. Beagle which Darwin was on on his trip.

Wiki says:

The channel was named after the ship HMS Beagle during its first hydrographic survey of the coasts of the southern part of South America which lasted from 1826 to 1830. During that expedition, under the overall command of the Australian Commander Phillip Parker King, the Beagle's captain Pringle Stokes committed suicide and was replaced by captain Robert FitzRoy. The ship continued the survey in the second voyage of the Beagle under the command of captain FitzRoy who took Charles Darwin along as a gentleman's companion, giving him opportunities as an amateur naturalist. Darwin had his first sight of glaciers when they reached the channel on 29 January 1833, and wrote in his field notebook "many glaciers beryl blue most beautiful contrasted with snow".^[4]