Sunday, May 9, 2010

An Eclectic Mix - Bob Kelly Photos

Normally a sequence of my photos has a theme, however on Sunday, May 9th, I found myself moved by a dozen images, which I captured here to share with you. A few lines here will help to set them up, so you can then just scale through them as a group for a visual experience. The young doe in the Ledges forest stopped and posed gracefully, then leaped away into the woods.

Two Wood Ducks, Iowa's most colorful ducks, if not the most colorful in the nation, were enjoying a moment on a log along the Lower Ledges Road. Their colors are incredibly vibrant, and the ducks themselves are most elusive, and I was lucky to have seen these today. In fact it was the first adult Wood Ducks I have ever seen. Google them and discover how their young take their first leaps into the world....it is quite a story!
Along the road a bit further sat this most cooperative King Bird with its blue-green iridescent head and back reflecting in the sun.
At Camp Hantesa also on the Lower Ledges Road is a grouping of Crayola colored school buses, they use in the summer to haul campers around to different parts of the park. Their contrasting colors made for interesting images, and when I saw myself and the buses in a large parabolic mirror....I could not pass up the chance for a self portrait as I liked how it showed the buses! Also on the camp grounds is this very colorful and distinctive totem pole about 30 feet tall. I am sure it contains lots of tales and legends.



On the way out of the Ledges and heading back towards Boone sits this old run down house overgrown with trees, but still holding on to what character it has. Some yellow wild mustard blossoms help to set the stage.
What happens when a small tree grows along a fence row and it is not cut down? It just becomes part of the fence, or vice versa.. and there they stand, yet another sentinel of time!
The barbed wire fence formed a Z pattern, perhaps related to Zorro in some way!
The geometric beauty of a dandelion seed head is a thing of beauty until you realize that each of those seed most likely WILL grow!
The last image is a taller variety of Phlox than is in the woods, that is also called Sweet William, and there was a mix of white and purples side by side. So there is the mix of what I saw and photographed today in a most enjoyable safari for about three hours. Enjoy!
words and pictures by Bob Kelly

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