another day hike: cicadas, dragonflies...and an anaconda?!

[xceptnl]

haha, it takes me more time to think of thread titles than the actual picture takings.

I'm sure it does. Those photos are great and make me (if not all of us) pine to be in the woods (pun intended). I especially love the distance shots in post #3 with and without the zoom. Shows you can find peace and quiet anywhere!

[mikeh99]

I always look for your trip posts and it is always worth it. Thanks!

[rodloos]

Great post JV3, as always. Looks like a beautiful area for a hike!
Good to see you haven't grown tired of your orange Spydie :) . Provides a nice photo prop in your pics.

I have an Emberlit stove also, but haven't got around to using it to boil water for my tea yet. Is it difficult to put back in your pack without getting everything else covered with soot? Do you keep it in a bag to keep the soot contained?

[GTPowers]

These threads are what is keeping me here. Thanks for taking the time to share such a great experience with us.
-GT

[sbwings]

Once again great pics! Thanks for sharing.
Bruce

[JV3]

JV3 nice collections of photos, thanks for sharing your little adventure.

RE: waterfall pic - I like the slow shutter speed version better. What kind of camera were you using? You have some nice shallow depth of field on some of your images too. I like that.

RE: "really tiny dragonfly" - it's actually a full grown "Damselfly" a cousin to the much larger Dragonfly.

thanks! it's a nikon d90 body with a tamron 18-270 mm lens.

never heard of a damselfly before - thanks for the info!

Wow, Just wow. Terrific Pictures.

thanks!

Great thread and amazing pictures! thanks for sharing, looks like a fun time

thanks, holland!

Amazing pictures once more, jv3. I know that I would enjoy parts of a hike but probably not the whole process. No worries, your beautiful photos let me enjoy my nature-fix vicariously through you. :p

Is it really accurate that cicadas only mate once every 17 years? That sounds like an insane lifetime for an insect. I remember hearing loads of them when I was living in NY.

thanks! according to wikipedia it's anywhere from 13-17 years depending on the species...given how annoyingly loud they were i'm thankful for that.

I thought cicadas were underground for 7 years :p

Beautiful pics, what camera do you have?

thanks! it's a nikon d90 body with a tamron 18-270 mm lens. wikipedia says anywhere from 13-17 years depending on the species - honestly, hearing them once is enough for me!

JV3, I look forward to your threads like the above. The subject is interesting, and the photography is excellent. Nice millie as well. Thanks!

We have a larger, uglkier type of Cicada around here that comes out about every year. They have the ability to make an internal rattling sound as a defense. My now deceased Jack Russell Mollie used to do battle with every one she encountered. She would scoop them up in her mouth, they would rattle and she would drop them like fire. Naturally she would get angry at being laughed at for her antics and have to prove that in fact she wasn't really afraid of them. She would then stiffen her resolve to do battle, and with a snort, and a few kicks of her back feet proceed to scoop it up again. Naturally the thing would rattle again and she would drop it all over again. She duled with every one she saw after that. They are around for about two weeks of the year and when they get to making a racket up in the trees by the thousands they were so loud as to make conversation impossible.

This is what the biggest, loudest ones look like. No red eyes on them. We do have others naturally. http://www.davidsonlands.org/wow-cicadas-are-coming/

Joe

thanks, joe! sorry to hear about your jack russell...that's a funny story. i actually heard on the news last night that they're high in protein and they were showing a couple of dogs snacking on them while they were being walked, haha.

Beautiful photos JV3! What camera are you shooting with? These have inspired me to break out my canon 5dmk2 and go out shooting again! Well done and thanks for sharing

thanks! it's a nikon d90 body with a tamron 18-270 mm lens.

Were are from in Jersey? Were supposed to have a record run of them this year.forget sleeping past 8am.those thing are so anoying. cigadas!

i'm from north nj but this was actually in harriman, ny - it's only a few miles across the border though.

I'm sure it does. Those photos are great and make me (if not all of us) pine to be in the woods (pun intended). I especially love the distance shots in post #3 with and without the zoom. Shows you can find peace and quiet anywhere!

thanks, again! hopefully i can come back there in the fall and time it right when the leaves have all kinds of colors.

I always look for your trip posts and it is always worth it. Thanks!

thanks! glad you like my threads :)

Great post JV3, as always. Looks like a beautiful area for a hike!
Good to see you haven't grown tired of your orange Spydie :) . Provides a nice photo prop in your pics.

I have an Emberlit stove also, but haven't got around to using it to boil water for my tea yet. Is it difficult to put back in your pack without getting everything else covered with soot? Do you keep it in a bag to keep the soot contained?

thanks! i tend to bring at least one orange knife to the woods so it was an easy choice :)

i bought a rubbery-plastic sleeve for it that's available direct from the emberlit store too - works well. i think the newer version has a button snap closure but mine is the early one so i just poked two holes near the opening and threaded a piece of paracord through it to keep the emberlit from sliding out.

you gotta try that stove - it's super efficient! a 2"x12" piece of wood is enough to boil water for one of those dehydrated backpacking meal and a cup of coffee/tea.

These threads are what is keeping me here. Thanks for taking the time to share such a great experience with us.
-GT

you're welcome! glad you like my trip report :)

Once again great pics! Thanks for sharing.
Bruce

thanks, bruce!

[brightb]

Fantastic pictures! These threads always make me want to get into photography myself!
In regards to that first dragonfly, I think you captured the time when the adult emerges from its nymph form. I remember catching those nymphs in the water as a kid.

Bill

[Mako109]

thanks! it's a nikon d90 body with a tamron 18-270 lens.

Ahhhhh that explains your quality pics. I have the Nikon D90 too, awesome camera.

[bh49]

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed them.

[wolfgaze]

Next time you go post some photos of the collapsed mines!

[jackknifeh]

Excellent pictures. Love em.

Cicadas. In 1979 spring they exploded in force in northern VA. In the south (MS, AL) we have what we call love-bugs. For a week or two they get bad enough that they will make seeing through your windshield almost impossible. They sell screens to go in front of the car to protect the radiator from getting clogged with dead bugs. These bugs are about 1/4" long or so. The cicada you can see in the pictures are about as big as your thumb. They hatched in 79 and filled the air like love bugs (if you've ever seen them). Think locust swarms. When driving they were like little rocks hitting the car. It was amazing. I know it was 79 because that was the year I entered the Air Force. Was anyone else there then? I'm talking Spotsylvania county, Fredericksburg area. Or, has anyone seen these bugs in that number? As stated the sound is almost deafening. Think front row at a Kiss (I'm old) concert. :D

Back on subject. Great pictures, I wish I could do that again.

Thanks for sharing.

[wolfstyle]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

wolfstyle

[greenewk]

Yep, we know all about cicadas down here in the Southeast. I always sort of look forward to them every year in the summer time, the symphony they make with the frogs and other birds is neat -- and annoying. This year has been exceptionally buggy.

Great pictures! Looks like fun.

[Knifewing]

Thanks for the next best thing to a hike. Especially seeing this thread at cocktail hour :) Out on the west coast we (I) tend to forget how much nature there is in the shadow of NYC.

[JV3]

Fantastic pictures! These threads always make me want to get into photography myself!
In regards to that first dragonfly, I think you captured the time when the adult emerges from its nymph form. I remember catching those nymphs in the water as a kid.

Bill

thanks, bill! definitely get into photography - it's a relaxing hobby and spydercos are great subjects to practice on :)

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed them.

thanks! glad you like the pics.

Next time you go post some photos of the collapsed mines!

i'll look into it. i only know of one mine but the entrance is submerged in water so it just looks like one giant puddle...i actually have the harriman guide book but haven't perused it yet.

Excellent pictures. Love em.

Cicadas. In 1979 spring they exploded in force in northern VA. In the south (MS, AL) we have what we call love-bugs. For a week or two they get bad enough that they will make seeing through your windshield almost impossible. They sell screens to go in front of the car to protect the radiator from getting clogged with dead bugs. These bugs are about 1/4" long or so. The cicada you can see in the pictures are about as big as your thumb. They hatched in 79 and filled the air like love bugs (if you've ever seen them). Think locust swarms. When driving they were like little rocks hitting the car. It was amazing. I know it was 79 because that was the year I entered the Air Force. Was anyone else there then? I'm talking Spotsylvania county, Fredericksburg area. Or, has anyone seen these bugs in that number? As stated the sound is almost deafening. Think front row at a Kiss (I'm old) concert. :D

Back on subject. Great pictures, I wish I could do that again.

Thanks for sharing.

thanks! from your description, those bug swarms are rather nasty - i'll take our blizzards anytime!

thank you for serving by the way :)

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

wolfstyle

thanks, wolfstyle!

Yep, we know all about cicadas down here in the Southeast. I always sort of look forward to them every year in the summer time, the symphony they make with the frogs and other birds is neat -- and annoying. This year has been exceptionally buggy.

Great pictures! Looks like fun.

thanks! wow, every year down there? after experiencing the noise they make once, i'm thankful i won't have to hear it again until 17 yrs later. i'll probably just go mountain biking this weekend to get my woods fix just in case they're still here.

Thanks for the next best thing to a hike. Especially seeing this thread at cocktail hour :) Out on the west coast we (I) tend to forget how much nature there is in the shadow of NYC.

you're welcome! it sure beats the nyc traffic to get to central park, that's for sure. although on a hot day, central park does offer a different wildlife viewing pleasure, haha.

[Donut]

Nice work JV, looks like fun. :)

[JV3]

Nice work JV, looks like fun. :)

thanks!

[SDR]

Fantastic presentation! Kudos, mate -- I thoroughly enjoyed sharing your adventure, vicariously from the comfort of my home. That was a beautiful snake you chanced upon. The anaconda looked ferocious, also! lol.

Thanks for an enjoyable diversion!

[djinnzfree]

Wow JV3... very good eyes pleasure! thank's for sharing!

[tonydahose]

Great pics