April snow

This snow was all gone by the afternoon, but the crocus were completely covered by it in the morning.  You can see them there in the shelter made by last year's leaves.  These flowers are natives, so they are very well adapted to the occasional snow blanket and will be fine tomorrow.

Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
F Number	8.0
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	160
Advanced Scene Mode	Off
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Hyacinths

We got a dusting of snow yesterday.  The hyacinths will be all right.  They sure look pretty this way, and I appreciate that I can enjoy the beauty without having to shovel it!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Spring snow

It's not officially spring, but it's pretty close.  This snow fell on the 8th of March.  It's all gone now.  Spring snow doesn't last.

Lens	Minolta MD 50mm f/1.4
F Number	unrecorded; probably f/4
Focal Length	50.0 mm
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	+0.33
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Natural art

A bit of snow this morning.  It's beautiful, but fleeting.  It's beginning to rain.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	40.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 80.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Patterned

The snow looked very different in the afternoon light.  As the sun lined up with the snow bank, a pattern began to emerge.  Clearly, the snow blower had made these marks, but it isn't immediately obvious to me how.  I'm thinking that it's a slight left/right vibration that did this.

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/320
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Crazy icicles

We're past the coldest part of winter now.  The sun stays up longer and the air isn't quite as cold.  This part of the house faces the morning sun, and it's just enough to heat up the metal awning and cause the bottom layer of snow to melt.  Thus, the icicles.

Of course, if it melts a bit more, the whole pack of snow   s l o w l y   slides down the face of the awning.  It freezes again when it leaves the awning surface, but there's a chunk of snow that bent over the 45 degree angle where the top meets the front.  So it curls under as it slides.  Thus, the (almost) horizontal icicles.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	25.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 50.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/50
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The next morning

Yesterday's storm has moved on... for us.  When I took this, the storm still covered Boston to Portland and continued to dump snow on them.  It's amazing to think the sun can be shining in a cloudless sky here, and 3 hours east, not a glimpse of it can be seen.

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	36.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 72.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/400
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Stormy weather

I took this photo last Friday, leaving work.  The parking lot cleared out right quick - the weather people had been saying that this was a big storm.  It turned out to be pretty big for Boston, who got close to 3 feet of snow, but I only got about 1 foot at my house.  We don't think of a foot of snow as a lot.

F Number	4.9
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	25.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 50.0 mm)
Exposure Time	0.3
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Snowy end of the year

Got back to back storms, and this is what it looked like trying to walk the dog.  All told, got about 14 inches (35cm) of snow.  This isn't going to melt until spring.

F Number	5.5
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	34.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 68.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The shortcut

Walking down to the bottom of Vale, there's a long path with a hairpin turn that goes gently, gradually down the hill.  You can just make out the top part of that path - it's where the wooden fencing ends at the centre of the photo.  It only takes 5 minutes to walk that way, but there's always The Shortcut.  In the summer, this is full of growth; jewelweed and who knows what else fills this up, and overhead, the trees' canopies knit together to close off the view of the sky.  It's steep, but not too bad.  This is the first time I tried this in the winter without snowshoes.  Not too bad.  The steepest part is under that massive fallen tree, and I see I didn't slide at all there.

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/100
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Making tracks

Looks like a local dog was thirsty.  These tracks are too big to be a raccoon or skunk.  I've seen both of those tracks (and the animals too!) down here.  The skunks have already been active digging up grubs under the frozen grass.  Man, can they dig!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Snow! Snow?

Yes, snow.  It finally arrived on the last day of February.  The robins have been here for at least two weeks (very early in the season) and they have been enjoying the berries on these ornamental trees for a couple of days.  The snow doesn't really seem to bother them.  They can't find the berries on the ground, under the snow, so they fly into the trees and pull them off.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	33.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 66.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/80
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Late season broccoli

We have some broccoli that we've been growing in a pot in the back yard.  We've had a little snow, which doesn't seem to bother it at all.  Soon, it'll be really done for the season, but for now I'm enjoying this green!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Skywatch Friday

Our first snow of the season fell yesterday, and it was still here this morning.  But that sky! A group of photobloggers post a photo of their skies each Friday - it's called Skywatch Friday. Click the link to see photos from round the world.

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The last snow storm

How's that for an optimistic post!

Yesterday, the weather forecast was for 6 inches of wet, heavy snow.  The storm moved farther out to sea and spared us; we got something like a half inch of snow before it turned to rain.  The people in Maine got hit though.  Not a very fun April Fool's Day prank!

I took this while driving to work; left it on auto program and blindly pointed out the window.

F Number	9.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/500
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The snow is melting quickly now.  Cowhorn Creek is open down in Vale, and it's very easy to walk there, even down where it's shaded.  This photo is about a week old.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/40
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Snow insects

Apparently it's warm enough to hatch the spring insects.  These seem too small to be adults who have overwintered, but I'm no entomologist.  We saw dozens of these crawling on the tops of the ice and snow down near the river.  They are no more than 10mm long.

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Spring birds

Not easy to see in this snow squall, but the spring birds have made an appearance!  There is a robin (higher up) and a female cardinal near the bottom.  They've come to eat the berries off of these ornamental cherry trees.  Or maybe they're ornamental crab apples, I can never tell.  Anyway, they were a little annoyed at finding them encased in ice.  It rained the night before and put a glaze of ice on everything.  They really had to work for these berries, but they have very strong beaks!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/320
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Thawing

The small creeks that feed the Mohawk River are beginning to thaw out.  This one is at the Kiwanis Park off of NY Route 5S in Rotterdam Junction.

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Geese at SCCC

There is a patch of open water on the watery cul-de-sac behind the community college.  Canada geese have stopped here; I can only guess that these are an early contingent heading north.  This was frozen solid two weeks ago.

They didn't want to shake my hand, but they weren't too disturbed by my presence either.  You can see how little the ice has receded up the bank.  In a week where I'm standing will be impassable mud. hip deep!

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire