tropicalbats.com
  • Home
  • Bats
  • Places of note
    • Suriname
    • Costa Rica
    • Norway
    • The UK >
      • London
    • The United States
  • critter essays
  • Birds
    • Suriname birds
  • tropicalbats blog
  • Coins: Errors, Varieties and Photography

Bombay Hook - Great Egret

8/31/2017

3 Comments

 
Bombay Hook is a vast expanse of marshes, so much of the time the birds are visible but quite far off.  Most of the photos from this trip were taken with a Canon L 100-400 telephoto lens, which is an awesome lens, but there is still only so much one can do.  The first day was rainy so lighting was a problem as it just wasn't bright enough for those fast shutter speeds and low ISO's one would like, but some nice birding was done and a few decent pics came out of it.

​First up,  a great egret.  These birds are very common and this one was hunting for fish along a canal near the road.
Picture
A hunting I will go - Great Egret
3 Comments

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

8/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Next up, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

​BHNWR is a large federal wildlife refuge located in southern Delaware run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The 16,000 acre refuge was originally purchased in 1937 by proceeds from the federal Duck Stamp program as a way to preserve a large breeding and migratory area for waterfowl.

​Most of the place is a great whacking tidal salt marsh, and while hunting is allowed and actively pursued by many at some times of the year, mostly the place is just crawling with birders.  Because, well, the place is a birder's paradise.  In the next few blog posts I will put up photos of some of the birds that we found there during the summer, as still have never had to pleasure of being there during migration.

​For now, here is a panorama photo of the Shearness Pool, one of several large, shallow pools that you can view from the access road.  Oh yeah, most of the birding here is done by car so no long hikes of doom!  But there are a few short trails to observation towers if you really want to face the swarming hordes of mosquitoes and deer flies.  Of note, you'll be fine once you climb up the tower and have mostly bug-free birding.
Picture
View of the Shearness Pool from the observation tower
Okay, and one quick factoid.  The name Bombay Hook has nothing to do with India or pirate captains.  It is a perversion of an old Dutch name for the area "Boompjes Hoeck" meaning Little Tree Point.
0 Comments

BrickFair Virginia 2017

8/29/2017

1 Comment

 
So the BrickFair event is five days long, but for the first three days it is just for those who sign up to be part of the whole thing.  People who just want to come and see all the Lego creations arrive as "The Public" during the weekend.  So for three days there is lots of set up going on and events and talks all related to, you guessed it, Lego.
Picture
The first day only a few things are set up yet. And the Dulles Expo Center is a HUGE space, maybe six times the size of what is seen here.
Picture
A trainyard waiting for its trains to arrive
Picture
Opening ceremonies the first participants on the first evening
But come the weekend, thousands of people pour through to see all the Lego and buy things from the vendors.  This year I didn't have the time to take a lot of photos of all the constructions, but I took a few macro shots of some to show the level of detail put into otherwise giant Lego builds.
​
Picture
A well-camouflaged army on the attack
Picture
Scene from downtown
Picture
And lots of sunflowers out in the countryside
A couple things were so big that I did have to take a quick photo
​
Picture
This amazing USS Missouri must be 20 feet long and super detailed. Stunning!
Picture
The Last Supper, built out of countless little 1x1 Lego bricks. See the power box on the right for scale!
So, while I did not have a contraption entered myself, I was part of The Great Ball Contraption (GBC) table.  I helped mostly with it when it was up and running during public hours to keep all the hundreds of little balls going around when they got stuck or popped out of a contraption.  Essentially each participant builds a little module that has a bin that catches the balls, something that moves the balls along, and then a way of spitting them out into the capture bin of the next contraption.  In this way a pile of people who have never seen each others creations can all show up and just align them one after another in a big rectangle and the balls will, in theory, just keep making a continuous loop.  In reality since every part must be Lego, they can and do fail after hours and hours of continuous running (a total of 13 hours for the event).  
Picture
Connor Christenson sitting at "Double Trouble" and happy with the test results (note the big bucket of balls for testing the machines)
Picture
And if you need someone to run the transformer, well, you have to build it out of Lego! This robot was my only construction during the event so I am duly proud of it
During public hours, it is mayhem to try and keep every machine running, but there are a lot of folks helping out and many of the machines worked flawlessly. 
Picture
The film crew interviewing Tom Atkinson, head of the Great Ball Contraption section, as they film the whole thing while running during public hours
Picture
Looks a lot different from the first picture with everything set up. This photo was taken just minutes after the doors first opened to the public as any time later and all the people would block the view
And that's it for BrickFair Virginia 2017.  Much fun was had and look for another blog post next year on the 2018 event!
Picture
Minifigs R Us
1 Comment

BrickFair Virginia 2017

8/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Well it has been a while since I posted, as things got very busy.  But I am back at it and first up is to finish showing pics from BrickFair Virginia 2017.  So let's start with who goes to these things?  A giant convention showing off hundreds of amazing Lego creations and vendors selling Lego?  Well, sometimes it is easier to know your audience by reading the bumper stickers in the parking lot, so here is a trove of photos from the parking lot.  Enjoy.
Picture
Arrive in style with this teeny tiny micro from Europe and vintage bags and cooler strapped on top! The sticker says "Built in der woods by elves"
Picture
Showing off the fandom
Picture
A BrickFair afficianodo
Picture
See where all this is going?
Picture
Cool vehicle and license plate
Picture
Was this one too obvious?
Picture
Lego license plate holder is interesting...
Picture
Another plate
Picture
Certainly an unusual sticker. Wonder where you buy those?
Picture
Probably has kids, eh?
Picture
Very subtle
Picture
Not so subtle
Picture
Another convert
Picture
A unique little Lego bit here
Picture
Yep, I got it.
Picture
I think some of these folks have been to BrickFair before

​And finally, while not Lego this plate just says all you need to know about the driver
​
Picture
A great Groot plate (now say that five times fast)
0 Comments

BrickFair 2017

8/7/2017

0 Comments

 
Next up...  Photos from BrickFair 2017 at the Dulles Expo Center in Virginia.  I didn't make any of these Lego creations, but I enjoyed seeing them and will post some photos the next day or two.
Picture
Who ya gonna call? Lego Ghostbusters!!!
0 Comments

Brown thrasher

8/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Just a quick pic of a brown thrasher from northern Virginia
Picture
Brown thrasher from northern Virginia
0 Comments

Bluet Damselflies (Enallagma sp.)

8/3/2017

1 Comment

 
There are a number of species of these bluet damselflies, and I am not completely sure of these so just leaving it at genus level identification.  This pair was flying and perching among a lot of spider webs, which did not seem to bother them.
Picture
Bluet damselflies on emergent vegetation over the Potomac River at Dyke Marsh, Virginia
This youngster did not seem quite so adept around the webs.
Picture
Damselfly in a spider web
1 Comment

Common Tern - post-breeding molt

8/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Now with most of the young birds out of the nest and all, the adults of many species are in molt.  The warblers will become LBJ's (little brown jobs) and the male ducks will lose much of their coloration.  And here is a common tern molting from its breeding plumage to winter plumage.
Picture
Common tern molting from breeding plumage to winter plumage on the Potomac River, Virginia
0 Comments

    Author

    Keith Christenson - Wildlife Biologist

    Categories

    All
    Akershus Fortress
    Angry Baby
    Aurlandsfjord
    Bat Coins
    Bats
    Bird
    Birds
    Blast From The Past
    Borneo
    Butterfly
    Camouflage
    Caterpillar
    Caving
    Comets
    Costa Rica
    Crazy Video Links
    Crazy Video Links
    Cricket
    Cuba
    Denmark
    Dominican Republic
    Festivals
    Finse
    Fish
    Flower
    Flowers
    Folk Museum
    Freia Chocolates
    Frog
    Frogner Park
    Geese
    Goose
    Grønland
    Harvestman
    Hawaii
    Hedgehog
    Holiday Cards
    Huk
    Ice
    Insect
    Ireland
    Isopods
    Jamaica
    Kolsastoppen
    London
    Mammals
    Mexico
    Mourning Cloak
    Mushrooms
    Naeroyfjorden
    National Day
    Norway
    Ohio
    Oslo
    Oslo Opera House
    Oslo Summer Park
    Panama
    Patterns
    Pennsylvania
    People
    Pond
    Puerto Rico
    Roof Animals
    Scotland
    Sognsvann
    Spiders
    Spring
    Suriname
    United States
    United States
    Venezuela
    Virginia
    Washington Dc Area
    Washington Dc Area
    West Virginia
    Woodpecker
    World's End
    Zambia

    Author

    Keith Christenson
    Wildlife Biologist


    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    June 2010

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photo used under Creative Commons from Evil_Prince