Thursday, September 16, 2010

Clusters

Another scheduled post brought to you by this mostly-absent blogger. I'm home for now and should be back to my regular blogging habits soon - though probably only for a short while. Thank you everyone for stopping by and commenting. You folks are the best!


Close to home, or maybe closer to Frank's place, this cluster of purple bell-shaped flowers caught my eye. I'm sure someone out here knows what these are called but I don't.




I believe that this cluster of orange berries was growing on a Mountain Ash. This tree was on the front lawn of the bait shop on our way to the cottage. We stopped by to pick up some worms.




They had bins of fishing lures, hooks and other devices to entice the walleye toward our rods.




But the most interesting cluster I saw on this day was a group of ten Turkey vultures soaring above the highway. This photo was snapped through the windshield.

Back with more in a few days.

53 comments:

Pauline said...

Superb photos as always. Love the glimpse of soaring vultures...

Brian Miller said...

smiles. i have been doing quite a bit of fishing of late so the lures pic deefinitely caught me eye...the first of the flowers...they are so delicate looking.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Your photos are always so al-lur-ing. Yes, I liked the shot of the lures! You are having one wonderful extended summer Hilary!!

Land of shimp said...

What a vibrant post :-)

Here's hoping they're biting! My husband and son went on their annual fishing trip this last weekend, and I guess they greatly depleted the fish supply in the mountains.

I don't what the purple flowers are, but don't they look like Thumbelina's hat? In every watercolor depiction I've ever seen, she's been wearing one of those. Have fun and I look forward to your return Hilary.

messymimi said...

I will be looking for clusters today. Amazing what one artist can inspire us non artists to look for.

xxx said...

Your photos are magnificent!

I like Autumn and I hope yours is likeable too ;)

Thank you for making the time to visit with me and for your lovely words.

Lori said...

I so enjoy the photo's you share. Hope the fish are biting and that you don't ever stop taking pictures and sharing them with us. :)

Daryl said...

ant flowers?

Dawning Inspiration said...

Hey!!! At first glance I thought those fishing lures were hot peppers of some kind!! Great color capture!

Anonymous said...

what colorful photos! love the purple flowers - don't know what they are either.

Karen said...

Love all your pics! Goodness that one of the vultures doesn't look like it was through your windshield! Mine would've shown pollen, dirt and dog nose smudges. :P

Frank Baron said...

Wonderful splash of colour in the lure shot and the one of the vultures came through much better than I would have expected. Rain must have recently rinsed my windshield. :)

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I want your camera - and your eye.

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos, Hilary. Although so many people have stopped blogging, your site is one that is robust with such a great following. And for good reason: it's great! lol! : )

Reb said...

The lures are very pretty and what a great shot through the windscreen. The flowers are probably Campanula (bellflower)either Persicifolia or Latifolia. (One of my favourites for the garden.) Lovely shot of the berries too, I think you are right about it being a mountain ash.

Anonymous said...

A delightful set of clusters!

Tabor said...

Keep that camera at your side. NO telling what you will see next. Those lures are gorgeous!

Indrani said...

Those fishing hooks looked like colorful candies to me until I closely observed them, I guess they look the same to fish too.:P

Brenda Pruitt said...

Those first flowers are so sweet and delicate. There are bound to be fairies living there.
Brenda

Cloudia said...

you too!




superb shots indeed (yawn, as usual for you :)



Warm Aloha from Honolulu

Comfort Spiral

Nick said...

The fish hooks would make a great poster, very colorful. Good one Hilary.

Tammie Lee said...

so much beauty. It is wonderful that you get out to enjoy many things and places.

Kelly H-Y said...

The colors in these photos is absolutely stunning!

Don said...

Oh no...vultures! Not a good sign! Love your photos.

Kat said...

The colors are amazing! Wow! :)

Nancy said...

Your photos are always interesting. I wonder what the turkey vultures were watching.

Unknown said...

love the photos!

Joanna Jenkins said...

I've never seen a turkey vulture before-- and you saw TEN! Wow.

As always, all your photos are lovely. The colors are perfection.

xo jj

Zuzana said...

I am so happy you are enjoying life Hilary.;) You images are as always incredibly beautiful in colour and shape.
xo

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

I am really impressed of the clearness of colours from your wonderfull photo's, flowers like art "made by Hilary"welldone, vist my blog please. Greetings JoAnn Holland

Jinksy said...

The purple flowers look like some kind of Campanula, but the leaves are not ones I recognose - sorry! :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful little purple flowers and really colorful berries... and I have no idea what they are either.

Wonder waht the turkey vultures see on the grond that made them circle like that... shudder!

Dianne said...

I have such trouble capturing birds in flight so I doubly appreciate how beautifully you do it - time after time

love the sweet purple flowers
and an alluring box of colors :)

Unknown said...

I like your 'cluster' images all clustered together in this post : )

Catherine said...

Lovely pictures. The birds looks so free.

Hilary said...

• Pauline, thank you. I often see them in much smaller numbers but this were practically a party!

• Thank, Brian. I've been enjoying a fair bit of fishing this year too. Here's to many more good catches. :)

• Bonnie, you cracked me up. Thanks so much for that. :)

• Thank you, Alane. You're so right about how the flowers look like Thumbelina's hat. Your keen observations don't surprise me anymore, but they sure do make me smile. :)

• Thanks, Messymimi. That's a fine compliment. :)

• Robyn, thank you. It's difficult not to love the season.. particularly with my camera pressed to my eye. It's how I have fun. :)

• Lori, thanks so kindly. :)

• Daryl, they might just be. ;)

• SD, I can see why you'd think so. They kind of reminded me of decorative peppers. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Jillsy, thanks kindly. Much appreciated. :)

• Karen, it was taken at the very last second.. right through the highest point of the windshield. Benny is a small dog so not too many nose prints up that high. ;)

• Thanks, Frank. That must be it. ;)

• Thank you, MJ. I'm willing to share my photos.. but I'm hanging onto the rest. ;)

• Michael, thanks very much for such kind words. They mean a lot to me. :)

• Reb, thank you so much for the flower info. Much appreciated. :)

• Thank you, LadyFi. :)

• Tabor, thank you. My camera is practically glued to me almost all the time. :)

• Indrani, a good observation. I suppose they do. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Brenda, I do believe you could be right. :)

• Thank you, Cloudia. Never a yawn to hear kind words. :)

• Thanks kindly, Nick. Much appreciated. :)

• Tammie Lee, thank you. I sure do enjoy it. :)

• Thanks very much, Kelly. :)

• Don, thank you. It is a good sign depending on how you look at it. They keep the environment clean. :)

• Thanks, Kat. :)

• Nancy, thank you. I'm not sure what they were watching but I'm pretty sure it wasn't watching back. ;)

• Welcome, Life is Good and thanks for the kind words. :)

• Joanna, thanks so much. The turkey vultures are pretty common around here though ten was more than I'd seen at one time before. :)

• Zuzana, thank you my friend. Much appreciated. :)

• Welcome, JoAnn and thanks for such kind words. You have some fine photography your own self. Thanks for finding me.. I hope you'll return. :)

• Thanks, Jinsky. It appears you concur with Reb. Much appreciated, my friend. :)

• Jane, no doubt whatever they saw is no longer there. Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

• Dianne, thanks very much. You never fail to make me smile when you drop by. :)

• Becky, thanks kindly. Much appreciated. :)

• Thanks, Marianne. I'm glad you like them. :)

Velvet Over Steel said...

Beautiful photos! I esp. love the bight colors of the fishing lures!

Following and glad I found you!
Have a wonderful weekend!!

HUGS,
Coreen

Mage said...

I'm always amazed at the beauty you find everywhere. Thank you.

CiCi said...

The berries are so plump and clean and a beautiful color. The purple flowers are a great color too.

lime said...

love those bright fishing lures. i guess the fish do too!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Hilary: Beautiful macros of the flowers and the jigs.

Dave said...

I enjoyed your nice colourful photos Hilary - Dave

Shrinky said...

The first one of those bluebells is enchantiong, but of course, they are all superb, as ever. Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Hilary said...

• Welcome, Velvet and thanks for the kind words. I hope you'll be back again soon. :)

• Thank you, Maggie. Your kind comment made me smile. :)

• TechnoBabe, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. :)

• Lime, I suppose they would. Kind of like Skittles for fish. ;)

• Thanks very much Fishing Guy. :)

• Dave, thank you, and I hope you'll be feeling better before too long. :)

• Thank you, Shrinky. Much appreciated. :)

who said...

Be mindful of those Turkey vultures they are a prehistoric bunch.

I have heard of them dropping skunks onto car windshields and in that case the wreck that ensued totaled the car.

I think they hail from Australia but are of British descent (convicts dumped there before the no dumping laws you see nowdays just about every elsewhere.

Cheryl Kohan said...

This collection of photos just really showcases your talent as a photographer, Hilary. I don't know how you do it.

Somebody has probably already said this but I think those purple bell-shaped flowers are a type of campanula (called bell flower, interestingly enough). Very pretty photo.

I love those orange berries, too, and the lures are gorgeous.

So glad you're having such a nice summer with Frank.

Maggie May said...

Love your clusters!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

SandyCarlson said...

Utterly gorgeous! The colors are downright exciting.

Hilary said...

• Welcome, DC. It sounds like turkey vultures have done their share of damage. That sure would be an unfortunate mess. I did have a giggle about your last paragraph. Thanks for the visit. :)

• Cheryl, you're so kind. Thank you very much. Your thoughtful words have just made my day. :)

• Thanks very much, Maggie May. :)

• Thanks kindly, Sandy. I'm glad you like them. :)

Sandra said...

You always make me want a new camera. Of course, that totally discounts the fact that a great camera doesn't necessarily make one a great photographer! :) Beautiful as usual, friend.

Hilary said...

Thanks very much, Sandra. You always know how to make me smile. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm used to seeing turkey vultures, but that is a bigger gaggle (or whatever you call a group of turkey vultures!) than I have ever seen before.
That 3rd shot is quite alluring. ;)

Hilary said...

KC.. I just looked it up. A group of vultures is called a venue or a committee but when they're circling in the air as these were, they're called a kettle. As for your pun, I'd call that hilarious. :)