Merck Forest Mountain View

Here is a picture that I took while hiking up old town road at Merck Forest in Rupert Vermont. You are looking at the green mountains of Vermont. There are so many wonderful nature scenes at Merck Forest that we go multiple times a year and take many, many pictures. Enjoy!

Juevenille / Baby Rabitt Pictures

Just a nice picture of a young rabbit in my yard.

Downy Woodpecker Pictures (More)

So, the downy woodpecker let me get even closer and I was able to get quite a few decent pictures. You may notice that these pictures are much higher quality than the previous downy pictures in this blog. Here they are, enjoy!

Carolina Chickadee Pictures

Here a few great photos of a Carolina Chickadee picking sunflower seeds!

Pictures of a green grasshopper

Not much to say except this grasshopper was checking out the garden one day and was not camera-shy...

Downy Woodpecker - Upstate NY

Here are a few shots of a Downy woodpecker that allowed me to get quite close. He was mostly working over the corn stalks and seemed to be quite busy. Enjoy!

Sunflowers are Cool!

Sunflowers are so much fun. They come in so many varieties it is almost impossible to get bored with them. Of course, I enjoy the classic yellow ones, but some of the sunburst and red varities are very striking. The red sunburst sunflower you see in this picture is nine feet tall! There is another next to it that is almost ten feet; amazing! And if you enjoy bird watching, the gold finches can be found pecking away at the sunflowers all fall.

If you click on these pictures, I've exported this file in 1920 x 1080 so you can set it as your wallpaper. Enjoy!

Super Bumpy Squash

We ended up with a lot of unique squash hybrids this year; all created by nature, not purposely. One of my favorites is this super lumpy, bumpy, colorful squash. It is quite large, about 12" in diameter and the longer it sits, the more bumpy it gets.

There are only 3 on the vine (that I have found thus far) and each one has a vastly different color arrangement. One is almost all green, another is mostly yellow, and another is the green / orange combo you see in this picture. Enjoy!

Refinished Remington 870

Here are a few pictures of a Remington 870 that I refinished for a friend. 80% of the finish on the forend was worn off and the butt stock was slathered with a very thick layer of poly. I striped it, lightly sanded where necessary, applied multiple coats of Tru-oil, and lightly compounded the finish to a high-gloss. Results below.

Box Elder Beetles

You may have seen these little buggers out and about, but like me, you may not know what they are. I did some research and found out that these are box elder beetles. Ironically (or not so), there are quite a few box elder trees in my back yard. The beetles don't seem to eat anything other than the box elders (I would not mind if they eat them to the ground), but you may notice them congregating in various locations. These were on a slate beside my corn garden. This photo is of adolescents. Adults have a mostly black top-side and I believe this coloring will appear as the wings grow in. This photo was taken in the middle of June, 2009

Female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

I saw a small flock (are they referenced as flocks?) of rose breasted grosbeaks grazing on an old railroad bed out behind my house. I have seen a pair in my garden every now and then, but never a flock. I estimated there was between 5 and 7 pairs. Usually, the grosbeaks are very skittish and difficult to picture. All of the other grosbeaks flew away, but this female stayed close and still for over a minute; enough time to adjust the lens through the thick underbrush, whack a couple of mosquitoes off my neck, and snap these pictures. Enjoy!

Squash, squash, and more squash!

I took some unknown squash seedlings that emerged from my parents compost heap and placed them at various locations in my garden and yard. you see, my parents have a significant garden with many varieties of squash. It seems that squash will cross-pollinate and produce hybrids. I've ended up with quite a few interesting varieties of squash; at least seven unique varieties thus far. Here are a few pictures of our "hybrid" squash. I plan on cooking and eating the larger varieties just to see how they are. As a side note, I am also growing standard summer squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and acorn squash.

More Select Pictures; Mom's Garden Flowers

My mother has a large variety of lilies; here are a few pictures that resulted from me practicing with my new Canon XSi... Enjoy!

Canon Rebel XSi; Pictures of Garden Frog

I have been researching DSLRs for a while now and happened to come across a great deal on a Canon XSi with two lenses. I am extremely pleased with the camera, its ease of use, features, and outstanding picture quality. I have never owned an SLR before but did enjoy photography. I thought my Fuji F40fd was a good camera... Now I know it was only marginal (although, it has its place). I am becoming addicted to taking pictures with the XSi and the more I learn, the more I like it. Here is a great shot of a garden frog that I took just today with the standard 18-55mm lens it ships with. I've saved it in 1920 x 1080; feel free to use this as your desktop wallpaper, if you please.

Annual Minutes Disclosure Services SCAM

It never ceases to amaze me; the quantity, offensiveness, and ridiculous methods of extortion that exist. If you have recently received a letter from a company called Annual Minutes Disclosure Services, beware. This is a scam. Many others have reported similar instances of this scam. It seems the keys to the scam is an official looking logo, a mailing address similar to that of other government offices, and references to state laws in regards to business records.

I have not seen a report that shows the same address as the one in the letter that I received just this week. The address is:

Annual Minutes Disclosure Services
Business Processing Division
911 Central Avenue #134
Albany, NY 12206

That is not far from me. I have half a mind to go down there and see what actually exists at this address.

I have scanned in the letter and the envelope for your reference. Update: I originally posted that there was no phone number; someone (thanks, Mark) pointed out that there is a number on the first page. When called, you will hear a very cheesy message that simply states who they are and that they will call you back. I'm going to see if I can get a call back...

Baby Deer

Here is a photo of a baby deer that I happened upon while it was stumbling across the road. As I slowed down in my truck, it wobbled over to the side of the road and plopped down while its mother, from about 30 feet, watched anxiously. I took this photo and left promptly.

First Post!

This is my first post. I plan to use this blog to record some of my interests. We'll see how this progresses...