G's Blog: June

JUNE 2025 (Reverse chronological this time)

Note: If videos won't play full screen, you can always view (some of) them via my Youtube channel.

Milkweed growth update (June 30).
I added random bird sound (Rose-breasted Grosbeak).

Carolina Wren on rain gauge.

About 15 stacked images (in Deep Sky Stacker, with which I'm a novice). The Milky Way is visible and you might be able to spot Cygnus and the summer triangle. North is to the right, roughly. There's a firefly blinking in and out in lower right. The audio (frogs and train) is from July 3 about midnight, not much different from June 29 when I shot the night sky after my firefly session. Camera: Canon 80D with kit lens 18-55mm (18mm) at ISO 12800.

This is a first for me!

Fireflies around 2am. This is a compilation of 17 thirty-second exposures.

I recorded pond audio too, aerator and frogs, heard in the video version. It's not a real video but I liked the slow screen update when adding layers so I screen-captured that and added the sound.

June 29

One of the cool things about birds.

The audio is from last month, one benefit of making it a video.

June 29

Tonight's crescent Moon. I took a short walk on a long dam for this, hoping for a glimpse of Mercury but the clouds/haze said no. Nice night for a dam-walk though.

The Carolina Wrens are giving me lots of good photo-ops lately. I'm tempted to do another animation including this one.

First Day Lilly

First Bee Balm

Yay - the Bluebirds have started their 3rd round.

Milkweed open for business and finally pulling in some butterflies. This one is a Great-spangled Fritillary. Haven't seen any Monarchs yet.

June 27

Milkweed growth. I suspect it will get taller but I didn't plan ahead for scale so this may be the end of the animation.

June 24 (photos) June 25 (audio) Carolina Wren. They don't usually sit in one spot for that long, perhaps it's a juvie.

Young Red-bellied woodpecker. Safe to call this a first-year juvie I think.

June 21 - Tufted Titmouse

June 20 - Eastern Wood Pewee, another tracking experiment.

This is the original without the tracking.

June 19 - More Catbird and jelly fun

June 18 - Chipping Sparrow, video tracking/stabilizing experiment, originally shot in 2023 (April 20)

June 17

Common Milkweed, growing like the weeds they are. (Updated June 19)

Meanwhile, here comes the Swamp Milkweed.
As with the Common MW above, you can see the dried stalks of last year's plants.

There must be a good term for this but I've always called it beak-feeding.

June 16

Catbird is quick to come for jelly. Minimal edit, I love the slowed-down audio of the instant replay.

June 15

Another symmetrical odometer reading, restoring balance to an off-kilter universe.

A Northern Flicker stopped by as I was refilling the jelly. The call at the end was dubbed in, recorded last week.
June 14

This colourful conjunction did happen but here I combined two images for focus.

I think this is what they call getting photobombed. Ms Oriole is the boldest of the Orioles coming around, relatively comfortable being photographed through the open window.

View of 2nd clutch Bluebird nestlings using the borescope (first time). Less disturbance than removing the nest box. Ma Bluebird voiced objection but refrained from aerial defense. Thanks to Nick Ridout for the scope.

Borescope

A rather wet looking Ma Bluebird

A composite of Ma Bluebird (left) and one of the 1st clutch juveniles.

June 12

Wet & young Bluebird

Ma making a delivery to the 2nd clutch hatchlings with two of the 1st clutch kids on the roof.

Ma Bluebird coming for take-out.

June 11, Gray Catbird and jelly. Also seen: Blue Jay; Downy Woodpecker; Cardinal.

June 11, male Bluebird, I call him "Pa".

"Uncle" Wilf and Sheila

Uncle Tris and Nancy

Me and Martin

June 11 scans, recently discovered photos from our 2002 trip to the UK.

June 9 - Northern Flicker call (video)

Male Flicker, photo from January

June 7 - Jeff's music party
Left to right: me, Paul, Ginny, Nate.

June 7 - Composite of one of the Red-heads incoming

Video Link

June 6 - sitting in with the Greasy Boys, one of my two songs.

June 5
Not just one, a whole flock of Bobwhites in my driveway today. I sat in my car for a while taking shots/video with phone but eventually crept into the house for the big lens and they were still around.
I didn't know what they were, thought maybe something to do with my neighbor as they seemed relatively mellow. Googled "grouse-like birds in Ohio" and it suggested Ruffed Grouse, but folks on the bird ID FB group unanimously said Northern Bobwhite.
Merlin didn't help me for some unknown reason.
𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 & 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 50 of 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.