Bloom Photos – Page 3

American robin and grackle taking a bird bath

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra, extra

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Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “extra, extra”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

When we visited Washington D.C. a few months ago, I decided we would take a tour bus to travel around the capital and see a lot of interesting places at once. Of course we got on and off many times for some up close sightseeing, but I also took a lot of quick photos from the inside of the bus. Did you notice I said quick photos? Being inside the bus means I didn’t have the ability to frame the shots the way I wanted to, including getting people and unwanted things out of the way. That made for a few extras in several of my pictures. This guy and his coffee cup are a perfect example of the many pictures I took from the bus. This is the US Capitol seen from the side. The cherry blossoms made up for the coffee guy as the “nice” extras in the picture.

This is the most narrow house in Georgetown, part of Washington DC. Too bad that tree happened to be in the way while I was taking a picture.

The most narrow house in Georgetown, Washington DC

The Washington Monument was being renovated while we were there so depending on the angle you photographed it, you could include a nice crane in your shot like I did.

The Washington Monument and cherry blossoms in Washington DC

I was trying to photograph this American robin in the gardens of the Smithsonian castle when this grackle showed up to say hi. I bet he really wanted to be in the picture.

I didn’t take this last picture in Washington D.C. but I love the way this duck photobombed my photo of a white pelican. That’s a big extra in that picture.

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra, extra duck in front of white pelican — WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra, extra duck in front of white pelican

June 13, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bird photos, Bloom Photos, Washington DCTags: American robin, grackle, most narrow house in Washington DC Georgetown, US Capitol, Washington monument, white pelican 18 Comments

Macro Monday: bee on a Matilija poppy

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

The large white poppy with a yellow center featured below is called a Matilija poppy, more technically Romneya coulteri. This giant white poppy is a native flower of California. I saw these two poppies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and not in the middle of nature, where it’s probably too dry for these flowers to easily bloom with our ongoing drought. The bees seemed to really like them and they let me take their pictures without a fuss. Enjoy these few macros of bees on white poppies!

Bee flying in front of a white poppy (Matilija poppy)

Check out the huge bags full of pollen on this bee’s legs. That’s quite a busy bee!

Bee on a Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri)

I wonder what honey made with these Matilija poppies would taste like, but these flowers really attracted the bees.

Close-up of a bee collecting nectar on a giant white poppy with yellow center

June 1, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, Flower PhotosTags: bee collecting nectar on a white poppy, bees with bags of pollen on their legs, close-up of bees, giant white poppies California, giant white poppy California, large white poppy with yellow center, Macro Monday, macros of bees, Matilija poppies, Matilija poppy, nature photography, photos of bees, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, Romneya coulteri poppy 4 Comments

Travel theme: Blossom

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “blossom”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I was lucky to visit Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia when every tree was in bloom this past April. Let me share just a few of the many beautiful tree blossoms the area has to offer in the spring.

Washington D.C. is known for its cherry blossoms, but once you see these pink magnolias in bloom, also known as tulip trees, you may just fall in love with them as I did. There were many, many of them in the gardens of the Smithsonian red castle.

Tulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castleTulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle — Tulip trees – pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle

Tulip tree blossoms - pink magnolia blooms — Tulip tree blossoms – pink magnolia blooms

You’ll find many cherry blossoms (some of them white, the others pink) all around Washington D.C. but the highest concentration is around the Tidal Basin. They sure are pretty to look at and walk by, and when their petals fall, they look like snow, except it’s not freezing cold.

While visiting Thomas Jefferson’s estate at Monticello, I stumbled upon these lovely pink tree blossoms. I believe they belong to the dwarf almond tree.

There are many Eastern red bud trees in that area of the country and they sure welcome spring with their bright pink colors.

Dogwood trees were in bloom too, in various colors. This dogwood tree had yellow blooms.

When an Eastern red bud and a dogwood tree hang out together during blooming season, this is how beautiful they look next to each other.

Easter red bud tree and white dogwood tree blossoms

Finally I discovered the weeping cherry blossom tree during my trip. It’s a cross between a weeping willow and a cherry blossom tree. Getting lost underneath one of these trees wouldn’t be so bad.

Do you have favorite tree blossoms?

May 20, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant Photos, Tree Photos, Washington DCTags: Eastern red bud tree blooms, Eastern red bud tree blossoms, nature photography, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, photos of trees, pink cherry blossoms, pink magnolia blooms, pink magnolia blossoms, swarf almond tree pink blossoms, tulip tree blooms, tulip tree blossoms, weeping cherry blossom tree, weeping cherry tree blossoms, white cherry blossoms, yellow dogwood tree blossoms 14 Comments

Macro Monday: dandelion in bloom and in seed

I love dandelions. Their little splashes of yellow across the grass are like nature saying hello at my every footstep. Once they turn into seed, they give me the opportunity to make a wish while helping nature make more splashes of yellow. The San Diego dirt is so dry, dandelions are a rare occurrence here but I got the opportunity to see many of them during our vacation on the East Coast.

Here are a few close-ups of yellow dandelions. I’ve never noticed the many curled-up pistils all over the dandelion blooms. Click on each picture to see them in more detail. They’re pretty cool looking.

Close-up of a yellow dandelion with curled-up pistils

I couldn’t wait to pick this dandelion in seed and blow on it, but first I had to take a picture of it.

May 19, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant PhotosTags: blow dandelion seeds, dandelion bloom, dandelion close up, dandelion flower, dandelion in seed, dandelion macro, Macro Monday, nature photography, photos of blooms, yellow dandelion, yellow flowers 10 Comments

Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “work of art”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

During my recent trip to the East Coast, I got to see many works of art, including in the various Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. Some of the art you find in D.C. is larger than life, such as the Thomas Jefferson’s statue inside the Jefferson Memorial.

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art - Thomas Jefferson's statue at the Jefferson Memorial — WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art – Thomas Jefferson’s statue at the Jefferson Memorial

Or the Marting Luther King Memorial, the latest addition to the monuments around the Tidal Basin. The monument represents this famous line from Dr. Luther King’s speech in Washington: “Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope”. That quote is engraved on the side of the stone in which King is featured. What a great image for that quote. By the way, Martin Luther King directly faces the Jefferson Memorial, looking for hope in the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Sometimes man can takes nature and create beautiful works of art. I enjoyed photographing this small man-made waterfall from behind.

Of course nature makes some of the most beautiful works of art. I got to see a lot of them in the shape of stalagmites and stalactites when I visited Luray Caverns in Virginia, the largest caverns in the Eastern United States.

Luray Caverns - transparent stalactites with layers — Luray Caverns – transparent stalactites with layers

Luray Caverns - giant stalactites — Luray Caverns – giant stalactites

Here’s Mother Nature at work, displaying its latest creation, a small stalactite in the making. Another million years and it will be as big as the ones shown in the photo above!

Luray Caverns - small stalagmite — Luray Caverns – small stalagmite

Nature in the spring on the East coast displays many works of art in the form of tree blossoms. I got to enjoy many Eastern red bud trees in bloom. What a sight!

But I’ll admit that my favorite probably were the pink magnolias, or tulip trees. A cloudy sky that day made for a great background to photograph the pink magnolia blooms from under.