Winter is arriving. The holly berries are ripening. They litter the forest floor. The colours scream winter!
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
Winter is arriving. The holly berries are ripening. They litter the forest floor. The colours scream winter!
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
A Roe Deer buck (Capreolus capreoulus) catches a sniff of the photographer, but hasn't seen him yet.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
A pair of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
I'm sure that they suspect I'm here. One of them is saying, "If he shoots one of us, I'm never speaking to you again!"
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria) is a species of fern with a propensity for limestone.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
The quietness of the still forest pulled me deeper. I could hear the fall of a leaf as it travelled along its path back to the earth. The stand of birch trees amid a group of bracken in the stillness cried out to be captured to remember the peacefulness of the darkness's cover.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
The quietness of the still forest pulled me deeper. I could hear the fall of a leaf as it travelled along its path back to the earth. The stand of birch trees amid a group of bracken in the stillness cried out to be captured to remember the peacefulness of the darkness's cover.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
The rains have come and gone. The morning has broken. A brisk autumn walk home passes a pond framed by trees. The light is low on the horizon still. The day is beginning well.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
5
Sous la Cour, France
Sometimes you get the sunset, sometimes the sunset gets you. Weather was looking promising for this image and then the clouds moved in. Enjoyable evening at Tertre Gris. So calm and quiet. The occasional trail runner or hiker breaking the silence of the forest.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
Though it is a small detour, walking along this path is worth it. The fragrance from the pines is soothing. The days worries disappear with each exhalation. Peace.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
A pair of Scurfy twiglet (Tubaria furfuracea) growing on a dead branch.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
A pair of Scurfy twiglet (Tubaria furfuracea) growing on a dead branch.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
Overcast days make the reddish hue of this Daedaleopsis tricolor stand out against the mossy green and leaf clutter of autumn. Tried my hand at focus stacking. Didn't quite pull it off, but a nice sketchbook image to hold onto to remember this crisp dreary Novermber 1.
Daedaleopsis is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The name Daedaleopsis is a reference to Daedalus, the labyrinth-maker of myth. Similarly, the maze-like pattern of pores is taxonomically described as being daedaloid. DNA was recovered and sequenced from fragments of a nearly 7000-year-old fruit body of D. tricolor found in an early Neolithic village in Rome.
I set out tonight to find a sit spot and wait for the fauna come to me. I found a spot along a Bocage-or hedgerow. These areas are full of birds and other wildlife. The cloud cover made the evening light soft and dark. Not ideal, but still doable. I waited for a good half an hour before the first bird came close. A pair of chaffinch landed on some grasses about 20 metres/yards away. I managed to get one shot before he flew away. As the sun was setting a burst of wings flew off the ground about 50 metres away across the field. This Common Buzzard (Buteo Buteo) set up an observation point across from me. As I watched him, I thought, we are doing the same thing. He's looking for prey. Patience is his king. I need the same. Sitting and waiting is not my forte. I usually walk around looking for something to shoot. Waiting, hoping for something to appear is something I want to get better at.
For most of my life, waiting has seemed a waste of time. I always wanted it now. That instant gratification. Waiting for summer vacation to start, turning 16 and a drivers licence, turning 21 and being able to buy alcohol. Waiting seemed pointless. After 21, there weren't many things to look forward to anymore, at least not milestones like I had when I was younger. Time moved like molasses back then.
I've always loved birds of prey. They have fascinated me since I was a boy. A book my mom read me had a boy that raised a hawk and I wanted so badly to do the same. The patience needed to train a hawk was beyond my boyhood imagination's bounds. I recently read a book H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. A beautiful and inspiring story. The story resonated with me in more ways than one. Patience was one big takeaway. Something I'm going to try to develop. Today time passes by in the blink of an eye. Those big milestones rush at us faster than we want. Develop patience. The patience of hunger. Predators live that patience. When we are hungry the food can't be ready quick enough. This hawk can go for days without eating. Its patience allows it to believe that it will succeed eventually. It watches everything. Time doesn't fly it watches.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Rue des Grives
Bellevue, France
A Coypu also known as Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in the Lake Borniere in Bain-de-Bretagne. An invasive species introduced into Europe and North America from South America.
This curious coypu swam over to me to get a better look at me.
Connections
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Bellevue, France
A Coypu also known as Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in the Lake Borniere in Bain-de-Bretagne. An invasive species introduced into Europe and North America from South America.
This curious coypu swam over to me to get a better look at me.
Connections
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Bellevue, France
A Coypu also known as Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in the Lake Borniere in Bain-de-Bretagne. An invasive species introduced into Europe and North America from South America.
This curious coypu swam over to me to get a better look at me.
Connections
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Bellevue, France
The common Chaffinch has one of the prettiest songs of the various songbirds around here. Is he protecting his territory? Seeking love? A bit of both?
It's getting dark. This tree marks about a third of the way up the long hill home. The details are faint. The sky is bland. The age is seen but dim.