Saturday, 11 August, 2007
Occluded Sun
Recently, I decided that I haven't been getting up and out for sunrises on farm country. On this morning, I was out there before morning twilight, snapping away in the faintest light. When one location didn't seem as good this year as it was in the past, I moved to another site.
Suddenly I saw the strangest brilliant light behind a tree in the fence row. It took me a moment to realize -- it was the sun.
Gypsy Moth Update: Yesterday someone from the Maryland Department of Agriculture stopped by to make an estimate of the Gypsy Moth population for next year. Using binocculars, he counted the number of egg masses on trees in a small area and extrapolated from that.
He estimated that there are 4,000 egg masses per acre in this area of Catoctin Mountain. There are 1000 eggs in each egg mass. You can do the math on how many ichy, creepy Gypsy Moth catapillars we will have munching on the tree leaves next spring.
Yesterday, there were little parasitic wasps crawling around on the egg masses laying their eggs. Go little wasps! But they only kill 10-15 percent of the eggs.
Maybe I'll stay in Rhode Island next summer.
(Photo info: Sony A100, iso 100, Sigma 75-200 lens at 105mm, f/3.5, 1/160 sec, tripod), Hessong Bridge Road, Frederick County, Maryland, August 1, 2007
Posted By: donnamhughes | Comment (7)
Landscapes 2007, Frederick County 2007
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