! Camouflage

The title of the post if u observed starts with a ! ("negation of" operator) .. coz I really failed to find a proper antonym for "Camouflage" which was what I intended my blog title to be .. for today... The best antonyms found from answer.com, thesarus.com are reveal, divulge, contrast (close .. but not really) .. Does anyone know a better antonym ????

Here are some pictorial hints to help u!!

Here is something I picked from the web just to give u an idea of what i mean by camouflage... imagine a butterfly camouflaged like this!! (btw.. hope u can spot the chick there!)

Falcon

One final post from the world of wild birds

The Raptor

True To The Name

After a slow week with very few posts.. here I am back again with a bang.. This time, true to the name of the blog, here is something straight from the wild....what better than the national emblem of the United States, the Bald Eagle.

PPl here are very poor at a few things...

• They can't count... counting 575$, given as 5 100's, 3 20's, a 10 and a 5 $ bill, is "impossible" for the most qualified and competent accountant here.

• They simply don't know how simple the metric systems of units are... They use pounds, miles, gallons, acres, Fahrenheit. Thank god there is no such complex unit for time .. they would have used it for sure!
  

• They cant name things properly... They call a game which is played only with the use of hands, head and shoulders... everything but the foot as "foot"ball. And no surprise, they call a beautiful bird, full of hair and feathers as "Bald" Eagle. You can see for urself.
  

The Lonely Kids of US

Kids in USA are a hell lot different from what we get to see in India.. They are taught to lead a completely independent life from day 1 (or atleast year 1). U can spot 2 yr kids in the airport carrying a tiny backpack (sometimes larger than them) with their baby food, a water bottle, video games/toys. The part I hate most about the way americans bring up their kids is that... the tiny lil kids.. less than an yr of age are pushed/pulled around in trolleys .. without they ever getting the love and warmth of hugging their mom !! its like they r training the kids to stay buckled up .. as they ought to... when they r driving (which is how more than 30% of average americans time is spent). I feel like talking to the kid to let know .. what it is missing for life !!!

U probably would never find a kid in India... all alone.. roaming around in a remote area as u can see here...Not great photography .. but depicts what I just said

He is all alone.. even if he falls.. up to him to get going again.. i know what u would be thinking.. "what was I doing ??" .. oh common!! I was busy with my cam.. no time for helping the kids... learning to be an american in america!!

Grab Them From The Sky

Can you grab them ??

Day Three

Its day three .. and still counting.. here are the butterflies for today..

(u got to click on this to appreciate the detail of each and every line on it)

Not so good shots.. of the same

Flutter of Color

Day 2 of Butterfly Week... here are the fluttering colors for today:

The Flying Colors

Flowers have been filling the colors in this blog for quite some time now. So, I thought its time to change the monotony.... In search of "flying colors" I went ....and captured these forever in my cam

They go fluttering by
On colored wings that catch the eye.

On wings of orange, and silvery blue,
On wings of golden yellow, too.

They float in the air,
Making their homes everywhere:

The rainforest, and prairie land,
On mountain tops, and desert sand.

Returning home every spring,
Beautiful flies on the wing!

If you failed to guess what I am talking about....have a look at the pics below...
(Again.. for best viewing.. pick and click on the pic!!)

So, the rest of this week, I am gonna call for a "Butterfly week" as I am gonna post some of the good pics I could get... of a variety of butterflies.. one at a time!

Effortless Sightseeing

The last two weekends have been spent in more of driving and less of photography. Last weeks escapade to SFO was a mere 2100+ miles (3360 kms) in less than 64 hrs!! So, unlike the first 2 weeks, I have spent far lesser time hiking or on photography. Most of the sightseeing I have been doing overthe past two weeks are "window-sightseeing" trips along the roads of western US! Some roads on which I would like to drive again are here... If any of u guys are visiting CA, WA or OR these are the "must drive" roads.

US-101, in all the three states with a wide range of choice for a nature lover.. The mountains, greenery (Olympic National Park, Redwood Forests are the highlights), sand dunes (National Recreation Area in Oregon), beaches (plenty of coastal vista points) and the Golden Gate Bridge.

On the way to Olympic National Park

The Golden Gate Bridge - A part of US-101

The Drive-Thru Redwood Tree in Leggett, CA on US 101
(A part of Redwood National Forest)

I-84 (Columbia river gorge scenic biway) in Oregon en-route Mt Hood calls for another risky drive... u tend to look more through the windows than the traffic ahead of you.

CA-1 along the coast is yet another wonderful drive...

PS: most of these are not the best roads in US... nevertheless they make the best drives :)

Fire In The Sky

What better can I find to post on 5th of July other than the July 4th Fireworks ?

It was so mesmerizing that I had no time and patience to look at it through the lens or the display of my camera! It was like .. catching a shooting star.. if I spent any time on photography I would miss it .. Here are some good ones that I could get.. You can enlarge it as much as possible.. but nothing like enlarging it to sky-size.. and viewing it in its full size (one half of visible sky)

Some interesting formations.. best viewed large.. and live ;)

Awesome Threesome

Ferns and mosses are typical of tropical rain forests in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia and lets not forget "Gods own country" Kerala. For snow capped mountains you would probably visit.. Switzerland, New Zealand or our own Himalayas in India/Nepal. For a beach, you would probably go to Maldives or Seychelles. Now, how about a days trip to a sample from each of these sets! You leave in the morning.. and have your morning walk in the wilderness of a rain forest.. and by noon when the sun is terrible on u .. get to the shade of eternal stretch of snow covered mountains....and for the sunset you have a stroll down a beach!!! get back to bed at night.. wake up early the next morning.. and start wondering.. if it was all .. merely a good dream... pinch yourself once.. feel the pain... and u realize.. u had been to "Olympic National Park" !!!! Yes this is what you get...

The Hall of Mosses at Hoh Rain Forest

Snow capped Olympic mountain ranges at Hurricane Ridge




Beaches on both your sides at Dungenness Spit as you walk into the sea

(Dont mind... the scattered broken logs, its not poor maintenance.. its "natural reserve" in US terminology, nevertheless .. you could be rest assured that the stroll along the beach would be as peaceful as it could get )

And again its not only the greens and the whites.. if you are satiated with them all through the day...you have some bright and striking colors too.. but again .. Its Olympic National Park.. You only get packages.. so herez a 2-in-1 again!