The Goddess Spares the CB Mostly

 Apart from a water leak as indicated by water pipe noise heard in proximity to our twain toilettes, we have survived the latest NAZI-made catastrophe.  Yepper.  We have a broken pipe in addition to the one Red fixed, but we can't figure out where it is.  Where it is!

So, to enumerate the afflictions endured:  47.5 hours without heat or electricity, about 48 hours with no water,  about 12 hours with no cell phones and more than that with no wifi.  Fortunately or unfortunately, the loss of heat and electricity barely overlapped with no water.  

Also, a great deal of food was fixing to spoil and had to be thrown out or put out for the fauna.  Judging by tracks in the snow, gray fox got a half of a Peterson's ham.  Then Ray had to substitute ham fat in the suet feeders.  The woodpeckers turned up their beaks at ham and have not been seen since.  Maybe they all froze.  But the wrens, kinglets and warblers all chowed down.  

My Fellow Texans

 Let us reason together.  No, no.  Let's not.   Reason is hard.  Too hard.  

Instead, let's harken back to the days when we commiserated with the frigid denizens of parts northern thusly:  "Let them freeze in the dark".  Truly it is said,  "What goes around comes around."

Yet all is not lost.  No indeed.  Far from it, when our fellow NAZI senator, Ted, can fly to Cancun in the midst of all this hardship and misery.  If he can do that, how bad can it be?

Mercy!

FULL NAZI

Crumby has known since he was a wee baby or toddler that a great many Americanos were actually NAZIS.  So it is interesting that Crumby lived to espy the recent events in Washington, on TV anyway, both the NAZI attack on the Congress, and the resulting response. And it's fairly nice to see the NAZIS mostly gathered up or amalgamated into a single political group, the GOP.  Yepper.  GOP = NAZIS.  NAZIS = GOP.  Same difference.  With some minor deviations.

Full Circle Jerk

 Yepper!  Crumby has made the rounds for the 73rd iteration of Earth's lonely wandering with only the Moon for company.

Ironically,  Crumby has finished up this iteration in far better shape than usual.  That's right.  Crumby is actually semi-hale and hearty for the first time in recent memory.  This despite putting up with Nazis at the federal level and the Covid.  

Hmm!  Crumby is having a hard time seeing the Covid in a bad light. Matter of fact, the Covid has actually mostly improved Crumby's quality of life.  Let's list how.  The Burger Center bs has simmered down.  All the monkey ass mfs generally keep at least six feet away.  I get to wear a pollen mask for my allergies any time I want.  All the monkey ass mfs also mostly wear masks so I am unlikely to catch all their sickening maladies.  I am not required to participate in annoying monkey ass mf social functions like weddings, funerals, lynchings, etc.  Yepper!  Life is better with Covid.  Bummer for the quitters, though.

So Praise Jesus and whoever else may be listening.  We may have got shut of the Nazi in the White House.  He may have to go stay in Florida or somewhere else that doesn't have an extradition treaty.    Maybe. 

 Nah!  Biden wants to compromise.  He wants to compromise with Nazis.  Mercy!  Liberal democracy has such a great record of compromise with Nazis.  Like in Germany, Italy and Spain.  That all worked out swell.  Didn't it.  Eventually.

Oh well.  At least Crumby is now more likely to quit with a Democrat at the federal level than a Nazi.  Maybe.  

Social Distance

Crumby is old and feeble.  Plus he features a great many pre-conditions.  So what is fixing to happen when some  trumpkin fat ass gun thug violates Crumby's distance?

We Got to Sacrifice

Throughout the land it was decided to give up the old and feeble to Mammon; a very old pattern.  Exceptional!

the solstice has arrived

Mercy!  Crumby has lived another year, made another journey through the cold depths of space, and wound up here in the same place again, now battling a heavily armed populace committing incest and cannibalism in the guise of a well-regulated militia.  Merciful Heavens!  Here he is,  totally cut off from any decent or civilized norms, hemmed on all sides by the ignorant and violent.  Goodness sakes alive!

The Homeless in Austin

There are plenty of homeless in these parts close to the CB.   Like Ray can easily check them out on his way to Target to buy toilet paper.  Formerly, for sure, maybe still,  there was also major evidence of homelessness along the Gaines Creek "nature" trails behind the Specs liquor store.  Ray used to go check that out.  Yepper.  Let's go smellin' where they're dwellin."

So actually,  if it's a this or that option, Ray likes homelessness better as exhibited under the 290 overpasses as opposed to out in the woods.  But a much better solution is Das Capitol grounds.  That way the homeless would have a nice grassy, shady sward to camp on.  Also, they could use the bathrooms in Das Capitol building.  Further,  Governor Abbot could easily keep close tabs on them.  Heck, he might  even get federal help from Homeland Security to keep them from shitting on the lawn.

Miracles Still Happen,Maybe

Last April Crumby or Ray went off to east Texas.  One of them had a brand new Canon 80d in tow.  Anon, the new 80d wound up in a lake where, not surprisingly, it filled up with water.  A responsible party fished it out.  Everybody involved eventually made it back to the CB, more or less intact.  The 80d, alas, was non-responsive.  So it got sent off to Canon repair.  Anon, it was sent back to the CB.  An accompanying message can be paraphrased:  This camera is fucked.   Plus it would cost more to fix this piece of shit than it is worth.  You should consider buying one of our refurbs instead.

So Ray was fixing to throw the 80d out yesterday from where it was situated in the electronic junk recycling box in the garage, together with the 70-300 lens which was still ruined.  But then he decided to check it out first.  So he put in a battery and it lit up.  Then he put in a card and it took pictures.  Mercy.  A Miracle.  Praise Jesus or the responsible party.

Meantime we had purchased a Nikon d7500 which we like way better than the 80d.   But it's good to have both.  We can use the 80d for actual macro since we have a bunch more Canon macro stuff than we have Nikon macro stuff.

Slough Amberwing

Slough amberwings may be fixing to get more commonly seen along the Colorado in Travis County.  For example, Ray has now seen and photographed two.  This is the second of those.  This one probably had close relatives nearby for company.

Dragonhunter Naiad

Eventually, sadly, Barton Creek dried up this summer.  It took longer than usual though.  But before it totally dried up, it left some little puddles where dragonfly larvae were trapped.  This picture shows a dragonhunter naiad in a puddle that will certainly dry up by the next day.  What will it do?  Die of dessication.   Burrow under something. Metamorphose.


There were also some other naiads in the pool, but I don't know what they were.

Even more Orange Shadowdragons

Yesterday morning Ray headed over to the aptly named Town Lake for another pre-sunup photo shoot with the always elusive shadowdragons.  The place was already swarming with litterbugs, I mean fisherman, but Ray was undeterred and paddled off anyway.  He succeeded in getting one pretty good shot.  Once the sun was up Ray paddled on down to the Mopac bridge, then back, to see what else might be flying.  Oddly, he espied only one dragonhunter.  Where did they all go?  Then there was a jade clubtail,  Ray's second in Travis County, and one river cruiser, probably a royal.

More Orange Shadowdragons

This year there have still been plenty of shadowdragons on Town Lake, but they still don't care to have their pictures took. I mean taken.  So when I try to take their pictures, it's nearly dark and they are flying around really fast and really erratically.  I mean, like, Jeez Louise.  Which means I have to use flash, no burst mode option.  Hep me Jesus!

Best efforts this year.  In the second picture, it has caught something to eat.

Barton Creek Actually Has Plenty of Water, And It's Almost, July

Dragonhunter on Barton Creek, last Friday just east of the Mopac Bridge.

Shocking!?

Darners in the Woods

Ray got really pissed off at this venue the last time he tried to publish.  That's why Ray hasn't been here for a while.  Quite a long while.

Yet Ray and me, despite many brutal infirmities or afflictions,  have been spry enough to ferret out 14 lifer Odos just this year.  One of these lifers, was ferreted or weaseled out in the very county, Travis, wherein sits the old CB.  In fact, this particular lifer dwelt for a time in a vernal pool situated not a quarter mile from the CB.  Yes.  We have been confining our Odonating to nearby haunts except for out of county jaunts.   So both these, the lifer turquoise-tipped darner and the swamp darner (found yesterday) (note the dinged eyeball) (it's a tough neighborhood) are our darners in the woods.

On the Guadalupe

Many may wonder how to pronounce Guadalupe.  Here's one pronunciation. God-uh-loop.  Mercy!

So Ray has been on the Rio Guadalupe three times now looking for blue-fronted ringtails, Erpetogomphus eutainia.  Alas, there were none.  Not in June, July or most recently, last Wednesday, September 5th.   Therefore, Ray has decided they aren't worth the trouble and heartbreak they have caused him. Three tries is too many.

However, on the last visit Ray felt like the trip wasn't a total loss.  He espied a white peacock and a water scorpion.  Plus the coral-fronted threadtails are always amusing.

Dragonhunters in these Parts

Dragonhunters are both relatively numerous and conspicuous over the water on Town Lake, especially in July, but also during August. One morning in July Ray counted 30+ between Red Bud Island and the Brackenridge facility. Here are a couple fornicating on Red Bud Island.

Rarely, a dragonhunter can be found away from the river.  Here's one found yesterday on Onion Creek just south of the Hwy 71 bridge.

Up Before the Dawn

Shadowdragon is an irresistibly cool name.  So it's no wonder that Crumby has been heading out early to Town Lake, hoping to encounter an orange shadowdragon or two.  But more particularly,  Crumby wanted to take pictures of them in flight.  So far, Crumby has been to the Town Lake location three times specifically for pre-dawn or pre-sunrise shadowdragon photography.  Two of those times, Crumby forgot his off camera flash and the other time, he had the flash, but the shadowdragons didn't show up.  Maybe spooked by all the rain.

Anyway, predictably, photographing flying dragonflies in the dark (course it's never actually really dark in these parts), in a tiny boat is an instructive activity.  Last visit, yesterday morning, sunrise was 6:30.  A shadowdragon was first noticed at 6:10 and last noticed at 6:46 on a mostly cloudy morning.  The most Crumby ever saw at once was three.  They fly around really fast usually staying from Crumby's eye level in the kayak to 3-4 feet over Crumby's head.  That would be about 3-7 feet.  Once though, on another day, Crumby espied a bunch of them in a mixed feeding swarm with prince baskettails maybe 15' or so feet in the air.  Speaking of prince baskettails, they too are early risers.  Crumby generally notices  them around dawn and pretty soon after that, they are the only dragons flying.  So these twain, the orange shadowdragons first, then the prince baskettails are the only dragonflies Crumby has seen out early.  The rest are apparently still asleep.  Here is the best osdif Crumby has managed.  This is a male.

Not so great.

Well.  Now you're already on the dern lake.  Getting up and there was hard work.  So now you need to fool around until the rest of the dragonflies wake up.  Crumby, no fool, spent his time exploring for good places to piss.  Yes.  When you're afflicted with a 70.5 plus year old bladder, knowing all the good places to piss is important.  Crumby found two good spots where getting in and out of the kayak was safe and easy, even when he was in a hurry.

By then. the diurnals were up and this Cyrano darner was having a late brunch with a neon skimmer.  Mercy!   Are you fixing to eat ALL that?

Summer Solstice

Celebrating the summer solstice in northern climes, like for example Sweden,  makes sense.  Like you get some relief from all the cannibalism and incest that runs rampant on  shorter days.  But here in Tejas, celebrating the solstice is kind of stupid.   That's because the Sun shining longer, therefore, making the day hotter, when it's too hot already, is hardly a cause for celebration.  Plus, cannibalism and incest are probably climate independent in these parts.  But never mind anyway.  Tejans don't celebrate the Solstice regardless.  It's not in their nature.

So to celebrate the Summer Solstice today,  Crumby overslept.  Then, instead of heading out to the multi-dammed river,  where he meant to go kayaking if he hadn't overslept, he went to the sewage ponds instead.  The sewage ponds, where nature meets shit, beloved of Odonate hunters and Class Aves silly persons alike.  However. Crumby has nothing much to report from that lat-long.   Well, maybe a nice female russet-tipped clubtail.  She is hot.  But that's it.

So instead,  Crumby shall celebrate Summer Solstice with a recount of his Odonate adventures from last Friday on Town Lake, Red Bud Island vicinity.  All these are from those parts.

Gray waisted skimmer female

Slaty skimmer permutation 1

Slaty skimmer permutation 2

Slaty skimmer permutation 3

Royal river cruiser in flight

Orange shadowdragon teneral male with exuvia

Another Dragonfly in Flight

This is most likely a different comet darner than the previous.  This one did not hoover.  It just hauled ass.  Because of the clouds and the shade it was in, the 60d needed to be set to iso 1600;  which produces very noisy images.  Noisy I tell you. However, Crumby likes this particular picture a lot because the dragonfly has his held straight, yet his body is twisted sideways .

One attribute of the 60d that has helped Crumby with dif shots is back button focus which is where the AF-On button does the focus and the shutter button only takes the picture.  So the shutter mechanism and focusing are decoupled.

Crumby never liked autofocus on his 60d.  Accuracy was hit or miss and with most lenses there was lots of hunting.  But for whatever reason, the back button is more accurate and locks focus way faster than the shutter button.

More Dragonflies in Flight

Crumby feels like photographing dragonflies is a good hobby for an elderly cripple possessed of a nervous disposition.  Yet photographing dragonflies in flight makes the hobby even better. Because photographing a dragonfly in flight is like riding a bicycle downhill.  It feels like you're getting something for free.

In Crumby's limited experience comet darners don't hoover much.  What they do, do is fly around really long and not apparently predictable patrol routes while disappearing from view for long intervals. So today, early, Crumby prayed to Lord Hoover, also known by Dr. Hoover,  President Hoover, Herbert; the same immortal that had a mammal, the hoover hog, named after him.  Crumby's semi-earnest prayers must have done plenty of good.  Because this particular comet darner actually hoovered nearby a time or two.

Also, the four-striped leaftails seem to be flying and hardly ever sitting these days.  Luckily, they are slow and steady aviators. 

Dragonflies in Flight

This past January, Crumby the Ovate decided he needed to go in to the hospital for neck surgery because his shoulder hurt so bad.  Also his neck hurt and his arm was experiencing unnatural sensations.  Well.  Maybe those sensations are natural, but they are not normal.

First thing after Crumby woke up in the hospital he noticed his right arm didn't work.  Turns out, he was suddenly afflicted with the C5 palsy, rendering Crumby a helpless cripple.  Gradually the arm has gotten better.  But it's still not back to its old self.  Not by a long shot.  Plus his neck still hurts, just in a different place.  However, in fairness to Americano bullshit medical care, the shoulder doesn't hurt near as much as it did.

All of which explains why Crumby hasn't posted any lately, maybe.  But today Crumby wishes to discuss dragonflies.  Crumby likes to document dragonfly occurrence at his favorite aquatic areas with photographs.  Yet lots of times dragonflies won't hold still to have their pictures taken.   Instead they fly along at supersonic speed seemingly for hours, never once alighting.  So Crumby decided he needed to start taking pictures of dragonflies in flight (dif) if he was going to ever document the ones that never sit still.

Crumby only has one camera and lens combo with much capacity for dif and it's not very good.  No.  Yet an old Canon 60d plus 55-250 lens is the best equipment Crumby has for dif . 

The methodology Crumby employs for dif is to prefocus on a leaf or something on the water near where a dragonfly is flying around, then try to track the dragonfly and take its picture as it clarifies in the viewfinder.  This methodology can be tedious and labor intensive, but is better than standing around all day waiting for a dragonfly to land.

Here are some examples that are not great pictures, but the specimens are identifiable to species. Cyrano darner, prince baskettail and pale-faced clubskimmer

It was around March of 2017 when Crumby, if he remembers correctly, began a serious effort to document dragonflies outside the CB.  At first he employed a Nikon P900 for this effort.  But that particular camera model is heavy, the closest focus is too far out and the maximum magnification at closest focus isn't great either.  So Crumby switched to a Nikon B700 for his main dragonfly documentation camera.  It is light with a long focal length, fair closest focus distance and pretty good maximum magnification at closest focus.

Yet dragonflies in flight are very hard with that camera; mostly because the dragonflies are very, very, very difficult to track with the electronic viewfinder in that particular model.   Plus, the closest focus is a little too long for damselflies below the size of Lestes.

Nevertheless,  here are two of my best shots of airborne dragonflies with the B700.  These are out of maybe a tousand or maybe two tousand tries.  These are springtime darner and dot-winged baskettail.  The latter is fairly easy to find sitting around and also hoovers a lot; hoovering dragonflies are way easier to photograph than flying ones.  I can't remember if this one was hoovering.