Picture of the Day for June 4, 2015

It may not get as many visitors as the Upper and Lower Falls on the Amnicon River, but the Snake Pit Falls is an interesting and twisting waterfall. The river splits in two as it flows around an island along the Douglas Fault (site of earthquakes that occurred about a half billion years ago), with the Snake Pit Falls on the far side of the island. Several smaller drops occur upstream from Snake Pit Falls, before it drops about 12 feet and then twists at a 90 degree angle and drops another 10 feet through the narrow gorge. I didn’t hike to the bottom of the second drop so the view is from the 90 degree bend after the first drop.

The Twist of the Snake Pit Falls

The Twist of the Snake Pit Falls

A short video of the twisting Snake Pit Falls.

Picture of the Day for June 3, 2015

Rolled up old barbed wire can be photogenic except when it is at my place since it means I haven’t finished cleaning up the old fences or took care of the “pretty yellow flowers” which are behind the wire. The pretty flowers are considered a highly invasive weed which was brought over to North America in the 1700s. Wild Mustard greens can be eaten and the seeds ground for mustard, but can be poisonous to cattle if they eat too much or favor the milk so it is not sellable. So both the old wire and wild mustard are bad things but together they create a pretty picture.

Old and Yellow

Old and Yellow

Picture of the Day for June 2, 2015

Last evening and this morning, the catbird has been singing up a storm but not the catty mew which which him sound like a cat, but his long song which can last for up to ten minutes as they copy the sounds of other species and stringing them together to make his own song, like his relatives of mockingbirds and thrashers. The Gray Catbird belongs to the genus Dumetella, which means “small thicket” and they can be found in thickets of young trees, dense shrubs and vines.

Cat Sounding Bird

Cat Sounding Bird

Picture of the Day for May 31, 2015

Today is Trinity Sunday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar which celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In various books, including the American Gardening published in 1896,  the trillium is often mentioned in connection with Trinity Sunday and the wildflower is also called trinity flower. Nearly all parts of the plant comes in threes. It has 3 broad leaves on each stalk, 3 small green sepals and 3 large white sepals surrounding a group of yellow stamens plus it also has three-sectioned seedpods.

But this year my great white trillium blossoms has already turned pink or dropped their flower petals so only the nodding trilliums were displaying their white flowers yet.

Great White Trillium or Trinity Flower

Great White Trillium or Trinity Flower

Picture of the Day for May 30, 2015

Upstream from the tallest waterfall in Wisconsin, a smaller or little 30 foot waterfall can be found. But the waters of the Black River puts on a show at the scenic Little Manitou Falls before flowing into the Interfalls Lake and falling 165 feet downstream.

Little Manitou Falls

Little Manitou Falls

View a short video of the falls as you listen to the roar of the falling waters.

 

Picture of the Day for May 29, 2015

In short distance, even sometimes just a few feet, the type of wildflowers can change greatly. Just a few miles from my home, a limestone cliff can be found a rural road and at the base of the cliff, a splash of blue caught my eye. Spreading Jacob’s Ladder, a native wildflower of moist shady woodlands, with blue to purple flowers, is also sometimes called Stairway to Heaven, which is fitting since I found it at the base of a cliff and the flower need a lot of stairs or a ladder to get to the top.

Spreading Jacob’s Ladder

Spreading Jacob's Ladder

Picture of the Day for May 28, 2015

While out on a day trip today, one stop was the Wisconsin Point, a peninsula off the shore of Superior, Wisconsin. The point is the world’s largest freshwater bay mouth sand bar. The Wisconsin Point Lighthouse was built in 1913 and is located on the end of the peninsula.

But today the lighthouse wasn’t very visible nor could you see Lake Superior because of the fog rolling in on a chilly afternoon when the temperature was 45 with a colder wind chill. And while I was hoping for a nice sunny day to walk out to the lighthouse, the need for lighthouses and fog horns wouldn’t have existed if the weather was always calm and sunny.

Lighthouse Lost in the Fog

Lighthouse Lost in the Fog

 

A short video of the lighthouse lost in the fog as the waves roll in on a windy day.

 

Picture of the Day for May 27, 2015

As one batch of kittens start exploring outside as they race through the grass and learn how to climb fences, another batch of kittens where born in the barn. So soon the older group will just become ‘cats’ and the attention will be on the new ‘kittens’ since the babies are always so cute (even if they are marked ugly)!

Board Walking Lesson

Board Walking Lesson