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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Night Sky

I may have stayed up too late the night before last. I had read about noctilucent clouds and went outside to look for them. It seemed like something I could see and not stay up TOO late. I don’t think I saw any but it was a lovely end to the daylight with long lingering dusk light over Winthrop. Also, some strange rosy light over Mount Robinson, north-north-west of here. It didn’t last long and I can’t tell you what caused it. I have lots to learn.

The weather forecast said partly to mostly cloudy so I was surprised when the clouds completely went away and the stars began to show themselves. I think this is the first time in two months when there was no moonlight and no clouds and I could see the core of the Milky Way! I was surprised by the weather. I did have enough camera gear to make some images of the night sky. I wished I had a more accurate forecast so I could have tried some new stuff I am trying to learn. It is always mesmerizing to watch the pageant of stars as they flow across the night sky, changing with each passing minute.

I am lucky to live in a place where I can walk out my door and see the stars. However, I am looking forward to going other places to practice photographing the night sky.

Lingering light to the north after 10 pm
Can you see the rosy glow behind Mount Robinson?

A Windy Walk

The girls and I had a windy walk yesterday. I know, I keep complaining about the weather but this wind gets on my nerves. Some days though, I just need to make myself go out in it. It did not take away from the beauty of the late spring flowers and the green, green leaves. It did make them harder to photograph. Wild roses are at the peak of flowering and filled the air with vibrant scent.

ponderosa pine
wild rose
white violet
I think these are thimbleberry blossoms
water abstract
fern
wind-blown grass
tiger lily
Sky got a good stick
unfurling fern
more fern
scarlet gilia
aspens
old friends

Not Yet Summer

The weather here remains unsettled. The wind frequently howls, clouds come and go, the temperature doesn’t go much above 70 and there are occasional thunderstorms. It’s June and feels very cold. But why should we let that stop us? I woke Ken up yesterday and told him we needed to go for a hike. There are lots of projects around here to do and he continues to work from home and now he has to travel again so there’s no time like now.

It was a LONG bumpety bump drive to get to the trailhead at 6800 feet elevation and given that it had rained hard at home the previous night, we should not have been surprised to see new snow. Not a lot but I imagine that the folks camped up there were not real happy about it. Along the trail little and big rivulets and small streams were running joyfully down the mountainside. Flowers bloomed in snow and standing water. Anemones were everywhere. Water dripped from evergreens as the snow melted.

Ken fished for brook trout while the girls and I explored a bit around the lake and Sky took great joy in swimming for sticks despite the cold water. She shivered when she sat still.

It was a lovely short hike despite the long bumpety bump drive.

Lupine
Brook trout, just before it got away
So much anemone
Buttercups!
Water everywhere
Happy, happy dog!
Last year’s aspen leaf. The trees haven’t even leafed out up there now.
Some odd fungus
I think this is elephanthead. Maybe Pedicularis groenlandica
Moss spores
like abstract art
Willow leaf buds
Looking SW

Mountain Hike

The girls and I got a late start yesterday but still managed a very pleasant (mostly) hike in the mountains. The trailhead was only forty five minutes from home and there was no snow at the start. It was cloudy and spit a tiny bit of rain but not enough to get out my coat. Luna enjoyed the cool temperatures but not the rickety bridge across one of the big creek crossings. We hit snow about two thirds of the way to the lake and near the lake were walking on snow all the time. I had to be careful not to get to close to the edge and get my feet wet. Sky was ecstatic and of course, wanted me to throw sticks but I didn’t. It’s pretty shallow with logs under the surface where she could hurt her legs. As if to make up for the lack of stick throwing, she rolled in something unmentionable after we left the lake. I scrubbed her in the big creek using a hemlock branch but didn’t get it all. She had a bath at home.

Sky says the bridge is still good.
Cool bumble bee
Western white pine
Sunshine at the end of the hike

A Honeybee Swarm

Ken has six active bee hives this year and yesterday one of them swarmed. Honeybee swarms are a natural occurrence and can be expected if hives are really busy and growing in population. The bees force the queen to slim down by not feeding her and she makes new queen cells so the bees left behind will have a new leader once the old one has swarmed. One of his hives from last year was thriving and constantly had bees ‘bearding’ on the front of it and Ken expected it to swarm.

In yesterday’s case, they didn’t go far – maybe ten or fifteen meters to a young ponderosa pine tree and fortunately Ken spotted the giant bee cluster before they moved on to what would be their new home.  The tree is on a hillside just below our backyard and the swarm was high enough that it required a ladder to remove it.

Ken had promised a swarm to our friend Mary for her birthday, since her bees did not survive last winter. Of course, she and her husband were out walking the dog and without their phones so it was a while before they called and said they would be right up. In the meantime, Ken started setting up a ladder and other equipment to get started on it by himself. I was not in favor of him doing it alone and was relieved when they said they were coming.

With three of them it was much safer and easier. They all moved slowly in their bee suits, keeping the bees calm, while they gently began cutting branches away from the pack of bees. Little clusters of bees were placed in an empty hive with the branches. Gradually they got to the main part of the festooning bees and very carefully cut out the two big branches holding it all together. They got just about all the bees into the hive and put the top on. The stragglers joined the others around their queen and in a short while all was quiet. Mary got her bees early this morning when it was cool and will get them set up in her bee yard and then remove the branches from the hive and replace them with frames so the bees can build orderly comb and fill it with brood and honey.

The swarm
Ken carefully considers his first move
We watched honeybees while we waited for our friends
It takes a team
Mary steadied Don on that downhill facing ladder
That’s a lot of bees!
Job well done!
We think they came out of this hive.
These two were kept away from the action