Summer's End

The autumnal equinox, the last day of summer, marks the sun’s passage directly overhead at the equator, an event that will occur at precisely 10:29 p.m. eastern daylight time this evening, September 22.
 
Since warm, vacation-type weather in New Jersey usually ends around the end of August and, because Labor Day signals the onset of school, most people consider the summer to have come to an end by that time.

Don't come any closer!

But this year the warm temps persisted beyond that time, even way up north in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire where Pris and I vacationed and where, as late as the weekend of September 5^th, it was warm enough to swim comfortably in the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee – an occasion which I did not miss to take advantage of.

Even up there, nearly 400 miles from The Garden State, the warm weather persisted and rain stayed away except for one day during our stay.  As most of my faithful readers have come to know, I never miss the chance to shoot photos of opportunity, and will take advantage of any serendipitous occasion to put one of my cameras to work.

This year, on a tour of Squam Lake on a sturdy pontoon boat, Eric, our expert guide and master storyteller of the geological, ecological, and economic development of the region surrounding Squam Lake spotted a lone Loon in one of those birds’ nesting areas.
 
Loons are a protected species of wildlife, and there are restrictions on how close sightseers are permitted to come to their territory.  The photo in the post shows a Loon rising halfway out of the water with wings outstretched in what is a defensive position, a signal that this is that bird’s territory – stay away.
 
The boat had come to a stop and was hundreds of yards out.  The picture that you see here was taken at the end range of my camera’s telephoto lens, and was cropped even more to show the Loon as closely as possible so as not to have any more distortion than was necessary.

Camouflage Among the Flowers.

 
Professional photographers can spend days on the water with powerful cameras and lenses to obtain the very best shots under ideal lighting conditions.  I was lucky to get this one with a relatively simple Nikon bridge camera.

On another day, on a dock in Wolfeboro’s Lake Winnipesaukee, where Priscille and I were sightseeing and browsing through shops together with hundreds of other people, I spied a row of rectangular planters filled with brilliant flowers.

The second photo in this post shows a Monarch butterfly neatly camouflaged within a shower of late summer color.  It’s not been a good year for butterflies though, and this one should probably have been on its migration path south to Mexico for the winter.

Thanks for checking in and reading.

(Click on any image for an enhanced view.)