Rhode Island

You Wanna Fly You Got To Give Up The Shit That Weighs You Down.

January 4, 2023 — 7 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 640.

Double-crested Cormorant 

How does NASA organize a party?

They planet

Interesting Fact: The male chooses the nest site and then attracts a female. Nests can be on the ground, on rocks or reefs with no vegetation, or atop trees, which may be alive when a cormorant colony first forms but typically die after a few years from the guano build-up. Nests are built in the center of a colony first, then expand outward. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant/lifehistory )

I’m A Biter!

December 30, 2022 — 6 Comments

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 800.

Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )

Why did the teddy bear say no to dessert?

Because she was stuffed.

Interesting Fact: Loons shoot through the water like a torpedo, propelled by powerful thrusts of feet located near the rear of their body. When their quarry changes direction, loons can execute an abrupt flip-turn that would make Olympic swimmers jealous: they extend one foot laterally as a pivot brake and kick with the opposite foot to turn 180 degrees in a fraction of a second. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon/lifehistory )

 

 

I Will Flash You From Far Away!

December 22, 2022 — 6 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Goat Island Lighthouse ( Rhode Island )

What four letters will frighten a burglar?

O I C U

Interesting Fact: On Friday, 19 July 1723, twenty-six pirates were buried on the north end of Goat Island, on the shore, between high and low water mark. The significance of this placement is that, to Christians of this era, this inter-tidal land was considered “unhallowed ground,” like burials placed outside of a consecrated cemetery. The men had been tried in Newport between 10 and 12 July and hanged at nearby Bull’s Point (Gravelly Point). They were: Charles Harris, Thomas Linicar, Daniel Hyde, Stephen Mundon, Abraham Lacy, Edward Lawson, John Tomkins, Francis Laughton, John Fisgerald, William Studfield, Owen Rice, William Read, John Bright, Thomas Hazel, William Blades (Rhode Island), Thomas Hagget, Peter Cues, William Jones, Edward Eaton, John Brown, James Sprinkly, Joseph Sound, Charles Church, John Waters, Thomas Powell (Connecticut), and Joseph Libbey.[2] “The pirates were all young men, most of them natives of England.”[3] The following is taken from The Salem Observer, November 11, 1843: “…this was the most extensive execution of pirates that ever took place at one time in the Colonies, it was attended by a vast multitude from every part of New England.” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_Island_(Rhode_Island) )

I Give Out Swimming Lessons

December 16, 2022 — 3 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 640.

Double-crested Cormorant

What do you call a bear with no socks on?

Bare-foot.

Interesting Fact: Large pebbles are occasionally found in cormorant nests, and the cormorants treat them as eggs. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant )

It Time To Get My Beak Wet!

November 27, 2022 — 7 Comments

F/9.0, 1/250, ISO 640.

Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )

Where do snowmen keep their money?

In snow banks.

Interesting Fact: Loons are like airplanes in that they need a runway for takeoff. In the case of loons, they need from 30 yards up to a quarter-mile (depending on the wind) for flapping their wings and running across the top of the water in order to gain enough speed for lift-off. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon )

Duck You!

March 12, 2022 — 15 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 800.

Harlequin Duck Female

At what time does a duck wake up?

At the quack of dawn.

Interesting Fact:  More than half of eastern North American population of Harlequin Ducks winters in coastal Maine, particularly outer reaches of Penobscot and Jericho bays. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harlequin_Duck/lifehistory )

Be The Light!

February 25, 2022 — 14 Comments

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 200. 

Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation

What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?

Frostbite.

Interesting Fact: The Rose Island Light, built in 1870, is on Rose Island in Narragansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States. It is preserved, maintained and operated by The Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation.

One of a group of New England lighthouses built to an award-winning design by Vermont architect Albert Dow,[3] Rose Island Light has sisters at Sabin Point, Pomham Rocks, and Colchester Reef. The lighthouse stands atop a bastion of Fort Hamilton, which was built in 1798-1800. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Island_Light )

Watch It! I Am Swimming HERE!

January 22, 2022 — 12 Comments

F/ 6.3, 1/160, ISO 200.

Black Scoter 

What did the nose say to the finger?

Stop picking on me.

Interesting Fact:  Birds occasionally do a “wing-flap” display while swimming, flapping their wings with the body held up and punctuating this with a downward thrust of head, as if its neck were momentarily broken. ( https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/298/overview/Black_Scoter.aspx )

Life Begins At Night.

January 18, 2022 — 16 Comments

F/22.0, 30.0, ISO 100.

Newport, RI

What do you call a guy who never farts in public?

A private tutor.

Interesting Fact: Newport was founded in 1639 on Aquidneck Island, which was called Rhode Island at the time. Its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. Many of these people had been part of the settlement at Portsmouth, along with Anne Hutchinson and her followers. They separated within a year of that settlement, however, and Coddington and others began the settlement of Newport on the southern side of the island.  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Rhode_Island )

Are You Loon-ely Tonight?

February 19, 2021 — 14 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.

Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )

What do Snowmen call their offspring?

Chill-dren.

Interesting Fact: Loons are water birds, only going ashore to mate and incubate eggs. Their legs are placed far back on their bodies, allowing efficient swimming but only awkward movement on land. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon/lifehistory )