I’ve had several people ask me why I have imposed a rule upon myself prohibiting the posting of any photo on this blog that is over seven days old. I expect the Blue Jay Barrens blog to accomplish certain things and following the seven day rule is just one of the ways I believe I can meet the goals I’ve set. Making my posts as current as possible gives people a chance to get out and look for the same things I’m seeing. The Gemmed Satyr pictured above is one of Ohio’s uncommon butterflies that is out in record numbers right now. Anyone who has ever wanted to see a Gemmed Satyr should be out searching today.
I get annoyed with people who think you have to go some place special to experience nature. I’ve lived many places, both urban and rural, and could go outside at any time and find something interesting going on. Following the seven day rule makes me go out any time of year in any weather and find something interesting to photograph and talk about. There have been many times when I’ve gotten home from work, grabbed the camera and headed outside in the last few minutes of daylight to find a good subject and get some photos. The Buckeye is a common butterfly that could be flying through any urban backyard.
Some people scoff and say it’s easy for me because I have a special place, but I point out that before I bought it and began looking around, this was just considered another run down farm. There are many highly acclaimed sites that were nothing special until someone took an interest and started studying the plant and animal life in the area. A good example is the old New Jersey farm bought by C. Brooke Worth, my favorite naturalist, as a place to retire and study mosquitoes and whatever else the farm had to offer. The decision to buy was made simply because the size and apparent diversity of the property made him think there would be plenty of interest for him there. His farm is now The Nature Conservancy’s Eldora Nature Preserve that supports several rare species, particularly rare moths and butterflies. It doesn’t necessarily take rare species to make a property interesting, as Monarch butterflies prove to us every year.
By following the seven day rule, I get a pretty good record of how things progress through the year. Now that I’ve been blogging for over a year, it’s easy to check the blog archives to see what was going on last year at this time or to look ahead at what you might want to be watching for. I hope that my blog posts will motivate people to get outdoors to see what’s happening and to make their own discoveries. Knowing that blooming thistle is attracting Tiger Swallowtail butterflies should be motivation enough to get outdoors.
So the seven day rule is self imposed and is not something that They, as one person assumed, make me do. There’s nothing really special about seven days. I chose that number because during the winter I often spend all of my weekday sunlight hours at work and can only get my photographs over the weekend. Saturday or Sunday shots could then carry me through the next week. Wood Nymphs are becoming a little worn, so you’d better get out right away if you want to see any of these.
I’ve had several people ask me why I have imposed a rule upon myself prohibiting the posting of any photo on this blog that is over seven days old. I expect the Blue Jay Barrens blog to accomplish certain things and following the seven day rule is just one of the ways I believe I can meet the goals I’ve set. Making my posts as current as possible gives people a chance to get out and look for the same things I’m seeing. The Gemmed Satyr pictured above is one of Ohio’s uncommon butterflies that is out in record numbers right now. Anyone who has ever wanted to see a Gemmed Satyr should be out searching today.
I get annoyed with people who think you have to go some place special to experience nature. I’ve lived many places, both urban and rural, and could go outside at any time and find something interesting going on. Following the seven day rule makes me go out any time of year in any weather and find something interesting to photograph and talk about. There have been many times when I’ve gotten home from work, grabbed the camera and headed outside in the last few minutes of daylight to find a good subject and get some photos. The Buckeye is a common butterfly that could be flying through any urban backyard.
Some people scoff and say it’s easy for me because I have a special place, but I point out that before I bought it and began looking around, this was just considered another run down farm. There are many highly acclaimed sites that were nothing special until someone took an interest and started studying the plant and animal life in the area. A good example is the old New Jersey farm bought by C. Brooke Worth, my favorite naturalist, as a place to retire and study mosquitoes and whatever else the farm had to offer. The decision to buy was made simply because the size and apparent diversity of the property made him think there would be plenty of interest for him there. His farm is now The Nature Conservancy’s Eldora Nature Preserve that supports several rare species, particularly rare moths and butterflies. It doesn’t necessarily take rare species to make a property interesting, as Monarch butterflies prove to us every year.
By following the seven day rule, I get a pretty good record of how things progress through the year. Now that I’ve been blogging for over a year, it’s easy to check the blog archives to see what was going on last year at this time or to look ahead at what you might want to be watching for. I hope that my blog posts will motivate people to get outdoors to see what’s happening and to make their own discoveries. Knowing that blooming thistle is attracting Tiger Swallowtail butterflies should be motivation enough to get outdoors.
So the seven day rule is self imposed and is not something that They, as one person assumed, make me do. There’s nothing really special about seven days. I chose that number because during the winter I often spend all of my weekday sunlight hours at work and can only get my photographs over the weekend. Saturday or Sunday shots could then carry me through the next week. Wood Nymphs are becoming a little worn, so you’d better get out right away if you want to see any of these.
