On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Balloon Juicers who are on the road, travelling, etc. and wish to share notes, links, pictures, stories, etc. from their escapades. As the US mainland begins the end of the Earth day as we measure it, many of us rise to read about our friends and their transient locales.
So, please, speak up and share some of your adventures, observations, and sights as you explore, no matter where you are. By concentrating travel updates here, it’s easier for all to keep up-to-date on the adventures of our fellow Commentariat. And it makes finding some travel tips or ideas from 6 months ago so much easier to find…
Have at ’em, and have a safe day of travels!
Should you have any pictures (tasteful, relevant, etc….) you can email them to [email protected] or just use this nifty link to start an email: Start an Email to send a Picture to Post on Balloon Juice
Let’s just agree to embrace the bird, if only for today:
Where it was taken: Near Roscommon, in northern Michigan
When: Summer Solstice Day (6/21) in 2017
Commenter: Albatrossity
Other notes or info about the picture:
Kirtland’s Warbler, which breeds only in the jackpine forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario. This habitat is not extensive, and additionally this bird’s nesting requirements depend on regular fires to regenerate the young jackpines (like the one this bird is perched in) where they build their nests. When fires became less frequent in this landscape in the 19th and 20th centuries, the habitat disappeared and the bird became very rare. In addition, invasion of this fragmented forest by Brown-headed Cowbirds, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds (including this warbler) further depressed the population of warblers, since parent warblers were raising lots of cowbirds and very few young warblers. It was added to the Endangered Species List in 1967, when it was estimated that the entire population was only a few hundred birds. Extensive management of forests by a coalition of state, federal and NGO groups has been successful; current estimates are that there are about 2000 breeding pairs of this bird today. But you still have to travel to Michigan in the summer to see this bird, or to Bermuda in winter, because it is found nowhere else in the world.
Just an amazing picture, once again – thank you for sharing some of your expertise and passion.
More glory from MomSense:
Hi Alain,
More snaps from my walks in Maine. Yes, she did take a swim!
Looks divine! Maine is so beautiful, though I’ve only seen a slight glimpse on a few through-trips.
Have a great day all – travel safely, and do keep your eyes open for something to share, whether you’re at home or on the roam. I’m sure someone’s stopping at Wall Drug, for example, or touring a weapons store in rural France, replete with cannon and halberds. Or maybe you’re blessed with a new litter of mantids and want to boast about the new brood.
raven
Nice pics. Abut 10 years ago my wife and I spent a couple of days driving around Maine and New Hampshire. I have 32,000 pictures in my Flickr account but, somehow, we can’t find any from that trip.
NotMax
Just a heads-up, Alain, that for the past couple of days the site has become incredibly pokey (as in 20 to 30 second page loads) between – approximately – 2 and 3 a.m. ET.
Same thing, same time frame has occurred in the past and something in the innards was prodded at the time to ameliorate the slowdown.
Elizabelle
Love the bird and Maine photos. I think every day at Balloon Juice should start with birds and pets and nature. It’s sanity-provoking.
Went to see the David Bowie exhibit in Barcelona yesterday. No photos allowed. It was spectacular. In fact, missed last 2 or 3 rooms, so will return. Last exhibition room is 2 stories tall; screens concert footage from over Bowie’s career. Closest I will get to seeing a younger Bowie show, worth the euros to see that alone. 16 euros on weekdays; believe Museum of Design is open 10 to 8 most days (not Monday). Am told best time to arrive is 2:00 p — Spanish lunch hour and kind of deserted.
Plus, did not see the rest of the Design (Disseny) Museum. They’ve apparently got a great costume and furniture design collection. And air conditioned!
At Glories Metro. (Museum is next to the huge bullet shaped Agbar Tower Building that illuminates red and blue at night. Ray Charles could find it.)
Bowie exhibit from London’s Victoria & Albert. In BCN all summer; not sure where it travels next. Maybe a city near you.
TenguPhule
Porkchops, pasta, grilled carrots and guava juice. Damn that was a good dinner.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
Pork chops, you say?
:)
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
I think the top and bottom are my faves – I love the scenery, and gotta love a pensive dog.
OzarkHillbilly
Good stuff.
rikyrah
Beautiful pictures of nature. Thanks.?
debbie
Politics aside, we live in an unbelievably beautiful world!
maurinsky
My mom took me to see the movie Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, which was mindblowing to my 11 year old brain, I would love to see this exhibit, but will not be in Spain anytime soon.
frosty
No pix, but a Birds in Maine story. Last summer on our way back from No a Scotia we came close to hittin a bird picking at road kill on I-95. Yellow beak, white head … Bald Eagle! We were happy to have avoided a federal crime.
Quinerly
❤??
MomSense
There’s my good girl. About the only time she sits still is after a good 5 miles of dragging me through the woods. We saw seals and eider ducks that day but it’s really hard to get good seal pics while being dragged at the end of a leash.
The Kirtland’s Warbler is so beautiful. I love learning about these beautiful creatures.
On an art note, if anyone will be in Maine this summer or fall, the Farnsworth (Home of the Wyeth Center) has a Marguerite Zorach exhibit. She was one of the first American modernist painters. She also did exquisite embroidery. Absolutely breathtaking work and an influential artist.
Laura
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m with you on that, and its a Poco looking pensive pooch.
Very lovely momsense, and such a gentle way to start the day.
Scamp Dog
My Mom lives in Roscommon! I will be visiting at the end of July. I’ll make it a point to look for the Warblers this time.
Miss Bianca
I am so missing the coast of Maine right now…and WOW on the Kirtland’s warbler photo, they are SO rare – that’s a lifetime bird for the birders I know!
Origuy
I did a little Googling, and found that the “David Bowie Is” exhibit was curated by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It’s been a lot of places, including Chicago, but Barcelona is the last place they’ve announced. Here’s the web page: vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/touring-exhibition-david-bowie-is/
stinger
Great photos of Maine and the Kirtland’s — thanks, photographers!
Paul Gartner
the beautiful dog is a ringer for our dog, Delilah. right down to the gentle leader! what breed is she?