Caedes

  Bull Thistle  

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Uploaded: 01/29/15 11:35 PM GMT
Bull Thistle
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This Bull Thistle is my Friday Foofy contribution - I thinks its a really cool flower. It was photographed at the Howard S. Stainton Wildlife Refuge in Ocean City New Jersey in August of 2014. I have provided some additional information regarding the Bull Thistle that I think you will find most informative. Bull Thistle is a prickly wildflower which most people consider an annoying weed. Its stems, branches, and leaves are covered with spikes and you should be careful when touching it. Bull Thistles have pretty purple to pink flowers, one to two inches wide. Leaves are three to six inches long. Bull Thistles can reach six feet tall. This plant, which is in the Sunflower family, can grow in fields, gardens, and roadsides. Bull Thistle blooms from July to September. Bull Thistles are a good food source for many animals. Eastern Cottontails and White-tailed Deer eat the leaves and stems. Flower nectar is consumed by hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Seeds are popular with many birds, such as American Goldfinches and Juncos, as well as mice and other small mammals.

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.Starglow
01/30/15 12:31 AM GMT
Just a perfect shot captured at just the right time and with a terrific narrative. Thanks for sharing.
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::tigger3
01/30/15 3:47 AM GMT
Your narrative is superb just like your image, very nice Laura.
tigs =^..^=
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Nature in all her glory is my uplift on life and so is my love of photography. sandi ♪ ♫
::Ramad
01/30/15 8:40 AM GMT
A lovely pink thistle with its thorn covered "protection" below it. Clear details in this shot. Also thanks for the info Laura.
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Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors.
::Dunstickin
01/30/15 8:55 AM GMT
A thistle is a plant that I love to snap!...they come in different colour tones near where I live!....But pink/purple are the best!

Good one here, and the composition is perfect!
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"Never stop photographing. It is very likely that your best photograph has not yet been captured"> "You can observe a lot by just watching". - Yogi Berra
.GIGIBL
01/30/15 11:02 AM GMT
Lovely foofy very well captured Laura.
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::corngrowth
01/30/15 11:27 AM GMT
Your very informative narrative have made this Foofy Friday image even more beautiful Laura!

Perfect composition, ditto details and tones, and an excellent bokeh! Very well done!
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Try to change what you can't accept, but accept what you can't change. Please CLICK HERE to see my journal! Feel free to save my images or to add them to your favorites.
::Jimbobedsel
01/30/15 1:24 PM GMT
I see them in Ohio, and I think they are so interesting looking. Beautiful work on this foofy for Friday. It looks fantastic with the blurred background.
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ALL IMAGES ARE VIEWED FULL SIZE
::0930_23
01/30/15 3:23 PM GMT
Many farmers spray to keep them out of their fields, which really cuts down as a food source for all the consumers you mentioned.
I too like the looks of the thistle and generally takes some shots every year.
This is a very good shot, Laura.

TicK


(Viewed Full Screen)
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People are like cameras--sometimes they lose focus.
.susanlynn
01/30/15 5:21 PM GMT
Super close up of the thistle and the colors are wonderful Laura.
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Life is a Constant Audition
::trixxie17
01/30/15 8:01 PM GMT
I love to photograph thistle at the prairie restoration I visit every summer Laura - and I've seen these - wonderful info and excellent detail in this shot.
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. . . "What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome." A.J. Balfour
.Gergie
01/31/15 1:29 AM GMT
What a beautiful Photo, We had a pasture full of these, never looked that good.
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.gonedigital
02/01/15 6:04 AM GMT
A very informative narrative and well taken close up Laura, may I suggest a tad more contrast would have added more definition without a lose of detail.
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Wrap up warm this winter.
::garrettparkinson
02/02/15 6:28 PM GMT
Geat job. I really like the soft lighting.
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.stylo
02/04/15 11:46 AM GMT
hay farmers hate em! but i do enjoy these when they pop up in my fields i just let go..which is when they start to pop up. once filled in with goldenrod it sure makes for a much prettier field view then mowed grass look. you did a great in the infor, as i just read up on this last year when i notices the hummers going to them.(thumbs up)
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any and all parts of my pictures posted come from my camera's. i use only what i shoot! or render in software
::luckyshot
02/08/15 1:11 AM GMT
Laura - Excellent capture!
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If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera. ~Lewis Hine The Earth without art is just 'eh'.
::Eubeen
02/11/15 3:16 AM GMT
Thanks for the info on the thistle, all that I know is that it's not fun to back into one of these unexpectedly. :)
A good close up on the thistle. Nice details, colours and DoF in the photo. I might have cropped the right side off to the edge of the second thistle to remove the bit of orange in the background and left more of a lead off on the left side for composition purposes.
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Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane. -- Philip K. Dick, Valis

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