Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Heart Of The Storm

 The gathering storm I talked about yesterday hadn't fully gotten to the park yet, but I knew the best place for me was inside my truck. If I was going to be stuck out in the rain I might as well go to a place where I could see it better.

So I drove to one of the lakes there that could offer me a longer and wider view of everything when it finally got here. It was quickly approaching as I drove to my destination. I tried to pull over once, but I was in a bad place that might quickly become flooded, so I kept moving.

I arrived at my final destination to be greeted by a gaggle of geese that were trying to shelter themselves the best they could. They weren't very successful. Geese may be one type of animal where their only form of shelter is just to stay off the water. This lightning strike didn't bode well for any of us.


This episode of Rat TV is not just a tease of things to come. This time I bring you the full blown thunderstorm. It was difficult to get this from inside the truck. I had to be careful that the camera didn't get soaked. The wind was blowing the rain right inside the truck with me. I couldn't worry about the geese for the time being.

Here is another lightning strike I was able to catch on camera. It became easy capturing lightning with there being so many lightning strikes right then. I'm just glad they didn't get much closer. The storm came right to me, but the lightning luckily stayed away.

When the storm finally began to lighten up the geese were gone. I don't know where they went, but hopefully they found a safe place to hide. I never felt like I myself was in any danger, but I had no choice but to wait out the storm right where I was. A good storm can cleanse the Earth and refresh the soul. That's the way I felt when it was all over.


Nature Center Magazine - Emma has found another gem of a website. This one is full of bugs! Just like finding a mosquito embedded in amber.

14 comments:

  1. Two fantastic photos Ratty. The geese don't seem too bothered by the storm! How many did you take to get a couple with lightening in?

    I had to take about 60 shots to catch this one!

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  2. You have invited me for a new challenge which I do not think I would like to join. lol.

    Anyhow, the pictures on lightning is terrific.

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  3. Beautiful shots of lightening! I'm glad you had a break from blogging.

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  4. Storms really don't seem to bother geese. Other wildlife seeks cover, but the goose population is so used to being wet that they just seem to ignore the inclement weather.

    Bill;www.wildramblings.com

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  5. Super captures of the lightening!!! I love a good rain storm and enjoy how it cleans the air and the plant life.

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  6. Real hard to catch the lightening, nice post.I assume you made the video with your still camera.We have had over 12 hours of rain with more to come. I was suppose to be in my tent in NE but glad to be in a dry home.Once I put camp in a great grove of trees only to find when it rained hard I was in a drainage area,so had to bail.the water at the river is almost touching the bottom of the bridge, I am headed out to shoot some for a TV post.Keeping my kayaks in the truck all the time.

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  7. That reminds me of the storm we had the other morning. The lighting was frequent and the rain was coming down in buckets.

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  8. Great shots of the lightening! We had a bad storm here also but I just couldn't get any of the lightening. I'm always trying but most are at night. Great video also! I love storms!

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  9. Wow! You've caught a lightning shot! Awesome! I hope you didn't standing in the middle of the field there.

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  10. Whoa, that was quite a downpour! Although the lightning shots are great, I have to confess that lightning and pouring-down rain are probably two of my least favorite things.

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  11. @John
    I am very envious of your lightning photo, which is much better than mine. I thought of it when I got mine. You got yours the right way. I must confess that I cheated a bit with mine, but it's an excellent way to get them. My camera can shoot high definition video. I took a video of the storm and used a few screen shots of the lightning. It makes it easy to do it that way, and the quality is still good.

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  12. I have never once, since living in the San Francisco area, seen chain lightning like this. If we have thunder and lightning, it is front page news. Our cooler temperatures seem to make it a rarity. Growing up in GA, though, I remember almost daily thunder storms and, an occasional tornado, with incredible streaks of lightning like this.

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  13. You're quite daring to be outdoors during a thunderstorm and better still snap lightning bolts too. Awesome shots Ratty!

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  14. hi, i like your blog, very good articles and entertaining! nice capture of the lightning, especially with the sun still out. i personally would prefer to stay indoor during lightning storms

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