“There are times when you take a picture it becomes something other than what you intended. I was photographing Meadow Fritillaries a few days ago and one landed on some Queen Anne’s Lace. When I looked at the photo on the computer with the intent of cropping it to show the butterfly,it became a very nice photo of the plant with a couple of insects on it!“
“I had a chance to watch and photograph a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth at my sister-in-law’s yesterday. It was working on the Beebalm and the required a full extension of it’s proboscis!“
“And while we are on the subject of proboscises here is a close up of a Monarch I was watching a few days ago nectaring on Indian Hemp. Monarchs, like all insects, do have six legs but the first set is very small and difficult to see. This is the best photo I have taken that shows that first set of very short legs.“
“One of our most beautiful butterflies is the American Lady. Perhaps it is a good thing that, as far as we know, self image is not an issue with butterflies because it might be difficult to live life (short as it is) as a male American Lady!"
“The Fritillary Family is one of the most spectacular groups of butterflies that grace our area in the summertime. The locals include three larger members, Great Spangled, Aphrodite and Atlantis. This year, my first sighting was this Atlantis two days ago. The big three have similar coloring but the Atlantis is the one with the blue-gray eye. (Atlantic Ocean - blue-gray water, blue-gray eye - Atlantis Fritillary)“
“I also saw this pair of Bronze Coppers having a speed date at the Daisy Inn. I say it was a speed date because it didn’t take long for her to send him flying while she continued to enjoy her drink!“
“She made sure she fed both of the kids before pausing for a look at her progeny and then she made a quiet exit stage left. The kids were left to wonder where she went and I too was left with wonder and much gratitude for being in the audience for this performance!“
“I take many thousands of pictures that I discard but I just feel that it is important, if even for just a moment, to memorialize what I am observing. When I first read Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard many years ago, one phrase stood out and it has stuck with me all my life. "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste it’s sweetness on the desert air." In that moment of focus I am not allowing the subject to "blush unseen". Such is the case with Frogs. I can’t keep my lens off them! When I first saw this Bullfrog I noticed the debris in his mouth that looked like a cigarette and up came the camera. When I looked at the photo on the computer I saw that his right "hand" was holding down the blade of the plant and I was sure that was because he wanted a better view of me. You never know!“
“I had a chance to watch and photograph a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth at my sister-in-law’s yesterday. It was working on the Beebalm and the required a full extension of it’s proboscis!“
“And while we are on the subject of proboscises here is a close up of a Monarch I was watching a few days ago nectaring on Indian Hemp. Monarchs, like all insects, do have six legs but the first set is very small and difficult to see. This is the best photo I have taken that shows that first set of very short legs.“
“One of our most beautiful butterflies is the American Lady. Perhaps it is a good thing that, as far as we know, self image is not an issue with butterflies because it might be difficult to live life (short as it is) as a male American Lady!"
“The Fritillary Family is one of the most spectacular groups of butterflies that grace our area in the summertime. The locals include three larger members, Great Spangled, Aphrodite and Atlantis. This year, my first sighting was this Atlantis two days ago. The big three have similar coloring but the Atlantis is the one with the blue-gray eye. (Atlantic Ocean - blue-gray water, blue-gray eye - Atlantis Fritillary)“
“I also saw this pair of Bronze Coppers having a speed date at the Daisy Inn. I say it was a speed date because it didn’t take long for her to send him flying while she continued to enjoy her drink!“
“She made sure she fed both of the kids before pausing for a look at her progeny and then she made a quiet exit stage left. The kids were left to wonder where she went and I too was left with wonder and much gratitude for being in the audience for this performance!“
“I take many thousands of pictures that I discard but I just feel that it is important, if even for just a moment, to memorialize what I am observing. When I first read Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard many years ago, one phrase stood out and it has stuck with me all my life. "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste it’s sweetness on the desert air." In that moment of focus I am not allowing the subject to "blush unseen". Such is the case with Frogs. I can’t keep my lens off them! When I first saw this Bullfrog I noticed the debris in his mouth that looked like a cigarette and up came the camera. When I looked at the photo on the computer I saw that his right "hand" was holding down the blade of the plant and I was sure that was because he wanted a better view of me. You never know!“
As you can see, Rick’s journals are filled with swamp denizens and all kinds of birds we see at Teatown, like the Pileated and the big guy above. Again, contact him if you want to subscribe:
rickbunting@roadsidenaturalist.com.
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