Posts in Category: insect
caterpillar
I am not certain which caterpillar this is. It was hanging, as they do, from a single tread from a branch overhead, along the Kennebunk Bridle Path, and doing its caterpillar dance. I snuck up on it with my Sony a6700 and Tamron 50-400 at 133mm equivalent. Program with my insect modifications and highlight metering to preserve detail in the caterpillar in the sun against the dark background. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Rusty-patched Bumblebee?
Rusty-patched Bumblebee: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2025 — So, according to google this is a Rusty-patched Bumblebee, once common in Maine, but now quite rare, endangered, both in Maine and all through the northeast. I have done my best to confirm that it is actually a Rusty-patched and it looks like it is. If anyone knows better please let me know. It is enjoying foraging in Sweet Joe-Pye-Weed in a little marshy area on the banks of the Mousam River where an effort is being made to restore native vegitation. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my insect modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Seaside Dragons in love
Seaside Dragonlet mating wheels. Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2025 — Down by the Bridle Path through the tidal marsh the Seaside Dragonlets were bush mating and ovipositing. There must have been a dozen pairs in the one small pool I observed. Busy busy. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my insect and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Blue Dasher Art
Blue Dasher Dragonfly: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, September 2024 — One of our most common dragonflies in Southern Maine, but still worth a close look, especially when artfully posed on the September grass head. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Band-winged Meadowhawk
Band-winged Meadowhawk: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2024 — There were lots of dragonflies patrolling the a yard and an overgrown field in Kennebunk on a bright September day, but the only one that lit for me long enough for a photo was this Band-winged Meadowhawk. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Turtlehead and bumblebees
We have good sized stands of Turtlehead in our yard, all descended from a few plants donated by one of my wife’s friends. They are in bloom right now and being tended by a host of bumblebees. I find it interesting that I have only ever seen this particular species of bumblebee around the Turtleheads. They are just the right size, and apparently have enough strength (and determination) to force their way into the open mouths of the blossoms to gather the pollen inside, and to pollinate other flowers as they gather. It is not easy. It sometimes takes them several tries before they find just the right angle to wriggle inside…where they completely disappear for severe seconds before managing to get back out to move on to another flower. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 105mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Loosestrife Honey
Western Honey Bee: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Loosestrife Honey sounds like a good brand name…if not for Loosestrife being so aggressively invasive here in Maine. The Honey Bees seem to enjoy it, but look how dark that pollen sack is! Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 115mm equivalent from about 5 inches. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Eastern Calligrapher
Eastern Calligrapher: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — This is another tiny bug…it was a good day for them yesterday at Roger’s Pond. There were lots of these tiny (just about 1/4 inch) hover flies working the (invasive) Purple Loosestrife. This is the only shot I got with the wings open. I was debating making this a Pic for Today, but when I looked it up and saw the name I could no longer resist. Calligrapher! I wonder if it is called that because of the pattern on the back or because it draws letters in the air as it hovers around flowers? Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 115mm equivalent (the macro range on the Tamron, so this about half life size depending on what you are viewing it on…more than life size on anything larger than a phone. 🙂 Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Red Admiral
Red Admiral Butterfly: Kennebunk Bridal Trail, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2024 — I posted a White Admiral from the Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy property, inland from us, a week ago, and someone mentioned the Red Admiral in a comment. Here is a Red Admiral from the sea side of our house, down near the ocean on the Kennebunk Bridal Path. It is a beautiful butterfly, and the setting, on the Queen Ann’s Lace and in front of the out-of-focus beach roses with some fruit already here at the end of July, only makes for a better image. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Insect detection auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
New Mexico! White-lined Sphinx Moth
White-lined Sphinx Moth: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2024 — As I mentioned a week or so ago, the plants at Randall Davey were attracting a lot of Sphinx Moths, certainly the most I have ever seen in one place at one time. I had a lot of fun trying to catch them in the frame of my camera. I found that I had to use the mechanical shutter on the Sony a6700, as the moths’ wings were just the right speed to distort with the silent electronic shutter. 🙁 Not a problem really…just a matter of switching shutters. As above, Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my flight and action modifications. Insect subject recognition and focus. Processed in Photomator.