Posts in Category: animals
Two-barred Flasher
Two-barred Flasher, National Butterfly Center, Mission TX
Another panel (three shots this time) of another Rio Grande Valley specialty…The Two-barred Flasher butterfly, from the National Butterfly Center gardens in Mission Texas. The blue on this butterfly is often so intense that it “burns out” in a normally exposed photograph…losing all detail. I always feel that this one got shortchanged in the name department. Something more exotic is certainly called for!
All shots with the Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Silver Emperor Butterfly
Silver Emperor Butterfly, National Butterfly Center, Mission TX
This is a collage of 5 shots of the Silver Emperor Butterfly, taken yesterday at the National Butterfly Center in Mission Texas. As though the butterfly were not spectacular enough with its rich brown body, yellow wing tips, and bold while band, in the right light the male shows a bright blue iridescence along both edges of the white. You can see a bit of it flashing in several of these shots. The name comes from the back-side view, and the silver color of the body and wing band. Again, if the angle of the light is right, it looks as metallic as the spots on a Fritillary. Note the green tongue showing in the two head on shots. All together one fine looking butterfly…and just rare enough to cause a stir whenever one is found on this side of the Rio Grande.
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Squirrely!
Grey Squirrel, The Yard. Kennebunk ME
We have more squirrels in our yard this year than I can ever remember seeing. They are after the acorns, of which we also have more than I can ever remember seeing…and of course they are after my birdseed and suet blocks. I have to admit, squirrels are cute…when they are not on my feeders. This one popped up while I was testing my newly repaired Nikon P900 and I could not resist.
As I mentioned yesterday, I am in Texas at the moment, and hopefully tomorrow will have some butterflies or birds to show. But for now, you are stuck with this squirrel 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/100th @ ISO 800 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Texas Bound
Red Bordered Pixy. National Butterfly Center, Mission Texas
I am leaving in a few moments for a 14 hour journey to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in Texas. If all goes well, tomorrow morning I will be at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission, Texas, photographing butterflies and dragonflies. This shot, a Red-bordered Pixy, is from last year, taken with the Sony HX400V I was using at the time. The butterfly gardens at the National Butterfly Center are one of favorite places to photograph, anywhere, and then there all the other great spots in the Valley. It is a working trip and time in the field will be limited, but still it is always good. I am looking forward to some great photo ops!
Greater Yellowlegs in the Autumn Afternoon
Greater Yellowlegs. Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk ME
I waited patiently yesterday for some light…for a bit of sun to break through the overcast…before risking a photoprowl. It is hunting season, and though Sunday hunting is banned in Maine, I never really feel safe in the woods until the guns are put back in their cases in early December. Fortunately, I am in Texas and New Mexico for more than 2 full weeks in November…so I generally have lots of pics to post anyway.
This is a Greater Yellowlegs, in the marsh pools along the Bridle Trail in an isolated section of Rachel Carson NWR, in Kennebunk Maine. The late afternoon light makes the image warm, makes the shadows long, and picks out the detail in the plumage. Nikon P900 (back from repair!) at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 320 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
The Song of the Great Blue Heron! Happy Sunday.
Great Blue Heron, Back Creek Marsh, Kennebunk ME.
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light.” Jesus
Of course, Great Blue Herons are not song-birds. They do not sing. They rarely make and sound at all, and when they do it is a guttural grunt, not only un-song like, but un-bird like. But they have a song. It is in the way they move, they way they hunt, they way they are. It is the silent stalking, the slow march across the marsh. Majestic, written and arranged for strings and orchestra. By Vivaldi perhaps. As much dance as song. Even silent, you can see as you watch the Heron hunt in the shallow waters of the marsh that it is hearing the music in its mind…that it moves to a song all its own. And then with a swell of strings, it spreads its great wings and lifts off…keeping time even as it flies. It is the song of the Great Blue Heron. And if you have watched one closely, with generous eyes, you will know what I mean, and hear it, at least in your dreams.
All creation sings the glory of the creator God…the God who creates in love. That is the light we are filled with…the generous eyed ones…the ones who hear the Heron song with the ears of the spirit…and who celebrate such beauty. Happy Sunday!
Female Cardinal!
Female Northern Cardinal. Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area, Cape May NJ
There is a slightly funny story about the female Cardinal shot from Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area in Cape May, New Jersey. It was still fairly early in the morning, as you can see by the angle of the light, and I was taking a second turn around the meadows at Higbee. I heard the Cardinal chipping in the brush beside the path, and was busy photographing it, when I heard something crashing through the brush and trees behind me. I turned slightly, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk burst out of the foliage, below my eye-level, and shot up and across the path about a foot from my head…after my Cardinal. I ducked, and the Cardinal apparently did too, because the Sharpy landed in a tree just beyond without any prey. So, of course, I took pictures of it. Fair play. it scared off my subject…it became my subject!
This shot, despite the drama, shows off just how sharp the Nikon P610 is at full zoom in ideal light. 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler. Cape May Point Lighthouse State Park, Cape May NJ
As I mentioned, warblers of any variety other than Yellow-rumped were very scarce during this year’s Cape May Autumn Bird Festival. On the last morning I was in Cape May, this winter-plumaged Palm Warbler hopped across the trail at Cape May Point Lighthouse State Park and sat long enough in a tuft of daisy like flowers for a few shots…pumping its tail all the time.
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed and cropped slightly in Lightroom.
Carolina Wren Twice
Carolina Wren. Cape May Point Lighthouse State Park, NJ
I heard several Carolina Wrens singing on the trails at Cape May Point Lighthouse State Park, but they remained tucked well back in brush and totally invisible. It was on my last morning there, in less than ideal light, when one finally popped out where I could see it…and get a few shots. This is a collage of two shots of the same wren, as it flitted actively around this perch. Carolina Wren only vary rarely makes it up as far as Maine, so I am always happy to see one on my travels. It is certainly one of the more robust wrens…with a song to match. 🙂
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 320 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Cape May Point Lighthouse State Park, Cape May NJ
My last morning in Cape May for the Cape May Autumn Bird Festival was overcast and on the dull, chill side…but there were several cooperative birds, including this Ruby-crowned Kinglet…one of a small flock of Kinglets that was feeding along the trail behind the Hawk Watch Pond. I am always pleased to get a photo of this tiny, hyper-active bird, and especially pleased to get one with any of the ruby crown showing. 🙂
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.