Sunday Stills: Eyes

OK, I'll admit this one is really more about mouths, since their eyes aren't quite open. But I thought you'd enjoy seeing who hatched out of my last Sunday Stills egg photo.

I'm still not sure what kind of birds these are. The mother is sparrow-like, kind of gray without much marking, no tuft. If I station myself out in the prairie perhaps I'll see more of her coming and going to feed this hungry brood. Too bad none of these are in very good focus.

I thought this butterfly with the big eye looked like part of the Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) I found him on.

After several shots, I realized the butterfly had expired. The flower was looking like it was on the way out, too. Looks like a male Sleepy Orange, Eurema nicippe.

For more images of eyes, visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Best Shots of 2009

Since we just did our favorite Sunday Stills shots, I thought I'd pick my two best 2009 macro shots from Macro Monday.

This Mottled Tortise Beetle, Deloyala guttata, shot back in September is something I'd never seen before. It's always cool when nature can surprise you in your own backyard. I am still amazed by the 'windshields' of its wings and the metallic designs. I love the textures and details of these.

There are more than 800,000 species of insects on Earth--more than all the other plants and animals combined. Of this great number of insects, nearly half are beetles. When naturalist and entymologist E.O Wilson was once asked what he knew about God, he answered the only thing he knew was that God was inordinately fond of beetles.

My second favorite was this Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, photographed in November. There is nothing in our landscape so stunning as the blue of this butterfly.

Probably the best thing about these shots were being in the right place at the right moment and having the camera with me!

Visit Macro Monday for more up-close images!

Macro Monday: Pipevine Swallowtail

 

 

Here's the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly from this previously featured caterpillar. It is the most striking metallic blue. This one looks brand new, all its scales in place, and sunning itself to strengthen its wings in my garden this afternoon.

For more close-ups visit Macro Monday!

Macro Monday: Dew Drop By!

I'm still under the weather with an inner ear/sinus infection trying to finish up some client ad designs. If you've ever had inner ear trouble, you know how unbalanced your coordination can get. The drizzle and cooler weather we've received has been delightful and made for some nice photos this morning. At least shooting macro I am closer to the ground, not so far to fall!

Native Fall Aster

Ground spider web

Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar

Mold, not snow!

Fall color in grass seedheads

For more up close views of the world, visit Macro Monday.

Sunday Stills: Happiness is...

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Empress Antonia butterfly (Asterocampa antonia)

coming across something new and never losing your sense of wonder.

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The start of a quilted jacket.

making something beautiful and useful from all the odd little pieces of your life.

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Momma, the burrs just jumped all over me!

not worrying about small problems, as things are never as bad as they look.

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Taken by a friend at our $150 wedding.

finding true love long after you've given up looking for it.

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You can see the end of the rainbow! Check out my new blog header collage with this view from our garden.

is realizing with patience the end of the rainbow will find you!

For more takes on Happiness visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Maple Seeds

I remember the first time as a child I found a maple seed floating in a small lake at summer camp and thought it was the wings of an insect. The counselor assured me it was plant life and nothing to be worried about.

There is a nearby canyon of Bigtooth Maples, an isolated remnant of ones from the north. These photos are from mine, even more astray. Since my macro shots didn't come out as crisp as I would have liked them, I decided to make them more artsy with filters.

I've already seen the first of the migratory Viceroy and Monarch Butterflies coming through to feed on our Frostweed, and I think the maple seeds back lit by the sun greatly resemble their wings. It's interesting how much mimicry there is in nature. In the case of the Viceroy, it is a comimic of the Monarch butterfly. But what is the purpose of the maple seed to resemble insect wings?

For more up close views on the world, visit Macro Monday!

Macro Monday: Coneflower and Friends

I planted this Purple Coneflower last fall in the vegetable garden to attract pollinators and it bloomed for the first time this weekend. This morning it had attracted some new friends.

Here's a little Folded-winged Skipper of some sort enjoying the nectar. When basking in the sun, they hold their fore winds and hind wings at different angles unlike other butterflies. They have really big eyes! I would say they fall into the cute category.

Here's a male Little Metalmark or Fatal Metalmark. Don't you love how butterflies uncoil their proboscis to take a drink? His striped antennae are interesting.

Closer up you can see the metalic lines in his patterning that give these butterflies their name.

For a more detailed view on life, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Things with Wings

This week's photography challenge was wings. I have been working on my own challenge of color manipulating backgrounds without altering the colors of the subject.

Here is the winged stem of Frostweed, Verbesina virginica. It gets its common name from the fact that in the winter when it freezes the dead stems will split and curly shavings of ice will extrude out. They live in colonies in the understory of our creek and serve as butterfly cafes when blooming. You can see a photo of one in bloom with a butterfly at this older post.

I think Borage is one of the most intensely beautiful blue flowers in the herb garden. After we finished picking blackberries yesterday (see previous post) I caught these ladybugs enjoying them too. There is a folktale that if you float these flowers in the drink of a man you like he will ask you to marry him.

This is a Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, so perfect it must have just emerged from its chrysalis to sun itself. The bitterness of its host plant--Pipevine--makes it unpalatable to birds.

Check out more interpretations of wings at Sunday Stills.

Morning Visitor

I noticed the bright spot of color from my office window this morning.

It's always breath taking to see a Luna Moth (Actias luna) from the Saturniidae family. Especially up close. This is only the third I've seen in my lifetime. And the first time I've had a decent camera in hand.

Although common, they only live one week in this phase. They emerge just to mate, and don't eat or even have a mouth. As an artist I would never have thought to combine plum with lime, but it works very well. Isn't the striping on this male's eyespot and his brushy antennae just exquisite?

You Made My Day!

Four years ago I saw my first Zebra Longwing floating over the garden and was inspired to use it as the subject in a Japanese woodcut printing class I attended. Through the gruelling removal of wood with hand chisels to make the printing plates, I developed a sore wrist, an awesome appreciation of woodcut artists, and an obsession for this butterfly.

It doesn't seem to flap as much as other butterflies, but uses its long wingspan to glide around. Often when you see it, the thing is overhead and you are looking at the underside with the light coming through.

According to official lists it's not supposed to be seen in my county. I've come across one in my garden each year but as soon as I run for the camera it has disappeared. Except today! This one was so busy feeding on the Frostweed that I was able to get many good images. It made my day!