30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Closeup of a bee harvesting pollen on a cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) flower. Note the pollen sac, one of two, on the bee. That’s where pollen is accumulated before it is brought back to the hive.
Bee on cup plant flower.
I took the above photo last Friday at Deep Cut Park in Middletown, NJ.
30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
The Monarch butterfly or butterflies that visited our milkweed plants must have laid some eggs. Last week I found several Monarch caterpillars crawling and munching on the plants.
Monarch caterpillars. The head is the end with two small antennas.
Monarch caterpillar.
Monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed.
However, after a few days they disappeared one at a time, even after new ones were hatched. Today, there are none left. I would like to think they became Monarch butterflies, but I am very afraid that the birds got them before they could do that. Perhaps I should put some netting over the plants as a barrier against birds, but it may already be too late for this year.
28 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
deep dut park, middletown, nj, photography, postaday, swallowtail
Today a friend and I went to Deep Cut Park in Middletown, NJ. There were many yellow Swallowtails flying throughout the park, and I simply could not resist taking the following shots.
Yellow Swallowtail.
Yellow Swallowtail.
Yellow Swallowtail and bee.
Two Yellow Swallowtails feeding at same spear thistle flowerhead.
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Eight weeks ago at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, the Osprey chicks were still small.
Osprey mother feeding chicks.
This past Monday, all three chicks have grown up. They appeared to be waiting for their parents who were out looking for fish.
Young Ospreys.
It was a hot day with lots of mosquitoes and flies attacking me constantly, so I didn’t stick around to wait for the parents to come back to their nest.
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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26 Wednesday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday
Two days ago, a Great Blue Heron was stalking fish at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Great Blue Heron stalking fish.
I saw it repeatedly stab at something in the water, but never saw it catch anything, unless it swallowed its prey even before coming up for air.
Great Blue Heron jabbing at something, but came up empty.
Meanwhile, a nearby Great Egret had better luck and seemed to enjoy its tossed fish.
Great Egret: caught one!
Great Egret smiling and tossing fish before swallowing it whole.
25 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge
Tags
butterfly, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, monarch, painted lady, photography, postaday, swallowtail
Milkweed was in bloom around the Visitor Center at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, and butterflies continually fluttered among its flowers and plants. Here are some photos of the three different kinds I saw yesterday.
Painted Lady
Swallowtail
Swallowtail
Monarch with hole in wing
I’ve read that it is quite possible to repair butterfly wings, either by gluing on parts of real broken wings or cellophane! There are even videos showing how to do it.
22 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
I haven’t been seeing male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds lately, and thought they had started their migration south, but this morning one came around.
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird arriving at feeder
He looked resplendent with his red throat.
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder. His throat is red!
His throat will be red or black depending on how the light falls on it.
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The throat appears black here.
In any case, he may be a young male, born this year. As soon as I took the above shot, the guardian of the feeder, an older female, swooped down on him and sent him packing. Alas, it happened so fast, almost violently fast, that I could not capture it. She was like a bullet train aimed at him and he reeled back all the way into the magnolia tree and beyond.
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Her throat is white.
The guardian: “Nobody but nobody can perch on this feeder without my permission!”
21 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Yesterday, in this post, I told you that I was hoping Monarch butterflies will come to the milkweed that I planted from seed this spring. Milkweed (Asclepias) are vital host plants for Monarchs. Their caterpillars only eat milkweed, and the butterflies then lay their eggs on the plants.
This morning, by chance, I peeked out of my office window and saw a butterfly hovering over the milkweed. I grabbed my camera, went out and took the following pictures of our first Monarch as it kept flying in and out of the milkweed. Truly, plant it and they will come!
Monarch butterfly among milkweed plants
Monarch on milkweed flowers
Monarch on milkweed flowers
The gradual disappearance of milkweed, due to urban development, is one of the main causes for the decline in Monarch population. More of us should be planting milkweed to help these pretty butterflies.
20 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Cee has this B&W photo challenge: http://ceenphotography.com/2015/08/20/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-flowers/
I immediately thought about the flowers at the lotus pond that you may have seen in several of my previous posts. Here are some new shots rendered in monochrome.
Pink Lotus
The following are white lotuses.
White Lotus
White Lotus
White Lotus and bee
20 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
asclepias, cone flower, cosmos, echinacea, milkeed, photography, postaday
This year I planted milkweed (Asclepias) to try to help and attract butterflies, especially Monarchs, a species that is in decline in North America over the past several years. The milkweed flowers have started to bloom.
Asclepias or Milkweed
Let’s see whether the Monarchs will come! In the meantime, other summer flowers are very noticeable also, and butterflies, but not Monarchs, do fly around the yard.
Cosmos
Cosmos
Cone flower (Echinacea) and green bee.
18 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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Normally there is only one Hummingbird at our feeder at a time. This is because it is guarded by a female somewhere high in the trees. If she sees another Hummingbird there, she dives in and sends it away unceremoniously. When she is feeding, any Hummingbird that comes by is given chase.
Early this morning a different scene took place. She was feeding calmly when a younger Hummingbird approached. She lifted her head and looked at it but did not start any threatening move. I think that was her daughter, and she allowed her to share the feeder.
Daughter approaching feeder.
Hummingbird mother: “Why don’t you dance for the nice photographer who is taking our pictures?” Daughter: “Sure Mammy!”
After that the mother flew away peacefully. The daughter went around the feeder a few times.
Daughter dancing around the feeder.
More dancing for the photographer.
Final flourish.
Time to eat.
17 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Last June, this Willet was standing in the marshes at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and answering wake-up calls from its siblings, its eyes half closed.
Willet: What? Is it Monday again? Blah…
16 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have left our area after fulfilling their duty to the species. The females and the young ones remain and they are as active as ever, requiring me to refill their nectar feeder more frequently. This may be because the male is no longer guarding the feeder and chasing everyone away. Or it could be because they are fueling up for the long trip south at the end of this month. There is one female who now fulfills the feeder guardian role, but I think she may not have been as diligent.
Over the past several days, I tried to capture photos of hummingbirds in flight around the feeder. Because they beat them so fast, 53 times per second, their wings will always come out blurry, at least for me. Here are some shots from yesterday in mid morning.
Female Hummingbird
Female Hummingbird
Female Hummingbird
Female Hummingbird
You will probably notice the tiny feet on these birds. They cannot walk on them and can only use them for perching on a feeder or on a branch. I just took the following photo early this morning.
Female Hummingbird on an oak branch. This is where she keeps an eye on the feeder.
15 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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This spring I put up a bluebird house in our backyard, hoping that Bluebirds would come and set up their nest inside. However, Chickadees took possession of it first, then Sparrows tried to invade. Finally a couple of House Wrens evicted all the other occupants and settled in. They are small birds but very feisty and aggressive.
House Wren peeking out of bird house.
The House Wren in the above photo was holding a fecal sac that it would take and deposit somewhere away from the nest. It could also take similar looking spider egg sacs to deposit inside the nest. When the spiders hatch, they will help the nest by eating parasites in it.
Young House Wren clamoring for food. They can be very noisy.
Unlike other backyard birds, House Wrens eat insects and don’t care for the sunflower seeds in our feeder.
House Wren holding insect it caught. The bird was keeping its prey for another House Wren, perhaps a younger one, that flew in and snatched it away.
13 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
A Tufted Titmouse was singing so beautifully that I had to look up and capture it in the following shot.
Tufted Titmouse singing
11 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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Last Sunday I went with a friend to a sunflower field at Brodhecker Farm near the town of Newton in northern New Jersey. I have been going there almost every year for the past four years, and it has yet to be disappointing. The following photos seem to be a fitting tribute to summer at its best.
We arrived in the morning and started shooting right away. The light was good but there were no clouds in the blue sky. After a while we went to visit a waterfall in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Coming back in the afternoon there were lots of interesting clouds in the sky, so we decided to stop and took pictures all over. All of the photos below were taken in the afternoon.
Sunflower field
Sunflowers
Sunflower
Sunflower
10 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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It is midsummer, and the following photos are typical of those that can be captured at this time of the year. I took them around our house.
Cone Flower (Echinacea)
Cone Flower (Echinacea)
Cosmos
08 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Hummingbirds are very small but they move around so fast that up to now I have not been able to see where they go after they fly away. The photo below shows how most of us see these birds.
Hummingbird: this one looks like a young male born this year.
However, yesterday I saw one fly to a nearby oak tree and perch on a branch.
Female Hummingbird on oak tree branch.
To give you an idea how small it is, here’s a shot of a female House Finch at about the same distance.
Female House Finch
Or, how about a Nuthatch and a Goldfinch for comparison?
Nuthatch to Goldfinch: “Hey, how about sharing that seed?”
06 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
american lady, black swallowtail, butterfly, dragonfly, photography, postaday, slaty skimmer, widow skimmer
The Delaware Raritan canal lies less than 2 miles from our house. I went there today to see whether there were butterflies and dragonflies to photograph, and found four different kinds. I am no expert on these insects, so please correct me if I get their names wrong.
Black Swallowtail: this one was actually dark brown.
This next one, American Lady, landed on the gravel path right in front of me and flapped her wings until I got several shots of her.
American Lady
Slaty Skimmer
Widow Skimmer
04 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
For this challenge, http://ceenphotography.com/2015/08/04/cees-fun-foto-challenge-peach-or-apricot/, I thought right away about my favorite rose in our garden.
Heritage Rose
03 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
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This past weekend, the lotus pond only had a few lotus flowers that were not white. The red and pink lotuses provided a vivid and beautiful contrast to the white and green of the rest of the pond.
Red Lotus
Pink Lotus
Pink Lotus: the grasshopper was a bonus that I didn’t see at first.
02 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Here are some more shots of dragonflies. I was hoping to see other kinds of dragonflies, but only Blue Dashers and Eastern Amberwings were at the lotus pond yesterday.
Blue Dasher saying “cheese” for the camera.
Blue Dasher on lotus stem.
Eastern Amberwing: this one flew in from the lotus pond and landed on the gravel path just a few feet from me.
Blue Dasher
01 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Tags
daily post, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, house finch, lotus, marsh mallow, nuthatch, photography, weekly photo challenge
These are my submissions for this challenge: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/inspiration/
The sources of my inspiration of course vary with the season and the location, but over time they tend to be mostly birds and flowers.
I took the following shot last month at my favorite location, the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It was raining so I took the picture through the open car window and the rain.
Rainbow over the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Nuthatch, the Cyrano bird
White Lotus
Marsh Mallow
neihtn 