Back home for a couple days, see what I found!

Female common whitetail (Plathemis lydia)

Family dog Holly (Canis lupus familiaris)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Silver-spotted Skipper
 (Epargyreus clarus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Morning glory (family Convolvulaceae)

Bee on Mint (Family Lamiaceae)

Female common whitetail (Plathemis lydia) view 2

Bee on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Praying mantis (Family Mantidae sp?) in a precarious situation view 2

Funnel web spider’s funnel (Family Agelenidae) with praying matis nearby

Praying mantis (Family Mantidae sp?) in a precarious situation

Went home for a few days (7/29/2013) before fully moving back to Delaware from NC and here are some things I found around the yard at home. I am now fully returned to Delaware and will post some of my last pictures from NC in a few days.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 172

More rose of sharon hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus)

Probably a variety of the rose of sharon but not sure (Hibiscus sp?)

Probably lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)

Near the wedding venue were some flower beds. A lot of hibiscus shrubs and what I believe is lamb’s ear which is also a member of the mint family.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 159

China rose hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)

Insect on orange zinnia (Zinnia elegans “Profusion Orange”)

Mint flowers (Mentha sp?)

Today we have a different variety or orange zinnia, most likely a profusion orange. There was some little flying insect on one of the petals but there isn’t enough detail for me to determine for sure what it is. Our hibiscus is still blooming and our mint that we planted years ago is blooming, though I don’t know what type it is.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 148

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) 2nd side view

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) top view

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) 2nd side view

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) side view

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) top view

Today was my lucky day with not one but two large butterflies posing nicely. I finally was able photograph a spicebush swallowtail up close. I wanted to double check to be sure that I ID’d it correctly and it turns out the black swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) can look remarkably similar. However thanks to this site illustrating differences on the hind-wing I am sure that I photographed spicebush swallowtail.

The other butterfly of the day is the ever popular monarch butterfly. Their bold coloring serves to warn predators that they are toxic and taste bad, which is due cardiac glycosides stored in their bodies which they get from their caterpillar’s host plants, milkweeds (Asclepias spps.[various species]). During the summer months monarchs can be found all over the US and as far north as Canada. One of the amazing things about monarchs is that in the fall they migrate to over-winter in specific regions of California and Mexico. During the course of spring and summer there will be approximately 3 ephemeral generations of butterflies that live 2 to 6 weeks, but in the fall a 4th generation will emerge that lives 6 to 8 months and makes the migration south and back north in the spring. This long lived generation is referred to as the methuselah generation and over-winters on oyamel fir trees in Mexico and California. Amazingly, every methuselah generation has never made the migration yet when the generation emerges in the fall they know where to go. Because they migrate to specific regions and then hibernate in massive clusters on the trees, sanctuaries have been established to protect their habitat which is threatened by , among other things, deforestation . There are several non-profit organizations such as Monarch Watch which provide educational materials and help to keep an eye on the monarch populations as they migrate back and forth. In the spring you may even find a monarch with a sticker on its under-wings which are used by organizations to track their progress and keep tabs on their populations. Check out the Monarch Watch website or your local university to see if they have tagging events. Pollinator Partnership is another good resource for information about pollinators and with links to information about various pollinators such as the monarch butterfly.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 111

One of the things I like about shots with flash is you can see some of the interesting textures on plants. Played with some long exposures of a solar LED light that changes colors, which gave an interesting effect to some leaves.

Multi-color LED Light and long exposure

Mint (family Lamiaceae sp?)

Daylily (Hemerocallis sp? var ‘Stella de Oro’)

Year in Nature Photography – Day 91

When you’re out doing nature photography or working in nature in general, you have to respect nature and be aware of your surroundings. It’s generally wise to not touch or pick things that you do not know what they are. This is also good from an ecological standpoint as we want to leave no trace as much as possible, which is why pictures and video are great. As an example, stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) looks harmless but has tiny invisible hairs that get stuck in your skin and clothes and can irritate you. When it comes to animals and insects, the rule of thumb is that if it has a mouth it can bite. So be careful when you’re trying to photograph something that you don’t accidentally run into poison ivy, or put your hand on some fire ants, or get attacked by a rabid squirrel. Always a good idea to do some research online and just be aware of what’s in your area.

After the words of caution, some flowers. We have one of our variegated calamint with a blossom. A shot of a full bloom of the daylily and another of the passion flower. Also my mother picked up a calla lily, of which all of the species of the genus are native to southern parts of Africa.

Calamint variegated (Calamintha grandiflora ‘varigata’) with a flower

Calla lily (Zantedeschia sp?)

Passion flower vine (Passiflora incarnata)

Daylily (Hemerocallis sp? ‘stella de oro’)