PickerelweedFriday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dragonflies 201
So today I finally found some dragonflies willing to let me get very close before freaking out. That means I managed to take some pics through my macro lens and use my new flash. Since I had the flash I managed to get to f/16. Getting to f/16 means much greater depth of field, coupling that with the macro lens got me the below shots.
I managed to get lots of close shots of the female above. The males would only sit still if they had food.
Crop of the above pic to see how detailed I got the eyes.
Apparently I'm nuts about getting pics of the compound eyes.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the emergence of the red dragonflies I've seen the last two years who will perch on your fingers if you approach slowly enough.
These are all Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis).
I managed to get lots of close shots of the female above. The males would only sit still if they had food.
Crop of the above pic to see how detailed I got the eyes.
Apparently I'm nuts about getting pics of the compound eyes.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the emergence of the red dragonflies I've seen the last two years who will perch on your fingers if you approach slowly enough.
These are all Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis).
Monday, July 27, 2009
Evil Little Critters
I found this guy on my Turk's Cap lily this morning. It hasn't even bloomed yet, and I was hoping since it was my only lily I could avoid these little buggers. I found another one a few minutes later. They're red lily beetles, and tomorrow I get to obsessively check each leaf of the lily and yank them and their eggs off. I never saw them last year, so assume they're scouting for new territory now.
Daily Photo - Clown Loach
Another flash experiment. Turns out this flash is offset enough to remove most of the nasty flash back I get taking pics into fish tanks, so unlike my last camera I can take fish pics again, and they're much more detailed than the old 3 megapixel ones.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday in the Garden
I'm being lazy this week. You're only getting what is in addition this week. Everything from last Sunday is also still blooming.
^One of the Garden beds, which caused the laziness^
^Spiderwort^
^Black -Eyed Susan^
^Sunflower from bird seeds^
^Reseeded marigold in veggie garden^
^One of the Garden beds, which caused the laziness^
^Spiderwort^
^Black -Eyed Susan^
^Sunflower from bird seeds^
^Reseeded marigold in veggie garden^
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
I wasn't very happy with how the low tides lined up during my vacation, but it worked out well enough. It made me feel much lazier than last year though with the low tides at 10 am, rather than 8. The lighting was also quite a bit harsher than I prefer.
This is my favorite place to visit on the Cape, so I went twice. Once was during low tide, and the other was just to walk the Silver Spring Trail. Low tide is excellent for photography due to the number of accommodating fiddler crabs with burrows lining the path out to the boardwalk.
A nice butterfly garden welcomes you into the sanctuary. This is probably an American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).
There are some red wing blackbirds nesting in the plants next to the bridge over Goose Pond. They were dive bombing people walking by, which made for good pictures if you stayed just far enough away.
Last year there were hundreds of these guys crawling around, but I took much worse pictures. This year I only spotted one, but got a much better picture. For a size reference this guy is about 1/2 an inch long.
This grass pattern I've seen all over the tidal areas. It isn't blowing in the wind, just stuck down in these patterns.
I also like the first pond with its overlooks and the bridge you can find if you follow the Silver Spring Trail. Turtles were all over the place sunning themselves by floating on lily pads.
The first of my zoomed in dragonflies. I was a good distance away from this guy.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cape Cod National Seashore - Beaches
A very useful fact I learned this year is that after 4 pm the lifeguards no longer patrol, so the National Seashore beaches become free. This is ideal for me since I have no interest in actually swimming in freezing cold Massachusetts water, but do want to wander around beaches when the lighting is good. Last year I just paid for one beach on my last day and hit them all in succession on my way home. I remembered that last year that the last beach hadn't wanted to see the receipt, so wondered if there was a reason. Too bad I didn't find this out until the second to last day. I could have been to the beaches every night.
I took dozens of pictures one night as the seagulls rode the wind up and down the beach at sunset. Only 2 or 3 images came out focused as it was my first use of my long zoom lens in a few months.
I didn't position this feather, it really was sitting on the beach lined up nicely like that.
After 4 dogs are also allowed on the beaches. This came from a tiny little dog playing in the surf.
All three of these were the same day, though each is on a different beach. The clouds were awesome that day. I have plenty more pictures, but most have boats on the horizons, which I'm not too fond of. For some reason they were lining up to the left of the above picture.
On the last day I went on a Sand Dune Tour. It wasn't bad, but I've been on better tours. They drive you around to see some beach shacks, you get a little of the area's history and you get to take pictures at an overlook at the end. Overall not a bad tour.
Pine Tree at Province Sands Park Headquarters. It was the perfect time of day to catch the light on the tree, but have the sky dark enough to not wash out.
I took dozens of pictures one night as the seagulls rode the wind up and down the beach at sunset. Only 2 or 3 images came out focused as it was my first use of my long zoom lens in a few months.
I didn't position this feather, it really was sitting on the beach lined up nicely like that.
After 4 dogs are also allowed on the beaches. This came from a tiny little dog playing in the surf.
All three of these were the same day, though each is on a different beach. The clouds were awesome that day. I have plenty more pictures, but most have boats on the horizons, which I'm not too fond of. For some reason they were lining up to the left of the above picture.
On the last day I went on a Sand Dune Tour. It wasn't bad, but I've been on better tours. They drive you around to see some beach shacks, you get a little of the area's history and you get to take pictures at an overlook at the end. Overall not a bad tour.
Pine Tree at Province Sands Park Headquarters. It was the perfect time of day to catch the light on the tree, but have the sky dark enough to not wash out.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Garden in the Woods
Well, the dragonflies weren't quite as accommodating as they were yesterday, but I got some good pics.
I even started spotting newts in the Lily Pond. Once you see the first one they're everywhere. This was my best attempt out of over 20 pics. Even in bright sunlight I couldn't get a good handheld shutter speed. Thankfully there were plenty of chances.
I was disappointed that the Hop Brook Trail was closed due to storm damage, and it didn't say when it might be reopening. It is by far the best place to see Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata). I found several on the other trails in the garden, but there was a huge number of them on that trail last year, and as the morning wears on the ones out in the garden start to vanish, I assume back to the trail.
There were a lot of very friendly frogs there as well. It is actually my preferred place for frog pictures due to the number of children and amount of traffic the pond gets. the frogs will mostly sit still through just about anything. Most Mass Audubon sites the frogs are gone before you get within 10 feet.
I'll admit it I really love these green bees. I first spotted one a few years ago in a Morning Glory, and just find them more fun to photograph than a standard bumblebee. There are apparently 4000 native bees in addition to the honeybee, so while crops will likely be collapsing with no honeybees, there will still be bees.
I think this was labeled a Arctic Iris, or some such. I know I read it on the what's blooming board, but I forgot to check the label while I was there. I should find out though, as Iris are some of my favorite plants, and it's hard to add this to my collection if I don't know what it is.
I'll probably try to go next weekend too as the Sweet Pepperbush is almost but not quite blooming.
I even started spotting newts in the Lily Pond. Once you see the first one they're everywhere. This was my best attempt out of over 20 pics. Even in bright sunlight I couldn't get a good handheld shutter speed. Thankfully there were plenty of chances.
I was disappointed that the Hop Brook Trail was closed due to storm damage, and it didn't say when it might be reopening. It is by far the best place to see Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata). I found several on the other trails in the garden, but there was a huge number of them on that trail last year, and as the morning wears on the ones out in the garden start to vanish, I assume back to the trail.
There were a lot of very friendly frogs there as well. It is actually my preferred place for frog pictures due to the number of children and amount of traffic the pond gets. the frogs will mostly sit still through just about anything. Most Mass Audubon sites the frogs are gone before you get within 10 feet.
I'll admit it I really love these green bees. I first spotted one a few years ago in a Morning Glory, and just find them more fun to photograph than a standard bumblebee. There are apparently 4000 native bees in addition to the honeybee, so while crops will likely be collapsing with no honeybees, there will still be bees.
I think this was labeled a Arctic Iris, or some such. I know I read it on the what's blooming board, but I forgot to check the label while I was there. I should find out though, as Iris are some of my favorite plants, and it's hard to add this to my collection if I don't know what it is.
I'll probably try to go next weekend too as the Sweet Pepperbush is almost but not quite blooming.
Sunday in the Garden
^Bee Balm 'Jacob Cline'^
^Wild Geranium - returning since I stole so many seeds^
^Blanketflower - Dazzler^
^Shasta Daisies^
^Bee Balm 'Coral Reef'^
^Crimson Pirate Day lily^
^No name Day lily (obviously not Dream legacy as it was labeled)^
^Bleeding Heart - Fringed - Blooming since May^
^Water Lily - Attraction^
^Bug Bane^
^Purple Gayfeather^
^Purple Coneflower^
^Bee Balm - 'Marshall's Delight'^
^White Coneflower^
^Wild Bergamont (purple bee balm)^
^Sunflower^
^Aphids^
^Balloon Flower^
There are also 3 kinds of milkweed still blooming.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)