|
Here and There…Now and Then |
Dark Orange Day Lily
It was a beautiful rainy day today, considerably cooler although still fairly muggy. I was sort of busy at work so I didn’t get out. When I got home I took a picture I’ve been meaning to take for a while. I like day lilies in all their forms but I think this is one of my very favorites. I really love the deep orange, which is much more striking then the plain bright orange of the “standard” variety. The droplets of water on the petals are a small bonus.
Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)
This is not a friend of mine. Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) are highly destructive plant pests. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “the Japanese beetle was first found in the United States in 1916 in southern New Jersey. Since then, it has spread throughout most of the country east of the Mississippi River, as well as areas in Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri.”
I have to admit that I find their metallic green exoskeleton to be quite pretty but I equally admit that I rarely take the time to admire them. I’m usually more intent of killing as many of them as possible. Fiends.
Wild Raspberries
The other day I mentioned that I picked and ate some wild raspberries and that I planned to go out to pick more when I had the chance. We’ll, I finally got out again today and picked a nice big tub of them. It was pretty hot out but fortunately I was working mostly in the shade rather in bright sun. Still, I worked for these. I think it was worth the effort, though. Don’t they look good? They aren’t huge but they are very tasty.
Thelesperma Flowers
I didn’t take a lot of pictures today but did get out into the back garden of some friends. This is a Thelesperma, probably T. filifolium (stiff greenthread) growing there. It is a close relative to Coreopsis. In fact, until recently it was considered to be part of that genus. To be honest (hey, why not), I’m not completely sure this isn’t a Coreopsis, but I think I have it labeled right. Anyway, it is a nice bi-colored hybrid and I like the airiness of the photograph.
Airborne
Our friend, Dave, took two other friends, Jon and James, up in his plane this afternoon. He had to return the plane to Frederick and get his car, so they flew with him, along with his oldest son, Conor. I drove them to the airport where the plane was and took some pictures of them as they took off. I underestimated how much runway this larger plane needs to take off as compared to the smaller planes that take off so very quickly and easily. They got off the ground just before they got to where I was by the runway. The picture taken right before this is a little better in terms of showing the plane. I was trying to keep up with them as they hurtled towards me and I’m afraid that the framing is a bit off. Still, I like this one because you can see James in the cockpit. Another future pilot, perhaps?
In Memoriam — Kevin Snider
February 6, 1952 – July 8, 2013
Hemaris diffinis (Snowberry Clearwing)
Cathy and I went to Stadler Nursery after church today. While she shopped for a few things, I browsed with my camera, taking pictures of a few flowers that I liked. At the end of one of the tables was this white buddleia and flying around the flowers sipping their nectar, was a sphinx moth. Of the 124 described species found in America north of Mexico, I believe this is Hemaris diffinis, the snowberry clearwing.
I took quite a few blurry pictures but did get a few that are pretty decent, of which this one is the best. While I was watching, the moth never landed once. Taking a photo of a flying insect is a real challenge and you have to be prepared to end up with a lot more wasted shots than anything else.
Guatemala Team
Dorothy left early this morning for Guatemala early this morning. We dropped her off at Church of Christ at Manor Woods at 2:00 AM and they were off by 2:30, heading to the airport. By the time we were home from church later in the day there was a post on Facebook saying they had arrived safely in Antigua. It’s going to be hard not being able to call and ask her how she is, but we’re looking forward to all the stories she’ll have when she gets home. This is the team, just before the piled into the bus and headed out.
Fountain Splash
For those who don’t like pictures of the creepy crawlies, here’s a non-insect, non-spider photograph. It’s interesting that people who are given the willies by spiders or most insects often don’t have any problem with butterflies. They are pretty, to be sure, but they are still basically just bugs with big wings.
In any case, this is a picture I took in the evening after dinner. We went to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream and then sat watching the fountain. There were no children playing in the fountain, as there so often are, but Cathy and Dorothy at least put their feet in the spray.
This picture is of a spout of water against the darkening evening sky. It’s a photograph that makes me strangely happy.
Eumenes fraternus (Potter Wasps)
This is becoming one of my favorite wasps. I’m not sure why, but it is. I think I like the simplicity, along with the distinctiveness of the markings. It’s also such a fragile little thing. I say little, but it’s not all that tiny, measuring a good 15 to 20 mm in length. I suspect it’s also got a sting that I don’t want to experience.
Now that the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) is starting to bloom in earnest, it’s starting to attract the usual suspects. So far, in addition to bumble bees and this potter wasp, I’ve seen a one four-toothed mason wasp (Monobia quadridens) and a few great black wasps (Sphex pensylvanicus).
On a somewhat irrelevant note, the Latin name for this genus of wasp always reminds me of the third play in the Oresteia, by Aeschylus, called The Eumenides. The Eumenides are “The Kindly Ones.” That’s irrelevant, however, as the genus in this case is a different, although similar word. They are apparently named for a Greek general and scholar, Eumenes of Cardia (ca. 362 BC—316 BC).
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus, female)
With the reliability of summer following spring, the tiger swallowtails have returned just as the buddleia (butterfly bush) started to bloom. There are flowers open on two bushes so far with a promise of many more to come. We’ve had the little cabbage whites for a while now but today was the first day I’ve seen a swallowtail in our yard. This is a female. The males don’t have the band of blue spots on their hind wings. Getting a picture that is “just right” is hard. they move about a bit, but this one, with the wings lit from the other side, is pretty good, although the colors in the wing are a bit washed out.
Bumble Bee on Coneflower
Three days out of four with more than one photo posted. Don’t you feel privileged? Okay, perhaps not. In any case, here is a third picture for today. In addition to going out for a late lunch of raspberries and photographing a tiny fly, I went into the back yard when I got home and photographed bumble bees. They are going crazy on the gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) and the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). I’m pretty happy with this picture, although I think a smaller aperture would be better. The depth of field is just short of what I would like. This was taken with the ISO set to 800 with an exposure of 1/125 sec. at f/5.7.
Genus Condylostylus
While I was out picking raspberries I saw a spider web with an orchard orbweaver spider (Leucauge venusta). I took a few pictures but it was too dim and I didn’t have my tripod so I wasn’t able to get enough depth of field to make the image worth sharing. I also saw this little fellow (or lady, I really don’t know). The leaf it was on was moving in the slight breeze and of course there’s that “hand-held” thing, so most of the pictures were out of focus or blurred. This one, I think, is pretty good. Fortunately it was in a small ray of sunshine giving me enough light for a reasonably short exposure. It is one of the flies in the genus Condylostylus but many of them look quite similar, so I don’t know which one.
Wild Raspberries
I found a great patch of wild raspberries today and enjoyed about a pint of them before moving on. It’s all I had for lunch today, but it was a pretty sweet lunch. I think I’ll come back with a container and collect more in the next couple of days.
You’ll forgive me if I don’t mention where this patch happens to be located. There are a lot of berries but not enough, I’m sorry to say, to share with too many others. I’ll be watching to see if I’m followed.
Rockville Fireworks
We decided to walk with Albert and Brady to see the Rockville fireworks this year. As it turns out, we stopped walking a bit sooner that we probably should. Ralph and Tsai-Hong went on and saw them much more closely than we did, although we got a reasonable view. We were a bit surprised at the brevity fo the show. Well, it turns out that it was due to a technical fault. The City of Rockville put out the following notice:
Due to technical difficulties, the annual Rockville Independence Day fireworks show was shorter than anticipated.
The show, planned to be about 20 minutes, experienced technical difficulties about six minutes after it started.
Unable to diagnose the problem, the fireworks technician made the decision to move directly to the show’s three minute finale, which was unaffected.
Thank you to everyone who attended. We will be working with our fireworks vendor to do everything possible to avoid this from occurring in the future.
Still, considering how little effort we went to, the show was fine and we were with family and good friends. You really cannot ask for much more than that.
Golden Three-spot Gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus)
In addition to the pictures I took of Cathy and Dorothy (see prior post), I took a few pictures of our fish. We recently acquired a few new fish from one of Dorothy’s friends, whose family is moving to Colorado. This is a golden gourami, which is one of the common color morphs of the three-spot gourami, Trichopodus trichopterus, native to southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and Malaysia. This is a pretty good size specimen and has adapted well to our tank, along with a large angel fish, some neon tetras, and a pretty good sized plecostomus.
Cathy and Dorothy
It was about 10:30 this evening and I hadn’t taken any pictures today. I asked the girls if I could take there picture and I took about a dozen. This one turned out quite well, I think. Others had one or both of them making silly faces, and while they are funny, it’s easy to get tired of silly faces and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of their ordinary smiles.
I love you both, girls.
Viki
As followers of this blog know, I had surgery in May and then again on June 12, just under three weeks ago. I was back in to have the staples removed last week and went in again today for what we all hope will be my last visit. I’m recovering nicely, although I’m still supposed to take it easy.
I don’t like telling people that I hope never to see them again, but when the reason you see them is that you need or are recovering from surgery, that’s a little different. Viki, the nurse at this particular doctor’s office, is very nice and cheerful and was gracious enough to let me take a couple pictures of her, after I told her why I carry my camera everywhere. Thanks, Viki, for making a bad time more pleasant.
Leather Tiles
I happened to be in Bethesda this evening and ran some errands before finding a place to get a quick dinner. There are lots of choices in terms of eating establishments but most of them would probably have taken longer than I had time for. Nando’s Peri Peri looked like it was just what I wanted. It’s name is a misspelling (I assume intentional for trademark purposes) of piri piri, the Portuguese hot sauce made with African bird’s eye chilis (Capsicum frutescens) and often containing some or all of the following: citrus peel, onion, garlic, coriander leaves (cilantro), salt, pepper, lemon or lime juice, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano, and tarragon.
I found the decor of the place interesting and I took a few photographs with my camera sitting on top of my camera bag to hold it steady in the dim light of evening (and it was raining outside). This column in the middle of the restaurant is covered with beautiful, brightly colored tiles. It turns out, though, that they are not ceramic, as I first thought. They are made of colored leather. I also liked the assortment of incandescent light bulbs. Somehow, compact fluorescent lamps wouldn’t have given the same feel. I wonder where you have to go to get those. They’ll probably be a black market item, soon.
The chicken was delicious, by the way. I got it “hot,” which I recommend.
Anomala orientalis (Oriental Beetle)
I was trying to photograph a particularly small bee this afternoon and not having a lot of success. First, it was only about 5mm long. Second, it kept hiding behind bits of the flower it was on. Third, it kept turning so all I could get was pictures head-on.
Anyway, I happened to notice this little beetle (about 10mm long) on a leaf and decided it would be an easier subject. It is an oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis, and is considered to be a pest. The larvae feed on grass roots, so they aren’t something you want to encourage. I do think the –winged— antennae are cool. The scientific term for that form is flabellate, meaning fan-shaped.
