Lady Beetle
I found a lady beetle today. She was nice and bright and crawling around on garlic mustard and mile-a-minute vine. Cute little thing, isn’t she?
Creatures
Lady Beetle
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Insect, Insects, Lady Beetle
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Buckeye
Buckeye
his is a common buckeye (Junonia coenia), posing for me on a garlic mustard. An uncommonly beautiful butterfly, I think.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Buckeye, Butterflies, Butterfly, Insect, Insects, Junonia, Junonia coenia, Lepidoptera
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Jumping Spider
Jumping Spider
After the heavy rain this morning I wasn’t sure I’d get out but it was a beautiful afternoon. I took more butterfly pictures but my favorite of the day is this spider I found. I think it may be a tan jumping spider, Platycryptus undatus.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Arachnid, Jumping Spider, Platycryptus, Platycryptus undatus, Spider
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Yellow Jacket
Yellow Jacket
I went out hoping to get a better butterfly picture today. I got a few but they aren’t enough better than yesterday’s picture to justify putting them here. So, here’s a picture of a yellow jacket on a garlic mustard flower.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Bee, Hymenoptera, Insect, Insects, Wasp, Yellow, Yellow Jacket
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Eastern Tailed Blue
Eastern Tailed Blue
These little guys don’t sit still for long and don’t like being approached but I managed to get a reasonable shot of one today. Eastern tailed blue, Everes comyntas.
Follow-up: I have two more pictures of this butterfly taken on April 27 in my Extras gallery.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Butterfly, Eastern Tailed Blue, Everes, Everes comyntas, Insect, Insects, Lepidoptera
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Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
I enjoyed watching this little fellow for a while. I sensed rather than saw a dark shape overhead. I looked up in time to see (but not take a picture) of a hawk as it flew on large, silent wings. I suppose if I had been a rabbit I’d have been in trouble. (Picoides pubescens)
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates, Dryobates pubescens
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Ducks
Ducks
It rained all day yesterday, sometimes quite hard. When we woke up this morning there was a light dusting of snow on parts of the lawn. When I got to work, the small pond between my building and the next was much enlarged by the rain.
Bones
Bones
These are the vertebrae of some small animal. The largest of them is only about an inch and a half in the longer dimension.
Paper Wasp Nest
Paper Wasp Nest
This is an old paper wasp nest that I found in our front garden this morning. Beautifully built.
Rooster Feathers
Rooster Feathers
These are feathers on a rooster at the Glenn’s farm.
Turkey Vulture
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
A turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) soars overhead. These are pretty impressive birds although they are somewhat ugly close up.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Cathartes, Cathartes aura, Turkey Vulture, Vulture
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Bone Fragment
Bone Fragment
This is the end of a short piece of bone, about six inches long. I think it’s probably the femur of some small mammal, but I don’t really know. I like the three-dimensional network of the bone structure.
Yellow African
Yellow African
I was trying to take pictures of my fish today. It’s harder than it sounds. First, you have to make sure the flash doesn’t reflect off the glass. Then, you have to avoid dirty areas on the glass. Also, they move about a bit and getting them in focus is hit or miss, even with auto focus. This is the best “whole fish” shot and even this isn’t as good as I’d like. The eye should be the point most in focus and it isn’t. Labidochromis caeruleus, by the way.