Happy New Year, everyone! And, as you would have noticed, I haven’t added much if anything to my website or my blog. The reason for that comes down to two factors: personal illness and the dismal world situation. Too many have had their lives ruined, from the destruction of home and livelihood to the despair of amputation and death. When will it stop? When will reason be restored? Perhaps this year will be different. I hope so.
A Zabulon skipper
A Zabulon skipper (Lon zabulon) is a smallish butterfly but average as far as skippers go. I consider it to be thumbnail size. I come across one in central Pennsylvania about every other year, but this season was different since I managed to photograph both a male and a female Zabulon.
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Posted in butterfly, Wildlife
Tagged butterfly, butterfly bush, photography, skipper
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Monarch color
By “monarch color” I don’t mean “typical” monarch photos (which, incidentally, I love to take) but a different category altogether. The following photos make use of different angles and lighting conditions to present artful monarchs.
Continue readingMore hummingbird photos
One day last week when I was outside photographing butterflies in my backyard, a ruby-throated hummingbird came along. Given that my 200mm macro lens depends on manual focus, image clarity depends on a fair bit of luck. And I was lucky that day.
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Posted in hummingbird, Wildlife
Tagged hummingbird, photography, ruby-throated hummingbird
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A tiger swallowtail
The tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is one of the largest North American butterflies, and the following photos are all from my backyard. Theoretically, this particular tiger swallowtail is a male (because of the bright yellow), whereas the females are darker and may appear as one of the black swallowtails.
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Posted in butterfly, Wildlife
Tagged butterfly, butterfly bush, photography, wildlife
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It’s time for hummingbirds
Autumn migration is underway for hummingbirds, and for Pennsylvania that means the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Consequently, I have many and excellent opportunities to photograph them. Of course it helps to have a pollinator garden and/or a hummingbird feeder. I have both.
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Posted in hummingbird, Wildlife
Tagged blossoms, butterfly bush, hummingbird, photography, ruby-throated hummingbird
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A hummingbird clearwing
Since a snowberry clearwing featured in my previous post, I thought it fair to have a hummingbird clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) be the subject of this one.
A hummingbird clearwing is the larger of the two hummingbird-type moth, about half again a large as a snowberry clearwing. And like the snowberry, the hummingbird clearwing is incredibly beautiful.
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Posted in moth, Wildlife
Tagged blossoms, butterfly bush, hummingbird clearwing, hummingbird moth, photography, wildlife
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A snowberry clearwing
The snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) is the smaller of the two species of hummingbird moths in the United States. It is somewhat larger in body size than a bumblebee but has a magnificent presence thanks to its wonderful wing motion while hovering. As such it is a joy to photograph.
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Posted in Wildlife
Tagged clearwing moth, hummingbird moth, moth, snowberry clearwing
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Red squirrels don’t beg
Red squirrels often shout, curse, or complain, but they don’t beg.
Continue readingA celebration of bumblebees
Actually, it is a celebration just as much of thistle flowers, on which bees of all types and butterflies both dine on – in terms of gathering pollen and/or nectar. They leave the flowers as beautiful as on first arrival.
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