Volo Bog - 9.04.10 - Post 5

Last card of shots from Volo. More flowers than critters, but a lot of new ones.

Common Mullien with Three Blossoms

Common Mullien.  I like this for the same reason I like Blue Vervian - the stalk of buds with a few open flowers on the top.  I think it speaks to me about potential - when these flowers fade there will be plenty more to take their place.

Tickseed Sunflower Sunning

Tickseed Sunflower.  For a sunflower they're very, very small.  More daisy-sized.  It's hard to see at this size, but if you look at the flower closer to the top of the shot, the petals closest to the bottom, you can see the veining of the petals.  I'm glad I tripped over this name while looking for something else, because with the black and white stamens, I probably would have started looking for a relative of chicory flowers.

Random Blue Lace Agate Stone

Now this was unexpected.  I've made jewelry with natural stones for years and I like working with Blue Lace Agate.  I never expected to find chunks of it laying in the path as I walked through the prairie.  Reminds me of when I was a kid and we went to South Dakota and there were chunks of pink quartz lying around.  Now obviously, I didn't take it with me - you never take anything but pictures and memories in a natural preserve - but it would have made some interesting jewelry in it's raw form.

Bergamont Bloom

 Bergamont or Bee Balm.  When I see a flower like this, it always seems to be at the end of it's flowering, but really, that's just how they look.  Like coneflowers they just have large, petal-less centers.

Not So Bluet

If I thought dragonflies were tough to shoot, damselflies redefined 'tough'.  First of all, you absolutely can't use auto-focus.  The camera absolutely can't stay focused on something that small and thin.  In the wind I was facing that day, that was even more impossible.  These shots of damselflies aren't great, but I do want to catalog the species I saw while I was out.  This guy looks awfully gray to me, but something like 80% of damselflies are 'bluets' and their primary color is, obviously blue.  I think, judging by his markings that he's a Familiar Bluet.

Much More Bluet

Now this guy is clearly a Bluet.  Blue back, blue eyes, blue and black tail.  Again, I think he's a Familiar, but he really looks to be a whole different color than the guy above.

A Deer Was Here

I never did find a deer out there, but I found evidence that they do, in fact, exist (in this park, not just in general... it's not like I thought deer were mythical or something). This was the only print I saw.  There wasn't one for the opposite hoof or clearly identifiable back hoof prints.

I see! I see! I see a Cutleaf Rosinweed!

Okay, so the centers of these flowers look a lot like the centers of the Tickseed Sunflower above, but the petals are so clearly different.  So I Google "Sunflower Species".  Let me tell you what I didn't want to see.  Sunflower Family: the largest flower family in the world.  Oy, this could take a while.  What I'm finding indicates that this is Cutleaf Rosinweed.  Personally?  I think they look like the flowers in Dr. Seuss books. :)

Egret Egress

This was a shot from the birdblind on the trail.  (How much do I *love* that they have a photography blind set up?  A lot!)  I know these egrets are kind of ubiquitous in Florida, but they're pretty uncommon in Illinois.  I think this is the first one I've caught.  I think he's passing through as the migration gets going.

Lobelia Leaning

I posted picture of this flower yesterday, but it focused on a flower that hadn't quite bloomed yet.  This is the Great Blue Lobelia.  Again, there's something fascinating about the sharp folds and edges in this flower.  It kind of looks like fork.

Lobelia Lobes

Here's a close up of the flowers.  The rows of petals make it look like one long zigzagging petal.













Alright, nearing the end of this hike. Of course, I have about 4 more walks I haven't even started and I'm going on another one tomorrow. :)

South Pond - 8.30.10 - Post 5

Okay, wrapping up that last August walk.  Just a few more shots...

Seven of Swords

 Another Blue Vervain shot.  I'm really taken with the little clusters of flowers that aren't quite on the tip of the stem and the way the long stems are separate from each other, instead of clustered together like they would be on a Bull Thistle or something..

A Dash of Blue

Another Familiar Bluet.  This thing is perched on the edge of a fragile, dying leaf.  It's so small and so light that the leaf doesn't move at all when the damselfly takes off or lands on it.

Neon Damselfly Glows from the Inside

 Here he is close up.  He's almost neon the way he seems to glow against the gray algaed background.  You can even see his little tiny feet hanging onto the light edge of the leaf.  His wings are so transparent you can see the segments and black stripes right through them.

I'm Pretty Sure Your Nose Is Longer

Fiery Skipper drinking from a (I think) purple milkweed flower.  Check out the proboscis.

Skipper with a Drinking Habit

Here she flipped to give me a side view - you can still see the proboscis - but now you can see those prominent front legs.

Buckeye: Inverted

Buckeyes have a weird habit of hanging out upside down.  I don't know if I've posted about this before, but I know it's not the first time I've seen an inverted Buckeye.  I don't know if it puts those big fake eyes at the top - fooling any predators that might come along - or what.








Okay, next up - Volo Bog.  A very interesting place to shoot.  Too bad I did it in hurricane force winds!

South Pond - 8.30.10 - Post 4

Okay, so I finally walked away from the Claude the Caterpillar and continued my way around the boardwalk.

Purple and Orange

An Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly on Butterfly Milkweed.  I love contrasting colors, so his purple on the orange is very striking.  And it was nice that he was showing off the insides of his wings.  So many of the butterflies that sit still long enough to be captured are folded up and the undersides of their wings aren't as interesting in most cases.

Eastern Tailed Blue Flies Off

He flew off for a second, giving me a great view of the dark lines on his wing edges.

Eastern Tailed Blue Wings: Inside and Out

But then he came back and landed facing me, which was nice.  You can actually see his wing-tails in this shot.  And he got a little buggy friend on the far left flower bud.

Twelve-Spotted Skimmer with Faded Edges

Several things decided to sit still for me on this walk.  Considering it was (apparently) one of the last really hot days in Chicago for the year, I was expecting the cold-bloodeds to be more active, but hey, not arguing. :)

Purple, Green and Yellow

This one is neat for the way the color slashes across the really drab background.  The purple flowers and then the yellow of both the bee and the flower buds, not to mention the bright green stem.

Familiar Bluet, Brilliant Blue

A case-in-point for why cameras have a manual focus.  There's no way in the world my auto focus would have been able to grab something as slender as this Familiar Bluet damselfly.

Mrs. Pondhawk

So a female Eastern Pondhawk finally sat still for a second.  I've got tons of shots of the very blue males, but the females tend to be more active and/or blend in to their surroundings to the point that they're much more difficult to shoot.

It's So Easy Being Green

She flipped over to another leaf and I loved the way she added color to a very green shot, even though she's green too.  She also moved out of the shadows making the temperature of the picture change drastically.

Pensive Gull

So in Chicago we tend to just refer to these as 'seagulls', but more properly they're Ring-Billed Gulls, for reasons that are pretty obvious in this shot. As I'm getting more specie of gulls, I need to try to be more specific. :)  I typically get annoyed when all I can get a good shot of is an animal's back.  It's easier to get their backs sometimes because they aren't looking at you and don't see you coming, but the picture isn't as good.  I came up from behind this guy and he turned his head just enough to be seen.  It makes him look pensive.  As if he's debating what's out in that pond for him.

Profile Gull

When he turned to look at me more fully he looses that 'thinky' look and becomes a little more evil looking. Which, to be fair, isn't all anthropomorphication - these birds have very little fear of humans and can be very nasty.

Japenese Beetle on Stem

Okay, I was finally able to Google a species on this guy, who I first noticed at Midewin.  He's a Japanese Beetle.  Very shiny.

Antennae Like Leaves

He's hanging on for dear life here, but it gives a great view of the white spots around his shell and the little fringes on the tips of his antennae.

Seems Well Behaved Enough

This is apparently called an Obedient Plant.  Where did I find it listed?  On a list of "Most Unwanted" plants for Kentucky.  So much for obedient if it can't stay out of areas it isn't wanted. ;)

I'm actually kind of keen on it's odd shape and the fact that it blossoms from the bottom up.  It reminds me of Thai-style decorations.







Okay, I have one more card of shots to go through from this walk and then I can finally move on to a new location. :)

Midewin - 8.15.10, Post 2

I found this sign kind of interesting. Blow it up and read it if you can, but the short version is "There may be archeological and anthropological stuff on these grounds. Don't touch 'em."

Um... this used to be a MUNITIONS plant storage site. A.) If those are the A&A artifacts, I wouldn't want to touch them anyway. B.) If they aren't - if there's actual Native American or even colonial American stuff there - I'm really, really, really surprised the Army didn't deal with it when this was their land and I'm not sure I want it. I didn't see anything old and interesting.

A Carolina Grasshopper (Carolina Locust). These things are pretty huge for bugs. Maybe three inches long? And they fly as much as hop. When they do their wings give them a vaguely butterfly-ish appearance which kind of freaked me out when they landed in front of me and *weren't* butterflies. They also look like pieces of wood lying on the path, until you step near them. Then they jump up and fly in your face, which is rather shocking.

[Carolina in Central Illinois]

I'm pretty sure this is a Silver-Spotted Skipper. A type of butterfly I hadn't seen before.

[Silver-Spotted Skipper Sips]

So yesterday I posted a little about the butterfly watering hole. This is a piece of one shot, where you can see how thick the butterflies got over there.

[Crowd of Cloudeds]

Okay, this shot is *lousy*, even this small, but it's a red-tailed hawk. I saw several circling around the meadow.

I *think* this is a Citrine-Tail Damselfly. I know it's not the sharpest shot ever, but it's a very small critter - too small to be a dragonfly. And the only all yellow-tail damselfly I can find online is the Citrine-Tail. If anyone has any better ideas, I'd love to hear them.

[Vibrating Citrine-Tail]

I believe this is a Pearl Crescent. I love in this shot how he seems to be sitting on the tip of the shadow the same way butterflies sit on the tops of flowers and grasses. These are teeny tiny guys - about 1 or 1.5 inches across.

[Perched on the Edge of a Shadow]

A White-Faced Meadowhawk. Probably one of the calmest dragonflies ever. This guy was pretty far back from the path so he was harder to shoot than I would have liked. In some ways it was good that I didn't schlep my tripod, but it would have made this shot much better.
[White-Faced Watcher]

Two Dogbane Leaf Beetles. Gotta love the internet, because seriously, who learns about "Dogbane Leaf Beetles" in school and can identify them like you can, "Oh, that's an ant/bee/fly." I think we need to change the old expression to "The birds and the bees and the beetles" if you know what I mean. ;)

[Beetles: Like the Birds and the Bees]






Okay, that's ten. More later. :)