Volo Bog - May 27, 2012 - Birds Post #1

So I've been doing a crazy amount of shooting.  And working a full time 'day job'.  Which means that I have a massive backlog of pictures to edit and post.  So I'm going to try to make shorter, more frequent posts to get caught up.

Memorial Day weekend I shot more than 2000 pictures.  Of course, half of them were utter garbage, but that's still a lot of pictures to sort and organize and edit and.. whatever!

That Saturday I went to all three Lincoln Park ponds.  It was about nine hours of shooting.  It wanted to rain on me just a little in the morning, but it cleared up about 8:30 and I was good.

On Sunday I drove out to Volo Bog since I hadn't been there in ages.  We'd been warned all weekend that it would be warm - hot, really - on Sunday, so I planned accordingly.  I had a liter of Gatoraide, a liter of water, pickles, sandwiches, sunscreen, the whole nine yards.

I still don't think that prepared me for a 5 mile hike in 100 degree (F) weather.  I made both loops that I wanted to, but I didn't spend nearly the time I wanted to chasing butterflies and things like that.  It was just too hot.  In fact there were times when I'd just find a place where a tree made a little shade and plop down on the grassy path and rest and hydrate.

The kinds of flowers I was used to seeing there weren't out yet.  I guess most of them are late summer/early fall bloomers.  There was no mammal activity, which was disappointing.  There were a bunch of butterflies and dragonflies, but it was so warm that they were so energized and never sat still long enough to get a good shot of many of them.

That said, it was still a good hike and I did get quite a few good shots.

Tree Swallow(42 - 2012)

 This was one of my favorites from the whole day.  This is a Tree Swallow.  Clearly he wasn't too concerned with me getting reasonably close.  He was just singing his little heart out up there on his nesting box.

This is him form further back.  He kind of looks menacing from here, but clearly he really wasn't. :)

Eastern Kingbird (043 - 2012)

 This is one of the first sites that greeted me when I got there.  This is an Eastern Kingbird.  He's most easily recognized from the back by the white band on his tail.  Apparently, according to one of the posters in the Visitor's Center, these are very common birds in Illinois.  I'm pretty certain I've never seen one before.

 He was nice enough to turn and show me his head after a minute.

 And then he showed me the other side too!

So those were two of the most major spottings for the trip.  There were other birds that were more significant that I'll get to soon, but those shots, unfortunately didn't come out as well.

Total Identified Species Sited for the Year: 43
Total Unidentified Species Sited for the Year: 1
Total New Species: 25

Tree Swallow*
Eastern Kingbird*

Please excuse the load time...

These shots are for a critique session I'm attending tomorrow, so I'm uploading them full size.

A Break in the Clouds

Snowy Night

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Unfolding

Mr. Fokker Poppy

Ripples in the Lily Pond

Bottle Gentians in Beautiful Blues

If anyone checking out my blog tonight has any critiques, I'd love to hear what you think too!

Volo Bog - 9.04.10 - Post 6

Last post of the Volo Bog hike!

Migratory: It Doesn't Just Explain What It Does

See, this is the thing about how some species are named - they are descriptive, but you don't think you've found the actual name.

This is a Migratory Grasshopper.  I kept looking at websites and going, "Great, it migrates, but what kind is it???"  Turns out that it's the name as well as what it does.

*sigh*

Leopard Frog Looks Before He Leaps

Talk about a textbook example.  This is a Northern Leopard Frog.  He's sometimes called a Meadow Frog because he's likely as not going to be found quite a way from standing water.  Which explains this guy hopping right across my path in the middle of the savanna area. 

Bottle Gentian Plant

Another new flower I fell in love with.  This is a Bottle Gentian Plant.  These flowers never open.  Bumblebees are their only pollinators and the bees have to open the flowers themselves to get in and do their thing.  I'm particularly struck by the different color flowers in one cluster.

Shades of Purple and Blue

Here's a close up of the flowers.  Such a magnificent color palate.

Ruffled Robin

I saw a few birds.  I got good pictures of almost none. I think one that I did get a bad shot of may have even been an owl, but I really can't tell, it's so bad.  Most of them are smart enough to stay in the trees, but that means that you're shooting backlit animals no matter where the sun is.

Anyway, this robin just hopped down in front of me.  When I was a kid, we would have called this guy (who's a juvenile in the process of getting his adult feathers) a "Robin Red-Breast", but apparently kids these days snicker too much because all the websites now say "American Robin."  I guess it's along the same line as beavers now living in 'lodges' instead of 'dams'.

Vertical Stripes

Yes, another Lobelia.  But this one has folded up on itself, giving it a striking striped effect.

The Moth That Came in from the Cold

This guy wasn't in the nature preserve at all.  He was hanging out on the inside of my apartment building door when I was leaving for the bog!

Again, if I hadn't seen the name of it while looking for something else, I probably would have assumed it was a bright beetle or something, but it is in fact an adult moth!  It's an Ailanthus Webworm Moth.  You can see what he'd look like with his wings out here.  These things are apparently everywhere from Costa Rica to Canada, but I'm pretty sure I'd never seen one before this guy got into my building.


Okay, that's it for the end of summer/early fall hike at the bog.  I'm heading back in early October to drop off some photos for a contest, so we'll see what changes happen between the seasons.

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. :)

Volo Bog - 9.04.10 - Post 4

Continuing on with Volo Bog...

Goldenrod Dragon

Goldenrod is pretty much everywhere in Northern Illinois wildlife areas.  This particular branch caught my eye, because it looks very much like a dragon to me.  I am the sort of person who likes to anthropomorphize this sort of thing, sure, but this just looked cool to me.

Still Blooming - Better Late Than Never

New flower!  Great Blue Lobelia.  The sharp folds and points in the flower petals make them stand out.

'Phyll-less Flower

I was sure these were mushrooms or some other sort of fungus when I found them, but while looking up something else entirely, I discovered that they are, in fact, a plant - the Indian Pipe.  Very weirdly for a plant, this plant obviously has no chlorophyll (the stuff that makes plants green); instead it gets its energy from being a parasite of the trees it grows under.  It's also called the Ghost Plant or Corpse Plant.  Creepy, eh?

Turning Red for the Winter

I'm pretty sure these are Winterberries, ripening from their initial pink into the bright red that will stay with them through the winter.

Two Sacks of Gold

Another bee on yet another flower.  But I like this one because you can see the pollen sacks on both legs in this case.  And he's still busily gathering.  I also really like how clearly you can see the joints in that front right leg.

Stripes on the Eastern Tailed Blue

I really hate that it was so windy the day I went up there.    This shot would have been so much better if the grass hadn't been getting blown to Kingdom Come.  Of course, if this Eastern Tail wasn't worried about getting blown into the next zip code, he might not have sat still at all.  It's not a great shot, but you can see the stripes on his antennae and on his legs.

White Face, Red Body, Green Weeds

Another White-Faced Meadowhhawk, with his White Face being very obvious. :)

Hairy Skipper

I was just inches away from this Fiery Skipper.  What a hairy little butterfly!

Wild Swan, All Bogged Down

Now this was one of the coolest things about being on the observation deck I was talking about in the last post.  I never did see the swans from the ground (there were two, but one was in and out of the rushes so much I never did catch him.)  If you look at the prairie grasses in the back, you can see how windy it was as I was shooting.  But hey, wild swans in Illinois!  I had no idea we had wild swans.

Spotted Jewelweed Hanging Out

This is a Jewelweed flower - Specifically, the Spotted Jewelweed.  Also called a Touch-Me-Not because the seed pods (not pictured) tend to explode when touched - not because it's hazardous for you to touch them.  In fact these plants are used as a common cure for the itch of poison ivy and other skin irritations.





Okay, one more card of pictures to go through for this trip. :)

Volo Bog - 9.04.10 - Post 3

Still working on Volo Bog.  The more I look at these shots the more I realize that while a lot of them aren't *bad*, a lot more of them would be *good* if I could be bothered to schlep my tripod more often.

Honeybee on Flower Bulb

Here's a pretty decent shot of a honeybee.  This was snapped in a windier moment and you can see how the bee has dug in to the flower with not only his legs, but his antennae in order to hold in such lovely weather

Pollen Collecting Makes for a Busy Bee

Okay, so you learn something new everyday that you blog.  That bright orange spot on this honeybee?  A pollen sack.  From Honeybee Anatomy and Physiology:

The back leg is the most interesting leg. This has rows of little brushes called pollen combs which are used to pass pollen up the leg. As it makes this journey, the pollen is moistened with a bit of nectar so the bee can knead it into a pellet and then place it on a spike that we call the "pollen sack". 

So we can be certain that this guy has, in fact, been a busy little bee. :)
 

Clouds Over Volo Bog

These next two shots are some of my all time favorites, which is unusual for me since I don't do a lot of landscapes.  Thes are shots from a bird and bog overlook at on the Tamarack Trail.  I took some shots, ate my lunch and then shot some more.  These strike me so much as watercolors more than photographs.  This one was done with the telephoto lens on, pulled back as far as I could.  I love the look of the clouds as well as the fact that in the break in the duckweed, the water is so still you can see the reflection of that tree that's sticking out over the water in the center of the picture.

A Break in the Clouds

Same place, different lens.  I put on the kit lens to get a wider view.  By the time I finished my lunch there was a very small break in the clouds, giving the photo a new focal point and brightening the clouds.

Common Darter, a Long Way from Home?

Back to the telephoto and the small world again.  A new dragonfly for me.  Everything I find online shows me that this should be a Common Darter.  Thing about Common Darters is that they live in Europe and there is no listing (that I can find) of them having a population in the U.S.  (The only thing I find is other people going, "I swear this is a Common Darter, but those don't live in the U.S. so...?) If this IS a Common Darter, it's a mature female - the females start off dark yellow and turn chocolate-brown as they age.  Sure looks right to me.

Common Darter, Face First

Same critter, different angle.  You can see, slightly better, the white face and her wings.  If anyone knows for sure what kind of dragonfly I have here, I'd love to get your input.

Buckeye: Side View

Buckeyes are ridiculously friendly to photographers.  They tend to land in the open and don't seem overly bothered when a human creeps up on them. 

Buckeye: Facing Front

I was even able to pass her and come around and shoot her face from a different angle. (BTW, unless there's an obvious coloration difference between the genders or other obvious sign of gender, I randomly assign genders to the critters I shoot.  I don't like referring to them as 'it' if I can avoid it.)

Yellow Bee on Goldenrod

Yes, another bee.  What I like about this one is not only that the bee is nice and clear, but the only part of the picture in focus is the bee and the branch he's hanging on and the leaf right next to him.

Questionable Caterpillar

Please help!  I'm reasonably sure this is some kind of caterpillar.  He's caterpillar-shaped and has little caterpillar-type feet visible near the left-hand side.  But searching is getting me absolutely nowhere.  The problem with Google is that when you search for "pink caterpillar" you don't just get 'baby butterflies and moths'.  You get about 75 million cutesy little companies for baby clothes or cloth lunch bags.  So I'd love it if someone could help me identify this guy.

That's ten... I'm maybe half-way done with the shots from this hike.  All in all, it was a pretty good day behind the camera.