Volo Bog - 9.04.10 - Post 2

  So like I said yesterday, it was really windy when I was shooting.  So even though some of the animals and plants were being pretty cooperative, it was still a tough shoot when the winds picked up.  On the flip side, it did make the insects want to stay on the plants to avoid being blown half way to Oz.

Bee Examines Loosestrife

One of the clearest shots of a bee's face I've gotten.  Getting their backs is pretty easy.  I get the impression a lot of the time that if you're behind them, you aren't of interest, so they keep doing what they're doing.  But if they can see you they tend to take off.  Yes, they have stingers, but I'm probably about one million times their body weight or something.

Bending Bee

Here he is again.  I've never seen a bee 'bend at the waist' before.

Hover Fly on Arrow Root

 I think in a previous post I may have labeled this insect as a wasp, but further digging has me coming up with the fact that it's a Hover Fly.

Arrowroot, Flies Right (and Left)

As I was watching, he got a friend. :)

Goldenrod Reaches Out

This is a goldenrod branch in very bright light (so I could use a very fast shutter) in very strong wind.  It reminds me of the kid who realizes they're shooting the news near him so he starts sticking his head or hand into the frame, just because he can.

White-Faced, Faced Away

Alright, I can't see his face, but I'm pretty sure this is a White-Faced Meadowhawk, he has the white tail-tip of the species.  He's smaller than the Red Saddlebags, and has, you know, no saddlebags.  He's also smaller than the Band-Winged Meadowhawk and doesn't have the brown patches on his wings.  So, deduction leaves me with White-Faced Meadhowhawk.  He's a perfect example of what I was saying when I said some of the insects and animals found a place to cling to and held on for dear life as the wind picked up.

Not the Gator You Thought I Was

 What do you see?  I saw a very small alligator, which, this being Northern Illinois was pretty improbable, but I did a double take!  It's a bit of duckweed on a piece of reed.

Home-making, Spider-Style

 This appears to be a Common House Spider.  She was busily spinning her web as I watched.  (Now if I could just do *something* about the spider that's living in my wing mirror, who makes a new beautiful web after every time I drive my car, but keeps hiding in the mirror housing, so I can't relocate her to somewhere more stable.)

Leopard Frog Tadpole (Can we get another Animal in there?)

 There were two of the three frog species I found in my last post.  Here's a tadpole of one of those frogs.  Go figure, it's a Southern Leopard Frog Tadpole.  Even as a tad his spots are obvious.

Telling Polliwog Tails

 And here's what happens when he starts to grow up!  I actually contacted some herpetologist friends of mine because I was worried that there was some kind of mutation happening here.  I'm not used to seeing a frog with such well developed limbs and frog face-structure with so much tail.  I've been assured it's what's called a polliwog and he's perfectly normal.  (If a bit odd looking. :)

Business End of a Wasp

And then there was this.  A really cool picture of a Yellow-Jacket's backside.  The details of his stripes are clear as is the veining of his wings.









Okay, about half-way done I think. As I got going around the tamarack forest I got some really amazing landscapes.  Not my usual fare, but some really amazing pictures. :)

Chicago Botanic Garden - 7.25.10 (2/2)

Okay, I thought it was odd that I'd only found ten shots from my last CBG trip that were good enough to post. So I went through the folder again. I had *edited* ten, but there were more. So here they are. :)

What made me think of it was these two shots. I knew I had some good rainbow shots and yet, I didn't have a 'rainbow' tag in my 'labels'. So I knew I'd forgotten to post something.

The color saturation here isn't so great, but I've never seen an almost perfectly horizontal rainbow before.

[Horizontal Rainbow]

This one was taken with a *just* slightly faster shutter (1/1000 here, 1/800 above), and a bit longer of a focal length and the color saturation was much better. Obviously I also changed position (the fountain was in the middle of a pond I was walking around), and the different angle helped as well.
[Fountain Rainbow]

So after about two months of searching the internet, I've discovered that this is a female red-winged blackbird. She was being highly cooperative from her perch on a purple coneflower.

[Not So Black Blackbird]

She even shifted to give me a very nice profile.

But there is some seriously weird stuff going on on that Y chromosome to make this bird (female)...
[Female Red Winged Blackbird on Coneflower]

... look like this bird (male of the same species.) (This shot from the North Pond)

I so adore this shot of a GIGANTIC green dragonfly. Not because he's so huge or so still, but because if you look at it closely, the light is coming in just right that you can see the *shadows* of his wing veins on the lilypad.

[Veins in Shadow]

Business end of a yellow-jacket. I spent about forty minutes chasing yellow-jackets around a pond trying to get just the right shot for the book I was working on for my nephew. (More on this later, in its own post, but the short version is, I made my nephew an alphabet animal book using only pictures I took myself. And I needed a good shot for Y. :) [Business end of a Yellow-Jacket]

This ended up being the shot I used. Clear shot of his wings, you can see how his thorax and abdomen are a.) not fuzzy and b.) very disjointed - which is how you know he's a wasp, not a bee. And check out those huge eyes.

[Yellow-Jacket Species Model]

I love these, but I somehow managed to forget to shoot the sign. I think they're a form of violet. Anyone have a clue?

[Perky Purples]

Another one I forgot to get the sign for. Looks like a pink fried egg. :)

[Pink Fried Egg Flower]








Okay, NOW I think that trip is done. :) What do you think?

Chicago Botanic Garden - 7.25.10

So one of the great things about the Chicago Botanic Garden is that it changes monthly (or so) as new flowers go in and others go out of season.  When I went in the spring it was all about the bulb flowers - daffodils, tulip and the like.  Last month there were a lot more perennials like roses.

I fell in love with the water lilies, also known as lotus flowers.

Here's one with a bee on it. Nope... wait... Google tells me that's a yellow jacket.  A wasp, not a bee at all. [Yellow Jacket on a Lily in the Evening]

Same flower, different lighting.  I took this trip with a friend and we started near the lilies and ended there too.  Over the course of about six hours the lighting changed from full daylight around noon to evening light.  What a difference! And still attracting the yellow jackets.  This one makes me think of a watercolor.   [Water Lily at Midday]

An eastern pondhawk dragonfly on an opening lily. [Dragonfly on Lotus]

 I love the abstract made from isolating a small part of the lotus flower.  The white/pink tips, the shadows...

[Inner Lotus]

 Here's one in context.

[Lotus Unfolds]

I love this one not only because it's purple, but because you can see the yellow through the purple petals at the bottom.

[Purple and Yellow Lotus]

  Check out this bee!  None of my resources seem to be able to tell me what kind he is.  In other shots I got of him I was able to see that he has one yellow band behind his head and two on his lower abdomen.  He's fuzzy from shoulder to stinger.  That tan patch that looks like it's on his back is actually on the top joint of his leg.  Anyone have a clue? [Big Bee in Midflight]

These lilies are about the size of a small dinner plate.  Huge!  They're called Magic Lilies.
[Magic Lilies]

Here's one in isolation.  I love how the pistol and stamen are so prominent in this flower.

[Magic Lily Stretches for the Sky]

The roses were out and gorgeous, but the sun was so intense that day and at that time, that they were really tough to shoot.

[Peach Rosebud Unfolds]






Alright, ten pictures make a post.  Just a quick note to let you all know that my photography is for sale at my etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop/WizardAtWork).  If there's a shot you see here on the blog that you'd like a copy of, please let me know and we'll set that up. :)