It was so beautiful out today that at lunchtime I grabbed a canoe and headed out onto the pond. Have you ever loved a place so much that it actually hurts? :)

Another view.

A little garden out in the pond.

Isn't he the cutest thing? One of the robberflies.

I think these may be lacewing eggs.

You never know when someone's watching...

Living the Good Life

A deluxe deck over a private pond...how lucky can a green frog be? The deck is made of the finest weathered pine, the pond is an oasis of rainwater under a protective blanket of duckweed. (Alright...so it's just an old board over an abandoned kiddie pool...I've been reading real estate ads, okay?)

Little fingers of fungi

Now how did a wasp pupa manage to get out of its case and into this spider web...hmmm?

I've got my eye(s) on you!

There Goes the Neighborhood

The carpenter bee has no consideration for others in the neighborhood...especially the spider that lives downstairs.


Upstairs


Downstairs

A little green garden at the base of a bald cypress

Dog Days Indeed

This cicada was having a very bad day -- but at least the hornet was happy.

Even the shade is weary...it's HOT here.

"Frankly, I am not amused." A young Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta.

Stir Crazy

Too much paperwork and not enough outdoor work this week. It's been making me a little stir crazy so I took a fifteen minute break this afternoon and headed outside for a breath of air.


Before I got out the door, my co-worker glanced out the window to see a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) munching on some tasty tid-bit. I grabbed the camera, fired up that optic zoom and snapped a picture through one very dirty window. The hawk was about 60 feet away -- I think I'm liking this optical zoom :-)

Oh, I know you wouldn't have been able to tell what it was if I hadn't told you, but I am still pleased with the clarity. Makes me think of wonderous possibilities!


Once outside, I happened upon this blue-tailed skink. It's either a five-lined skink or a southeastern five-lined skink...I'm inclined to think it's the southeastern (Eumeces inexpectus) because the head stripes and the middorsal stripe don't connect. Whichever it is, its tail will change color as it ages, losing that brilliant blue hue. There has been no shortage of skinks this year, they're everywhere.

This one was sunning about three feet away from the blue-tail.


It appears to be a female broadhead skink (Eumeces laticeps) and she seems to have had a hard life.


Nubbin...where's the tail?

Out by the gate, where a light burns each night, I found the remains of a bat's meal. There were numerous moth wings scattered around on the ground. This particular one appears to be from an Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis).



Down near the pond I found a cluster of groundnut (Apios americana) in bloom. The root is edible, but I've never tried it.



As I was heading back in to tackle more paperwork, I noticed a female Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans).

Worn and tattered, but still active, she was patrolling along the edge of the pond. Somehow, I found that inspiring.

My New Camera

I don't have time today to do a proper post, but I thought I would show you a few pictures taken this morning with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5. All were shots taken by hand without the benefit of a tripod. Three of the photos were shot using the macro feature, the fourth was taken on the program setting with the camera zoomed to 12x. The clarity of the last shot was much better than what a 12x digital zoom would have provided.

I'll be back later in the week to either praise or curse the camera, depending on how things go :-)


The featured critters, from top to bottom:

Bald-faced Hornet, Dolichovespula maculata
Slaty Skimmer, Libellula incesta
Banded Tussock Moth, Halysidota tessellaris
Eastern Comma, Polygonia comma

Using teleMacro from a distance of 3 feet

With teleMacro zoom feature -- I was about 3 and a half feet away

On macro setting from about 2 inches away

From 15 feet away

A Shout Out...

...to son number one! 23 today, a grown man...a fine man. We love you.



Happy Birthday! Celebrate!!

Have another banana! Just try to get more of it into your mouth this time ;-)

Out and About Today

Some of the critters out and about today --


Juvenile Black Racer (Coluber constrictor). We're used to seeing these snakes on the ground, but this one was about four feet above the ground, resting on a dried lespedeza stem.


Yellownecked caterpillars (Datana ministra) in a defensive posture. The red one on the right is younger than the black ones. If you look at the black one you will notice it was caught in a "private" moment. That blackish blob on its posterior end is a fresh frass (i.e. poop)


Pine woods treefrog (Hyla femoralis).

Mimosa, Albizia julibrissin, an introduced species with a tendency to be invasive.

One flower from the raceme of a Cranefly Orchis (Tipularia discolor).

The shed skin of a kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus). I know it's a kingsnake because the scales are relatively small and unkeeled and the shed shows a series of white bands that run across the back.

Camera, Camera, Camera

The search continues, but I have narrowed it down to a few possibilities:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 is in the lead, followed closely by Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 and the Olympus C7000.

I am an Olympus girl at heart and just found a place to buy another Olympus C5000 identical to the one I (or should I say MR. SWAMP) am (is) currently using. [Note to self: do not teach spousal unit how to operate any more electronic toys...]

Ah, the trials and tribulations of camera selection.

A Few Pics from Mr. Swamp, aka Camera Hog :)

The Monarch, Danaus plexippus...




...and the Viceroy, Limenitis archippus




Sebatia angularis




Luna moth, Actias luna

Whoops!

I meant to post this one to my other blog...

But, I might as well leave a copy here.

Where the bear went...

Recommendation, Anyone?

I am in dire need of a new camera. Anyone have a recommendation or warning to pass on?

My camera needs to be tough, easily portable, have both telephoto and macro capabilities, and not take a genius to operate. Plus, I do still have one child in college so I don't plan on spending more than $500.00 US.

Something in the 5 to 8 megapixel range, perhaps...

Great Blue Heron hanging out near the boat ramp.

Zoomed in

Sunday Morning

Big, beautiful, and brilliant green, these beetles make quite an impression. Fiery Searcher is one of the common names for this beetle. It makes its living hunting caterpillars and if you try to catch it, it will live up to the "Fiery" part of its name by letting loose with a caustic blast from its southern end. Woe to the predator that catches the blast in the eye -- it burns!
(Calosoma scrutator)



Green treefroglets (Hyla cinerea) are all over the place now. This one was about three-quarters of an inch long -- too cute.




The flower of the jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) looks like a little pixie cap to me. Another name for this plant is spotted touch-me-not.




Hey! A butterfly actually sat still long enough for me to get a picture -- Pearl crescent (Phyciodes tharos).

Keeping an Eye on Things

Okay, so they aren't really eyes. But they make you think twice about what you're seeing, don't they? If you were a bird, you might think you were dealing with a snake instead of a fat and tasty insect. Since some snakes eat birds, you might think twice about attacking and fly off in search of less threatening prey.



Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar, Papilio troilus
When it feels threatened, this caterpillar tucks its head under making it look more like a snake than a caterpillar.


Here's the same caterpillar in a more relaxed position instead of its scary snake mode.



Io Moth, Automeris io
We cheated a little on this one. Io moths tend to sit with their wings closed so you don't see the "eyes" until the moth flashes them, making it difficult to get a picture. This was a very fresh moth so Mr. Swamp was able to push the forewings open ever-so gently, allowing me to snap a photo of the hindwings.



Eyed Click Beetle, Alaus oculatus
Had I touched this beetle, or if it had seen me coming, it would have pulled its legs in and tucked its antennae away making it look even more "dangerous" to a potential predator. Had I picked it up and placed it on its back it would have flexed its body with a loud click and launched itself a couple of inches into the air in order to right itself.

A Sunday Walk

Some things we saw today

**********************************
Shame on me, I failed to ID the things in the picture. Let me correct that.

Top row, left to right:
Chantrelle sp., an edible mushroom
Coreopsis sp.
Helenium sp., common name "sneeze-weed"

Middle row, left to right:
Polygala lutea, Yellow milkwort
Platanthera cristata, Yellow-crested orchis
Fungus noideaii (Yep, that's right, I have no idea which fungus this is)

Bottom row, left to right:
Polygala sp.
Woodwardia areolata, Netted chainfern and W. virginica, Virginia chainfern
wild turkey feather