Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Wolcott Mills Metropark - quick stop after work

Finished work today and headed to Wolcott Mills Metropark... It was a nice day for shooting Butterflies... sunny enough that they were active and yet some scattered clouds to keep the light from getting too bright... There was a good breeze, so I had to use fast Shutter Speeds... Most of my pictures were shot 1/500 or 1/640.... Thank goodness my Macro Lens is 2.8 F Stop.... In addition to the Butterflies and Dragonflies I saw today, I was surprised to hear a familiar sound overhead.... soaring above the utility wires was a Red-Shouldered Hawk.... Its familiar call was good to hear... I have not seen one in a couple of years....

The other day I took some photos of a Giant Swallowtail from the side view... I went to Wolcott today looking for this species hoping to get a picture of the wonderful black and yellow plumage on their back and as luck would have it I saw many of them... the thistle is in full bloom.... I am really intriqued by this species... they have a very unique way of flying... they almost hover before they land.... they flap their wings furiously while feeding on a flower. They never sit completely still.... When they hover and then move toward the flower, they look like a jet coming in for a landing.... They have become my favorite..... I was shooting some pictures of a large female when a Male came looking to mate with her... I sat and watched them for about 30 minutes as he attempted to hover behind her and then make his move... each time she flapped her wings and brushed him off.... Finaly she tired of his advances and took off for the woods with him in hot pursuit.... I hope he got lucky with all his efforts..... click on photos to enlarge..

Giant Swallowtail

Here I come

Male Giant Swallowtail coming in for landing

The Male Giant Swallowtail continues to chase female


Female Giant Swallowtail heads for the woods and here is the male flying after her

The Thistle at Wolcott is in full bloom.... I was able to view and photograph very two interesting Moths... the Hummingbird Clearwing and the Snowberry Clearwing... They both hover and feed on the flowers looking like a hummingbird and a bee.... However, It doesn't take long to figure out what they really are.... There wings beat so fast that it is hard to capture them in a photo looking still.... here are a couple of the Snowberry Clearwing... the Hummingbird clearwing photos are not fit for publication (I will get them)

I also was able to photograph a couple of other Butterflies and Dragonflies..... it was a short trip, but very productive....

Aphrodite Fritillary

Red Meadowhawk

Widow Skimmer

Tiger Swallowtail

12 Spotted Skimmer

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Summer - some dragonflies and butterflies

I havn't been posting much on the blog this summer. I have been so busy that I have barely had time to pick up the camera.... Here are a few pics from the last couple of days... I have noticed that the Butterfly numbers seem to be down this year. This was confirmed by an article that I read in the Detroit News that stated that the wet spring has led to a year of decline for some species.... Dragonflies however seem plentiful..... click to enlarge...

Pearl Crescent

Viceroy

Giant Swallowtail

Red Meadow hawk

Calico Pennant

Widow Skimmer

Monday, July 4, 2011

Some birds from my trip to Melbourne Beach...

Brown Pelicans feeding

Took a vacation with the family to Melbourne Beach Florida.... Took a few pics of the local Avian population... It was an awesome area.... I also got to see several Swallowtailed Kites... Lifers for me....click photo to enlarge....