Oct 23

Leaves and Acorns

Posted: under photography, Plantlife.
Tags: , ,  October 23rd, 2010

Fall color here starts early (sometimes very early)  but slowly, moving leaf by leaf, species by species, until the final flare of rich red from the last oaks in late November (with the occasional rusty blackhaw viburnum holding on to its red leaves into December.)

Smooth sumac, green and burgundy

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Oct 03

Monarchs in Fall

Posted: under photography, Wildlife.
Tags: , , ,  October 3rd, 2010

Some years we get spectacular drifts of Monarchs migrating south, and some years they come in little groups of three or four…not many at a time.   Today I went out on a day of blue sky, bright sun, brisk north wind, just to see what was out there.

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Jul 31

After Rain

Posted: under Plantlife, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , ,  July 31st, 2010

Significant rain in July is uncommon, and we picked up inches and inches–after the very dry spring and early summer, this was a relief to us and to everything that lives on the place.

Switchgrass head-high in July

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Jul 20

Strange Cousins

Posted: under photography, Wildlife.
Tags: , ,  July 20th, 2010

Today when hanging up the wash, I spotted something small on the end of a clothespin that was hanging upside down from the line.   It was the same mottled dull gray-brown as the clothespin itself, and it was between the V of the angled ends.  I carefully removed the clothespin from the line and put it on the table, then went to get my camera.   After a fruitless search for the macro lens (I put it somewhere safe.  Very safe.   Too safe)  I had to use the zoom lens, which is a sort of zoom macro but won’t focus closer than about 18 inches.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul 09

Dragonflies

Posted: under photography, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , ,  July 9th, 2010

Today, after the rains of the past two weeks–and then a hot sunny midday–we had more species of odonates at the lily pond than I’ve seen yet this year.   And the males all wanted a landing site on this stick:

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Jul 01

More Pond Life

Posted: under photography, Plantlife, Water, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , , , ,  July 1st, 2010

When I went out yesterday about noon, I found four of these lovely pink waterlily flowers open:

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Jun 29

Death in the Afternoon

Posted: under Mortality, photography, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , , , ,  June 29th, 2010

We had thunder and rain this afternoon for several hours, but around six, sun broke through enough to illuminate the newly refilled lily pond.  I went out to see what was going on with pondlife.   Two male Neon Skimmers, Libellula croceipennis, were harrassing  the four or five male Blue Dashers, Pachydiplax longipennis, and also pestering the two female Neon Skimmers who were ovipositing in the pond.

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Jun 06

More Prairie Flowers

Posted: under photography, Plantlife, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , ,  June 6th, 2010

A few pictures from a week ago,  May 30, and also from yesterday, June 5, as what’s blooming and in what abundance changes rapidly–especially in the hot, dry weather we’re having.  (We did get 3/10 of an inch of rain.   It barely wet the ground.)

Variegated Fritillary, Euptoita claudia, on Gaillardia

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May 29

Prairie Flowers (partial)

Posted: under photography, Plantlife.
Tags: , , ,  May 29th, 2010

Near Meadow: Claspleaf Coneflower and Lemon Horsemint

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May 28

One Flower, Many Critters

Posted: under photography, Plantlife, Wildlife.
Tags: , , , ,  May 28th, 2010

The basketflower, Centaurea americana, looks much like a thistle at first…but the stem and leaves are not prickly at all.    It’s a favorite of Black Swallowtail butterflies (and Giant Swallowtails, if there’s enough moisture for the flowers to last into summer) and many smaller butterflies.  And also other insects.

Beetle flying toward Basketflower already occupied by Black Swallowtail

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