outdoor photography

Lavinia sp. Orbweaver A couple weeks ago I visited the wildlife drive at Lake Apopka. I decided to use my macro lens and see if I could go my whole time just photographing insects and spiders. I made it all the way until the sod fields near the end of the drive, when I had to put my 400 mm lens back on. Black and Yellow Argiope I saw two species of spiders, a Black and Yellow Argiope and a Larinia species orbweaver. These were probably the most challenging to photograph. The Lavinia sp. was pretty small, and it had become quite windy, so just getting a sharp photo was a bit of a challenge. I photographed two odes, a Rambur's Forktail and an Eastern Amberwing. Rambur's Forktail Eastern Amberwing I also had some fun photos of butterflies and moths, in particular, a Southern Skipperling, a Fiery Skipper, and a Yellow-collared Scape Moth. The scape moth was probably the most fun find of the morning for me. Yellow-collared Scape Moth Fiery Skipper ...

Carolina Spreadwing After having such a wonderful time this past Saturday at Lake Proctor looking for butterflies and dragonflies, I thought I'd try a different park with a similar habitat. Geneva Wilderness Area is a little closer, but it has three ponds with similar habitat. So I decided I'd check those ponds before work. They are surrounded by pines with grassy fields near them, and from what I'm learning that's a pretty good type of place to look for dragonflies. Cherry Bluet I didn't see nearly as many dragonflies as on Saturday, but I did get about 15 species, and two of them were new to me: Carolina Spreadwing and Cherry Bluet. There were several species that were at Lake Proctor as well: Banded Pennant, Golden-winged Skimmer, Halloween Pennant, Little Blue Dragonlet, Atlantic Bluet, and Rambur's Forktail. Atlantic Bluet (can't entirely rule out Familiar Bluet) Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Banded Pennant L...

Rambur's Forktail This morning I decided to head out to Marl Bed Flats to see what birds and bugs I might find. I was pleased to see that the flats aren't nearly as dry as they were the last time I visited. There was standing water near the slough, and that was encouraging to me. I didn't see a lot of birds, but there were bugs everywhere. I saw several species of dragonflies and damselflies. The biggest treat was seeing two mating Rambur's Forktails. They didn't mind me getting close with my camera, so I got my first decent photos of a mated pair. Blue Dasher Blue Dasher Little Blue Dragonlet Eastern Amberwing I only photographed three butterflies: Little Yellow, Southern Skipperling, and Common/White Checkered Skipper. Little Yellow Little Yellow Southern Skipperling It was also fun to find a different species of bee fly (I think  Poecilanthrax lucifer )  and a new species of assassin bug (I think  Acanthocephala termin...

Scarlet Skimmer (m) This morning I dropped by Wirz Park to see what kinds of birds and bugs I might find before work. Last time I visited this park I saw several Scarlet Skimmers, which are one of the few (and possibly the only) invasive dragonfly species. My understanding is that they are native to Japan. But they are very pretty, and the males are so brilliantly red that I can pick them out against a green back ground, even with my red-green colorblindness. I was surprised to see several other species here too, including several Pin-tailed Pondhawks, which were new to me this far north.  Several of these dragonflies posed quite nicely for photos, so I thought I'd share them. I'm somewhat amazed that I've made two blog posts in a row with not a single bird or landscape photo. So weird. Scarlet Skimmer (f) Eastern Pondhawk (f) Pin-tailed Pondhawk Blue Dasher

Amanda's Pennant This morning a friend and I decided to head out to Lake Proctor Wilderness Area to do some birding and look for dragonflies. The habitat here seemed like it might be good for a Purple Skimmer, and we wanted to see if we could find any here.  Lake Proctor is pretty low right now, and really it amounts to several ponds, but the whole area is surrounded by pine trees, and parts of it appear to have a sandy bottom, and that's a good area for Purple Skimmer. We didn't see any, but we did see about the same number of odonata species as we saw bird species, about 20 each. Atlantic Bluet Seepage Dancer I'm pretty much a novice at dragonflies, and I don't think I've ever seen so many different species on one place. I saw 8 new species: Seepage Dancer, Atlantic Bluet, Lilypad Forktail, Comet Darner, Wandering Glider, Amanda's Pennant, Ornate Pennant, and Banded Pennant. Eastern Amberwing Little Blue Dragonlet (female) L...