outdoor photography

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

White Peacock At Wirz Park there were several White Peacock butterflies. I have dozens of dorsal views of these butterflies, so I thought it might be fun to try a different angle on this one. It lighted facing the sun, so I decided to look straight at it and photograph it from the front. I thought the results were somewhat interesting. White Peacock

Scarlet Skimmer  On April 26, I found my first Scarlet Skimmer, a beautiful male. I have red-green colorblindness, but even to my eyes, the red in this dragonfly was incredibly vibrant.  He first gave me a couple nice dorsal views, but then I was able to photograph it from the side, and that became one of my absolute favorite dragonfly photos. Scarlet Skimmer Scarlet Skimmer

Swallow-tailed Kite This month eBird is encouraging birders try new places this month. Their challenge for this month is to visit 15 new locations this month.  I thought that sounded like a good challenge and set my sights on finding some new places to visit.  Wirz Park is on my way home, and it's already listed as a hotspot on eBird, but I've never been there before. It was the hotspot with the lowest total in Seminole Co. (16 species). I wasn't expecting much when I visited. However, I was very pleasantly surprised.  It's a nice-looking park, and there was a nature loop that includes a boardwalk and a trail that follows a stream. If you walk the loop and walk around the park itself, you'll walk about a mile. In my one visit on March 15 I recorded 37 species for eBird, raising the total for the hotspot up to 43. I think there's a fair amount of potential here, and it may even be a decent place to look for migrants over the next month or two. Highlights ...