Serendipity. Taking nature photos, you need it.

Here's another shot of the predominant species of dragonfly right now. Species TBD.

I noticed one of these dragonflies on an interesting plant, and took a few images. Only when processing them later, did I realize the drama of the scene! Right opposite the dragonfly, a small spider seems to feel threatened, and has taken a defensive stance!

Here is yet another couple of images of the Azure Blue, this time perched on a wild strawberry flower.  This might give a better sense of how small these beauties really are.

Occasionally, I like to have fun with a scene. Here is an image of some grasses in our wetland, as reflected by the water. It's a bit disorienting,  isn't it?

Although they really don't belong here, I've included some images of alliums in my garden, about to bloom.

 Plants are now growing at a furious pace. Here is some new growth of leaves on a maple sapling.

While there is so much growth, some creatures are taking advantage of the banquet. This is a leaf that has been munched on by some insect, leaving a trail and interesting pattern. Any ideas what the insect might have been?

This morning, I spotted this fellow on the driveway near the barn, a red bellied snake. So cute!

As a footnote, we spotted a meadowlark on our back lawn this morning - what a pretty and striking looking visitor.

 I recently put up a suet feeder to attract woodpeckers, and sure enough, there was a hairy woodpecker feeding yesterday. The problem was that he was on the wrong side of the feeder, and drilling holes through the plastic backer of the suet block! The grackles seem to have figured out how to feed properly, though.

The trilliums are finished, having turned a mottled purple and looking ragged. The trout lily leaves are all yellow and slowly disappearing for another year.

Mosquito update: they're out in huge numbers right now. An evening stroll in the woods can be a bit of an ordeal.

Hot off the presses!

As we sat down to lunch, Cathie spotted a bird perched on top of one of the feeder poles. A quick look through the bins, and - it's a bluebird!!!!

I went out to poke around the garden some time later, and spotted a streak of blue landing on the driveway. I went back in to get my camera. He proved to be very shy, and I only got shots at extreme distance. The first shots are of the fellow in question. The subsequent shots, badly backlit, were of a second bird, which turned out to also be a bluebird! A pair?

It was a lovely, cool morning, and the grass was still wet with dew as Kara and I went for our morning nature walk.

Here's Kara, the nature dog (who loves chasing flying robins, lol!)

We started the morning with a look at the wetland, where we surprised a visiting mallard. And he surprised us, so just a fuzzy, proof of life shot!

 The chokecherries are blooming, with some of them not quite in full bloom yet.

The hubub with the duck put the painted turtles on full alert!

The wetland has an old water pump sitting in a foot or two of pond. The water level is much higher than long ago, obviously!

The hay field was not as busy as yesterday, until you started to walk around, and roust the insects from their morning torpor. Dragonflies were starting to get active. I tried photographing them in flight, with no success at getting a sharp picture. Boy, do they move fast! This shot was one I liked - it gives an impression of the busy, rapid flight.

One dragonfly did oblige with a pose.

The Azure blues weren't flying yet - perhaps the cool night was something they needed to recover from. Remember, these little guys are less than half an inch long. For a size reference, look at the blades of grass that they are resting on!

Quite often, if two encounter each other in flight, they do a brief pas de deux. A very fortunate shot, capturing one such a dance!

The undersides of the wings are a very plain, dull brown, with a pretty and intricate pattern of black dots.

Here's a shot with two butterflies, contrasting the appearance of the underside and top of the wings.

And a shot of a resting butterfly, showing  off its beautiful azure blue wings.

And to close off this post, an image from last night. Cathie and I often joke about the regularity with which we seem to get gorgeous sunsets (and sunrises) as seen from our hilltop house. Last night's sunset wasn't particularly notable, but here it is.

Its getting much warmer now, with temperatures in the mid 20s. Summer at last!

The maples are fully leafed out, and the ashes are starting to do the same. t is almost impossible to spot and track singing birds in the high canopy. At this point, all I can do in the maple bush is sound recording.

This morning's walk did result in some interesting encounters, though.

The wild chokecherries are in bloom, with a strong sweet scent that attracts hordes of insects. The bumblebees caught my attention, because I loooove bumblebees! Fortunately, they seem to be doing well around here.

In the midst of shooting, some fly photobombed the bee!

The flowers attract all manner of bees, flies, butterflies and moths. This poor bedraggled fellow was enjoying the nectar feast.

Kara pointed out something on the trail at the edge of the meadow near the wetland. I went over to investigate, and she was nose to nose with this young garter snake. They were busy sniffing each other!

The hay field was alive with small blue butterflies (I think they are northern spring azures). They are busy little fellows flitting about. It was also rather breezy. I tried an experiment in shooting at a high shutter speed, and high speed motor drive, while manually focusing through the scene, in hopes of a rare sharp image. Here's the best one so far. Remember, these little guys are less than a half inch long!

 I tried the same with dragonflies in the field. Not as much luck, but a good enough image for me to check out my field guide to ID the fellow. I'll report back once I have him identified.

A few more images from the last couple of days. We saw (finally!) and indigo bunting in the woods next to the hay field by the house. He was quite shy, and I was unable to get a decent picture of him. Oh well ........

Anyway, some pictures.

Our resident grosbeaks sing beautifully, and often. They're a delight to have around. This fellow was at the top of a very tall ash tree, so it was a stretch to get any image at all.

This kingbird was down in the wetland of the pond, stopping briefly on this dead branch, and posing for me.

Red winged blackbirds abound in the wetland. They can be quite noisy, but neat to watch. This fellow surveyed the area, then broke into song.

This little guy (a flycatcher??) was again up in the tree canopy, and stood still just long enough for a picture, albeit not a great one. He appears to have some fluff that he's carrying around (it's visible on the branch) - I guess he's building a nest!

While I was taking pictures, there was a kerfuffle in the trees. I saw a bluejay flying at high speed among the trees, with a male oriole, AND a male grosbeak in hot pursuit. I guess that because their nest robbers, bluejays aren't welcome in the neighbourhood!


And here are the terrible pictures I took. Since the bunting was so far away, the autofocus had nothing to lock onto, and kept "hunting" back and forth trying to focus different branches. Consider this more a "proof of life" image, than anything else. I did see, him, really!

 I heard a sweet singing from, you guessed it, high up in the canopy. It was this female grosbeak (thanks, Andy, for catching my mistake!) ...

And, last, but also least, I got a very, very distant shot of this fellow, creeping around on a dead tree. I had to blow up the original file a LOT to get any kind of image. It's terrible, but maybe enough to ID him. He was totally black and white, and smaller than a downey woodpecker. Any guesses?

My quick look at the field guide didn't convince me of any identification.

Update: Andy ID'd it as a  black and white warbler. Thanks once again!

A good morning at the pond!

A green heron was on watch in a tall dead cedar, so I started to photograph him. Once again, the lighting conditions weren't great, but I did manage one shot that I was quite pleased with ....

A lucky shot, capturing the moment he decided to fly down to the pond and do a bit of hunting.

He obligingly posed for a series of photos. What a gorgeous and striking bird!

I also noticed a female blackbird doing a bit of grooming.