Widow Skimmer

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Natural History, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Jul 082014
 

The large black and white Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) is unique among most dragonflies in Georgia, in that it often strays a considerable distance from open water.  To see most dragonflies, it is necessary to visit a wetland, or perhaps a stream or lake edge.  But Widow Skimmers are content with suburban backyards, provided there are good locations for perching and the opportunity to catch prey.  About halfway down Piney Woods Church Road, just past the now-vacant cattle pasture, there is a road bank beside a ditch that has been allowed to grow wild.  I met up with a Widow Skimmer there today, swooping from perch to perch, sometimes pausing to rest and other times racing onward.  It circled the island of wild foliage a few times, and I managed to take its photograph, though some of my images were at such slow shutter speeds that they are in less than stellar focus.  This one is among the best of the lot — not quite frame-worthy, but much better resolution than most of the Loch Ness Monster images out there.  I will learn patience, and return, and try again on another day.

 

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Day 188: In the Moment

 Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  3 Responses »
Jul 082014
 

I have not taken a roadway still life in quite a long time now.  On my stroll late this afternoon, I glanced down by my feet, saw this sweetgum leaf, and knew immediately that it would make a marvelous subject.  This was very much an intuitive shot — the entire process, from slowing down and orienting my camera to framing the image and taking a photograph, happened practically without conscious thought. The result suggests that I ought to consider thinking less often, and acting in the moment much more.

 

Not Thinking

Empty Pasture

 Golden Hour, Sense of Place  2 Responses »
Jul 072014
 

The last of the three black steers of Piney Woods Church Road is gone now.  The other two were taken away months back, leaving him alone in his roadside pasture.  I could often hear him bellowing for companions as I walked up and down the road.  He had to settle for human company, which I tried to provide on some of my walks.  I miss him, even though I think he fancied me more for my sweat than for my occasional efforts at scratching his head and rubbing his ears.  He would gallop (can a steer gallop?) over to where I would stand by the edge of the fence, if he saw me waiting there or if I called to him.  Invariably, that long muscular tongue of his would emerge and reach out through the barbed wire fence in search of available salty flesh to lick.  Still, apart from that proclivity (don’t we all have our peccadilloes?), he really was quite a charming steer.  Now, in the golden hour on a Monday evening in July, his pasture is empty, and I am feeling a little empty, too.

 

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A Fly and Its Shadow

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Sense of Place  2 Responses »
Jul 062014
 

I know this fly looks frightfully close to a common housefly (I am confident it isn’t, but am still working on the ID).  I posted earlier today that I tend to balk at posting flies.  But I find this fly beautiful, in a flyish way.  I also appreciate the late afternoon shadow cast by the fly onto the leaf where it rests.  So I am justifying including it here.

 

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Day 187: Oh, Deer!

 Backyard Nature, Golden Hour, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  2 Responses »
Jul 062014
 

Our yard on Rico Road has become a haven for White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).  Going up the driveway around sunset, I sometimes find half a dozen deer about. This time of year, I will often glimpse one or two hanging out beneath our pear tree, undoubtedly waiting for the pears to ripen.  Lately, I have seen spotted fawns in the front yard.  For all that, though, I have rarely seen deer along Piney Woods Church Road. Tonight, at last, almost as an afterthought — I had already taken plenty of photos on my walk, plus spent half an hour chatting with a friend who lives along the road — I glimpsed a pair of deer in a roadside pasture.  By the time my camera was at the ready, the closer of the two was already preparing to flee.  Still, the result is a pleasant image — and, at long last, deer are included among the Piney Woods Church images.  There are so few wild mammal photographs out of the 187 so far.  I can think of only one other photograph, in fact — and Eastern Gray Squirrel.  Insects tend to be slower and more willing to sit still.

 

Oh, Deer!

Day 186: Hoverfly

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Jul 052014
 

On a hot and brightly sunny mid-afternoon, I captured this hoverfly resting for just a moment on a sweetgum leaf.  I enjoyed watching it hover in midair, and imagined taking its picture in flight — ah, well, that is for another day.  A bit further down Piney Woods Church Road, I glimpsed another one, busily gathering nectar from the ever-blooming daisy fleabane.

 

Hoverfly

Day 185: The Caterpillar of Independence

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  4 Responses »
Jul 042014
 

Shortly after 7 am today, I stepped outside and was impressed by how cool it had become overnight — I nearly felt a chill, suggesting a temperature around 60 degrees F.  I set off excited at the prospects of capturing a suitable 4th of July image.  I recalled some Independence Day bunting along a neighbor’s wood fence about halfway down Piney Woods Church Road, and thought I would use one as foreground for a wide-angle landscape photograph, something I practically never do.  I took several photos of an ancient tulip poplar in a pasture, with the decoration in the foreground as intended, but the lighting was poor because the morning sun had not yet topped the trees across the road.  I thought I would try a different photo using one of the other decorations, but the wind had blown it upside-down over the top rail of the fence.  I righted it, discovering this caterpillar as I did so.  What a marvelous gift for this Independence Day!  He (or she) had even positioned himself (or herself) on one of the stars, inviting a portrait.  The caterpillar is almost certainly a Banded Tussock Moth (Halysidota tessellaris), a generalist feeder that is fairly common across the eastern half of North America.  Today I broke with tradition to post two photographs; I cannot decide which one I prefer.  Any votes?

 

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Caterpillar of Independence

Day 184: In the Land of Poison Ivy

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  2 Responses »
Jul 032014
 

I arrived at Piney Woods Church Road this morning a bit bleary after a late night tutoring and grading online students in the universities where I  teach.  I was hopeful that something fascinating would come my way to photograph.  I am still figuring out my new macro lens, and I strolled up and down the road, in search of subjects.  A small gold fly was somewhat obliging, but otherwise, there was nothing to explore but green leaves.  I never tire, though, of the patterns of light and shadow on leaves, particularly when they are backlit early and late in the day.  So I wandered about, figuring out manual focus on my lens and taking lots of pictures of leaves.  My favorite of the lot is the one below, a close-up of two leaflets of poison ivy.  The space between them evokes a river as seen on a satellite image, with the leaflets forming the adjacent land.

 

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