Dreaming of Lichen

We found this on a walk in Roxborough State Park growing on scrub oak. I don't know enough about lichen to say anything about it... the round cups may even be fungus. Dunno. I thought it was pretty though.

Western Scrub Jay

I photographed this jay with my macro lens. I wish I could have gotten closer. I love the color blue. I love the brash, smart personalities of these birds.

Long Horn Beetle

When we were camping in South Dakota we saw a ton of long horn beetles. They were flying all over the place and landing on us, our tent and most everything else. I didn't realize though, until I looked closely at the pictures that the base of the antenna encroaches upon the eye. Theo (my husband) theorized that there was some interraction of the antenna and eye nerves to the brain. I was wondering if maybe the antenna became more important than having a whole eye; so, in the evolution of the insect's head the antenna took over some eye space.

A Loom with a View

I like the machinery of the looms of the "historic tents" at the Highland Games Festival.

Wiggly Willow

It's been raining here in Colorado. We're not used to it so everyone except my friend Ward (an Oregon romantic) wants to crawl in bed and take a nap. Oh, Jasmine also is energized. She wants to play in the rain-flooded gutters.

This is my neighbors' willow tree. I love this tree.

Dusk Challenge

The plant only opens at dusk and the flowers only seem to last a day, shrivelling up so that new buds can take their place. Almost as soon as they open the Sphynix moth comes to visit. I wish I'd had a better lighting setup, but while camping at Cimmeron State Park in New Mexico, I didn't know I'd need it.

Given all my recent lighting regrets, I think my camera equipment might well outweigh my clothing on my next trip.

Grasshoppers

It's like the I-spy games. Locate the grasshoppers on the monument plant.

More Fast Flying Things for Matt

At the risk of alienating myself again, I'm following the theme of catching fast things in flight. These hummingbirds are quite a bit easier than the dragonflies as they hover to eat, not just to assert territorial dominance. This particular bird was fairly shy. I'm not used to humming birds caring about my location. Like dragonflies, I assumed that they assumed I was too slow to be any real threat. I guess it pays to be careful though.

I think this is a broad-tailed humming bird.

Blue Darners in Flight

Here's a series of pictures from a local mosquito farm. These darners were patroling their territory and occassionally finding a mate. A number of times they came over and gave me the eye in case I might have gotten any ideas.

Widow

According to Bug Guide, this is a Female Widow Skimmer. New species for me, but I still haven't been getting the close-ups yet. I might need more walks that are light on the kid population load. :)

Sneaking up on Da Frog

At the end of our tadpole expedition, I saw this fellow. I got the boys quiet, pointed at the frog and took a few pictures. Then I showed them the funniest thing in the pond. Walk up to one and they give the funniest indignant squawk as they kick out into the pond. They laughed all the way to the car.

Spider Blade

A crab spider in our lawn... I wonder what plant it was trying to hide in prior to it landing in the lawn. We're currently pretty pink and red in our yard. Two weeks or so and it should be colored like it's plant of choice. Sunflowers will be coming out soon. They're always popular.

Bug Envy

Check this out.

This is completely not my picture, but oh, how I wish it was. It's a beetle molting. My husband Theo sent me the link to this. Perfect for a entomology buff and a VW-lover. (I mean in the tradition sense, not like this.)

South Platte 2

Here's part two of my picture set.






By the way, these frogs are huge. I guess six or seven inches across. When you walk along the edge of the pond, you'll here a sudden squawk of indignation and then a splashing reminiscent of someone skipping a dinner plate a few times across the water. Quite impressive.

South Platte

	I went for a bit of a walk today, sans children while Theo took the kids to Mr. Biggs, or as I've been calling it Dà Xiān Shēng. Lots of buzzing insects, mucky swampy water, algae, dust, and sunshine sounded much better than a bunch of screaming kids in an arcade.
The upside is that I got a lot of pics and had a fun time. The downside is that I won't be able to do it again till next weekend. It's a long weekend coming up though. I hope everyone else is busy being social so I can go muck about some more.
	So, here's some pictures of my little adventure; no particular order.
Oh, and I brought home a bullfrog tadpole and was widely acclaimed by all my children. Especially after I told them how I had to trick a warty swamp witch to tell me the location of the land of the bull frogs, wrestle the tadpole from the bullfrog village guards in a hand-to-foot/claw/paw battle that would make Jeff Corwin cower and then make a fast getaway while giant sticky tongues lashed out at me like whips. No one asked me if they should kiss the little fishy things with mini-hind legs already sprouting.

Insect Models, Yeeesh.

I dunno if you've ever had a photographer put a reflector under your face, at about chest height. It's supposed to counter all the unflattering shadows produced by various bulbous features. (You might have gleaned that I don't like having my picture taken.) Anyhow, this damselfly seems to know the trick.

Au Natural

Mantises are so cool. Even after you put them down, they'll still hang out with you.

Hey Baby

Here's another highly detailed shot of my un-manicured hands.

When you're around baby mantises (go to your local nursery and by an egg sac), you become attuned to their funny little hops. That's how I spotted this one. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye, but it was the type of movement that identified it. Adults are much harder to spot.

Now that I've been mucking about in the Colorado bush for a while I'm starting to feel like I'm becoming familiar with a bit of the body language. Moths, skippers and butterflies all have distinct ways of flying, landing and postures. Flies mimicking bees don't fly like bees. Tiger beetles zoom in short bursts low along the path. Gnats fly around my head. (I guess this one isn't really unique knowledge.) Other bugs like stink bugs creep around to the opposite side of a stem very slowly, while grasshoppers creep until you get close and then with a burst of yellow, orange or red explode out of their hiding place -- only to land a few feet in front of you and in your current path.

Then there are the creatures that hide very well, but in predictable spots. Burrowing wolf spiders hang out generally just below the ground. The entrance to their burrow is an almost perfect circle slightly raised above ground level with a silken rim entwining small twigs and dried grass. You can almost always guarantee an ambush bug sighting on the native waist high sunflowers -- or when you see the body of a bee, hover fly or wasp inexplicably dangling from a flower. A shallow funnel shaped web, dirty, water spotted, and covered in little pieces of debris, will always have a funnel web spider at the base, just give an outer web blade of grass a little wiggle and it'll come out.

And finally, there are the creatures that move so fast and often, they're just hard to get a close look at. Dragonflies and butterflies seem to be unpredictable, but you can watch a dragonfly making circuits and stopping at the same twig or cattail. Butterflies are more chaotic. You may know the type of flower but not which on specifically. When in doubt, hang out by damp ground on a hot day. They come to drink.

I suppose these aren't great or grand revelations, just things I didn't know when I first began to wander slowly. It does make me feel just a bit more nature literate.

... that pops into your head

Polynesian headdress velvet man-eating space flowers anenomes doesn't 'clematis' sound like an STD sunkist sunkissed eggplant babaganoosh a flower does bloom in the yard when there is no one to see it OGMO used to sit under these I need to install a new trellis that looks less like a kids' make believe what were they using it for it still flowers even on the ground cool roots sunny leaves makes a clematis happy as can be-ves I miss OGMO what will I do with the kids this weekend zoo or hike or feeding the ducks I wonder is clematis have a Chinese name time to practice some more and pet patient soft Yeti.