Bugs, Birds and Butterflies. My Comfy Zone.

   Yes folks, I’ve been shooting wildlife since Moses was floating down the Nile in a basket.  It’s my comfy zone.

I took a little excursion to my favorite pond in Ipswich, Massachusetts to see what dragons are out and about.  This damsel fly looks to be fairly young and still quite translucent.

Deeper into my comfy zone are birds.  I finally got a half decent shot of a Northern Cardinal in Essex.

An area that I’m learning more about are butterflies (as well as the dragons and damsels).  This Cabbage White is getting a sip of nectar not 50 yards from where I shot the Cardinal.

 

Yep, I’m operating in my comfy zone.  Don’t you think it’s time to shake it up a bit?  Tune in tomorrow and find out what happens when I stumble into a photo shoot with the wrong gear in a genre that I haven’t shot in since high school and a subject matter that I know nothing about.

Plum Island Light and Purple Martins

 

On the grounds of Plum Island Light are martin houses.  There are several pairs of nesting Purple Martins.

This is the female.

And here is the male.  Soon they will be bringing in hundreds of insects to feed the chicks.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Forgotten Photo Friday, The Couple on the Schooner

Something’s up

I was eating breakfast yesterday morning when I saw five boats running through the front yard.  This struck me as odd because the boats generally go their own speed and pick their own course.  These looked like they were all headed towards the Cut Bridge rather than out to sea.

Sensing that somthing’s up, I grabbed my glass and zoomed in. Hey, that ain’t no lobsta’ crew.

And that ain't no “Joe Tourist” pocket video camera. 

Yeah, I don’t think they’re out for lobster!  Maybe a Doublemint Gum commercial?

Well, when there is a mystery on the water, I always turn to GoodMorningGloucester to find out what’s going on.  Joey doesn’t miss a trick.  The mystery is solved on GoodMorningGloucester.

Codzilla

You know you want to ride on this.  Well, this one, you can!

P.S. I should mention that Codzilla terrorizes Boston Harbor. Check out their website for more information.

Stream Cruiser

This was the first dragonfly that I saw this year.

American Copper

I sometimes wonder where they get the names for these bugs. 

When the bug turns and you catch it in the right light…

It does turn to copper!

Bunchberry

This is one of the only two herbs in the dogwood family. Who would have thunk? 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Forgotten Photo Friday, Uhm, you’re in my shot.

Okay, now someone has to know something about this.  As I posted back in October, I was shooting the Scott Covered Bridge in Townshend, VT when I stumbled across this crew filming a documentary.  I gave one of them my card and he said that he would email me the link to the film’s website.  I’ll be darned if I was let down!

So, anyone out there have any information about a film being shot in Southern Vermont in October of 2009?  The mystery is just too much!

Be sure to check out the October covered bridge post.

Tenpound Island as the sun goes down

The Gloucester Commute

This isn’t a bad way to get to work, is it? The Caterina G rounds Eastern Point.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles generally reside in the canopy of the hardwoods, but when the females play hard to get, they will test the male’s courage.  This young lady dropped down thirty feet in front of me.  Perhaps she was testing her suitor or perhaps she was just trying to get away.

Unimpressed with his display, she gave him a sharp peck and sent him packing.

East Coast Warbler’n

I know they are there.  I can hear their buzzy-raspy calls overhead, deep in the woods, way up in the canopy. I know that they are there.

It is always fun to get out in May and catch the warbler migration.  Some even stick around to nest.  However on the east coast, the canopy is think, dense and lush.  The trees are close and this makes the birding tough. 

After waiting and watching and watching and waiting, I finally caught a glimpse of movement that wasn’t just the breeze blowing leaves around.  There it is, a Black-throated Green.  

Patiently waiting for another glimpse, I saw a Blackburnian Warbler  hop across a branch high up in the canopy. He was gone before I could get my binoculars up to my eyes.  Then another Black-throated Green popped out. 

He looked around and was gone.

These pictures are good enough for shooting first and asking questions later.  A few weeks ago, I shot a Black-throated Green an emailed the pictures off to Kim for a little help with the ID.  These came out much better!

Yes, east coast birding gets frustrating in May when the canopy fills out.  The skeeters are out in force the canopy is thick and you can hear’em but you just can’t always find’em. 

Cape Ann Wildflowers

Pink Lady’s Slippers and Common Columbine are featured today with a spattering of some other Cape Ann Wildflowers.

On Patrol

The last few weeks I have been checking out one of my favorite dragon spots to see if there were any around.  Walking up a narrow clearing, about 50 feet wide by a wooded vernal pool, I saw one on patrol.

Eventually it landed low in the bramble, just long enough for me to get some shots off.

I’m not familiar with this bug, but in this day and age, I can shoot first and ask questions later.

After all, how difficult could it be to find, look at those wind spots! What I had envisioned to be an easy session with the field guide did turn out to be a bit of a challenge. You see, the picture in the book was in different lighting and a different angle. Note that the spots disappear from a different angle. However I did get a positive I.D.  This is a Spot-winged Glider.