Morning Has Broken

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Deina Zartman

Sunday morning at my mom’s. I got up good and early to head to Nasketucket before it got too hot but had to take some pictures of flowers at my mother’s that were covered in droplets of dew.

I used my prime lens with a close up filter for these shots

PhloxPhloxRose of Sharon

Tiny blue wildflowers at Nasketucket

Blue wildflowersBlue wildflower

My prize – and surprise: a spicebush swallowtail on Joe-Pye weed. These guys usually stick to the edge of the woods, but this one was hungry. It was feeding on a tall Joe-Pye weed and didn’t fly off when I inched closer and even when I used my flash on him.

Spicebush SwallowtailSpicebush Swallowtail

This one is my very favorite

Spicebush Swallowtail

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Hummingbirds videos

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Deina Zartman

I have two videos of hummingbirds at my mom’s feeder posted on YouTube.

The first, Dance of the Hummingbirds,  is about 4 minutes long. It was taken from inside my mom’s screened porch, so there is a bit of a diffusing effect from the screen.

The second, Hummingbirds at the Feeder, is a little over 5 minutes long, taken outdoors while sitting cross-legged behind the cover of some bushes. (You have to be dedicated to do this stuff!!)

I created both by splicing together short clips using Windows Movie Maker, which I am really loving. It’s easy to add titles/credits, music, transition effects, etc.

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Weirdos from Another Planet

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Deina Zartman

Ever think that’s what grasshoppers and dragonflies look like? ;)

GrasshopperGrasshopperGrasshopper

Grasshopper

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A Walk in the Woods

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Deina Zartman

There was talk at my new job of going from a 4-day workweek to a 5-day, but it was quickly decided against and I never lost a Monday off. I’m relieved, because I use that extra day, especially this time of year, for taking pictures, and if I had worked on Monday, I would never have gone to Gidley Woods and seen that the wild hibiscus are in bloom all around the pond, or gotten pictures of a pickerel frog with beautiful, leopard-like markings, or the perfect, geometrical cluster of unknown insect eggs…

MushroomPickerel frogWild hibiscus

Unknown eggsGreat blue heron

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Viceroy Central

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Deina Zartman

I went back to Nasketucket on Sunday, I think it was, and saw more Viceroys there than I have ever seen in a single day. I think they are getting more firmly established there, which is awesome, because… well, just because! (I have not, however, seen a single praying mantis this year, which has me a little worried…)

If you don’t know Viceroys, they are like Monarch butterflies, only smaller and with a bar across their bottom wings that distinguishes them from Monarchs. They mimic the Monarch because birds know, or at least learn, that they taste bitter because they feed on milkweed and dogbane as caterpillars, and tend to leave them be. (Other butterflies do this, too: The spicebush swallowtail mimics the pipevine swallowtail for the same purpose.) Actually, Viceroys are mimics even as caterpillars and chrysalises; they essentially disguise themselves as bird droppings.

ViceroyViceroy

It was lovely at Nasketucket, as always. No snake or frog sightings, but plenty of other sights that should sustain me for the week.

Forest pathTiger SwallowtailGoldfinch

Larva

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