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Looking back: New and old photos
I was looking through some photos that are up to a decade old today, because I remembered some of them fondly. Three cameras are represented here— a Konica-Minolta DiMAGE Z6 (2004-2008), a Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd, and my current Canon Powershot SX50 HS (with just a few shots between the Finepix era and the Powershot era…
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Do birds pant in the heat?
Some, including Kathryn Knight in the Journal of Experimental Biology, say they do. And during our visit to Phoenix yesterday we were overwhelmed with the heat, especially as we tried to amble around the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden. The roadrunner pictured here might have been feeling the heat, too. Or I might have caught him…
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Purple is the color…
The other day I snapped these two pictures of two different purple flowers. They underscore what the beauty of the place we live— Flagstaff, AZ. The liatris grows in our front yard. For more information and a better shot, click here to go to my SmugMug page. The other purple flower, called vervain, grows wild…
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Showdown at the Lepidoptera Corral (in which Little Moth faces down Big Butterfly)
This is one of a series of photos I am calling Front Yard Wonders. Thanks to my wife, Sarah, who planted such things as the echinaceas in the photo, the front yard attracts wonders from the bird and insect world. These two are a Veined Ctetucha Moth (on the left) facing down the White Admiral…
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Some Little Miracles
Originally posted on somewhere up a tree: my dear, you are a tiny Tintoretto, a gangly watermelon-striped ball of feathers and hope that against waves of crushing odds manages to keep its head above water.
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Minimalist
Originally posted on The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface: SIMPLE — A dragonfly on a stick. Doesn’t get at more simple than that.
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White Wagtail
Originally posted on Carpathian Adventure: The ancient harbour wall around our house in Croatia was home to a pair of White Wagtails (Motacilla alba). One is pictured here with an insect in its mouth. They spent much of there time calling out alarm cries or trying to distract us from nearing their nest.
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Another great day for insect photography in Flagstaff
Until just two or three weeks ago it’s pretty safe to say I knew nothing about butterflies and moths (except that they like milkweed), let alone other insects. (Well, of course I knew a bit about honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, flies, mosquitos…) But did I know anything about butterflies? Only monarchs. Dragonflies? Re. the order “Odonata”…
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North of Flagstaff: The Fort Valley Experimental Forest, a young ground squirrel, and a native thistle with honeybee
On Wednesday July 15 my wife Sarah and I drove north on Hwy 180 past the Arizona Snowbowl road, stopping well short of the Grand Canyon and joining a tour of the Fort Valley Experimental Forest, home to roughly a century of forestry research— and to lovely flora and fauna! Of course my goal was…
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One doesn’t (personally) care about the latest (current) fashions or trends; one cares about…
Originally posted on Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog: . One doesn’t (personally) care about the latest (current) fashions or trends; one cares about lasting and eternal truths that remain forever. . [A Fire Beetle and a Sulphur Butterfly (i.e., Alfalfa Butterfly) contemplating their next move.] Sulphur Butterfly and Fire Beetle. The Important Conference…
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Butterfly photos by Wilce, Peace, and Sherman
Tom Peace has a gorgeous picture of a sulphur butterfly (click here). (Sulphurs and whites are members of the family Pieridae.) My shot of it is available here (at wilcephotos.com). Butterflies are understandably connected with the soul, transformation, etc. in ancient traditions. And bravo Catherine Sherman for your beautiful shot of a cloudless sulphur butterfly!…
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Two flying things– so different yet…
Two very different creatures— a bird and a butterfly. However, this female broad-tailed hummingbird is one of the smaller birds, whereas the mourning cloak butterfly is definitely not one of the smallest of its group. Neither one is the showiest of its group, yet both are beautiful in their own ways. Soon a lot more…
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Bug photos at wilcephotos.com
Taking pictures of bugs I can hardly see without my Canon’s lens, and of others that may be a bit “sexier” (dragonflies and particularly butterflies), then scouring the web to identify them, only to discover that there’s some nuance— for example, the subtleties of distinguishing moths from butterflies— well, it’s quite an ongoing learning experience.…
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Bird photos posted to wilcephotos.com
You can now find my photographs of the birds listed below in the bird gallery of my Smugmug photo site. They are all shot on a Canon Powershot SX 50 HS, and— unless otherwise noted—all are taken in Flagstaff Arizona. Acorn Woodpecker Bullock’s Oriole “Finch Basket!” Flicker overhead Flycatcher (Dusky-capped?) Flycatcher (Cordilleran?) Gila Woodpecker Meadowlark…
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Back in time: 22 May 2015 photo expedition to Kinkinnick Lake
In May I went to northern Arizona’s Kinkinnick Lake (a two hour drive from Flagstaff along bumpy dirt roads) in hopes of seeing the spring ritual dance of mating pairs of grebes. After roughly 3 hours I was about to give up and come home when I heard a pair of grebes suddenly start “talking”…
outdoorswithcamera
photographic encounters with earth and sky and all the creatures that live there, plus what thoughts & feelings they inspire
outdoorswithcamera 