Obsessed!

You just can't have too many Hummingbird photos!  It is such a challenge to capture these little jewels and their fast wings.  I don't think I will ever get tired off trying!

I believe this is the young bird that has been frequenting my garden.  Her feathers are almost completely in.

Notice the pollen on the end of her beak!

Right Place, Right Time

It was a cool 40 degrees and mist was rising off the water on an early morning walk in Southwestern Missouri. I happen to stop along a river and was looking around when two Bald Eagles flew by.  The first did a quick circle but did not see any breakfast and flew into a nearby tree.  The second one, shown below, flew down the river, circled around, and flew down to the water to grab a rainbow trout.  It happened in mere seconds, but was a thrill of a lifetime to watch and I was more thrilled I was able to get a few shots of the event.  

Backyard Visitors

A Hummingbird Clearwing Moth in my Butterfly bush.

Same Clearwing Moth, just a bit closer.  You can see he is an older moth as he is missing many scales and some fur from his body.  

I believe this is a young female hummingbird on my Salvia.  she does not have all of her green back and head feathers in yet.  The white tips on the tail mark it as a female.

This handsome Bullfrog was sitting in the sun so nicely, I just had to share his photo.

This is an adult female hummingbird getting nectar from my verbenas.  You can see how much more colorful she is compared to the earlier young bird.

Dragonflies

Did you know there are more than 5200 different species of dragonflies?  I was surprised to learn this.  Another fact that I thought was interesting was that 50 of the species actually migrate during the winter to warmer climates!  Although, it is not the older dragonflies, but the new offspring that migrate.

They seems to follow the same flyways that the birds use.  Scientists have attached small transmitters to the dragonflies to track their migration.  It is a very tough job as the transmitters are so tiny and do not transmit too great of distances.  Scientists have followed the transmitter signals using small planes but lose the signal when they are forced to land to refuel.  Also, once the small planes get to the tip of Florida, they cannot continue on .  Because of this, scientists are not sure if the dragonflies stay in Florida, or continue on to other places like Venezuela like the birds do.

Below are some recent photos I took of some very handsome species of dragonflies.  I even challenged myself to try to catch a dragonfly in flight.  That's a tough one!

Notice the bright red edges of this dragonflies wings.  I am thinking perhaps this is to attract a mate?

This was a very large dragonfly sunning just before the sun set.  It does not show well here, but it had a beautiful dusty blue body.

The same species of dragonfly as the previous photo.  this guy was enamored with the color of my son's T-shirt in the sun.  The blue body shows better here.

This guy's colors were stunning.  The sun shining on him really helped to show them off.  His wings were tougher to capture even though the shutter speed was the same as the next one.  I am wondering if perhaps he just moved his wings faster than the next guy?

This dragonfly was very dark in color.  I liked how this shot showed how they tuck their legs up when in flight.  The yellow spot you see on his eye is actually a reflection of the sun.

Porkies Adventure

A waterfall along Greenstone Falls Trail.  Very serene and a nice trail to hike.

The fungi was found along the trail.  It is the most brilliant one I have ever seen.  It was the size of a dinner plate!  The sun highlighted it perfectly.

Waterfall erosion on shale along the Presque Falls.

A lower waterfall at Presque Falls.  Taken from a footbridge high above the canyon.  You can see some of the circular ebbs that the water and sand carve away in the rock.

Early morning sun at Lake in the Clouds.

A view looking out at Lake Superior.

Cloud formation over Lake Superior.

An evening along Lake Superior

Pilated Woodpecker

While out for an early morning walk, I noticed large pieces of wood falling from a tree.  After closer inspection, I found this Pilated Woodpecker hammering away on a tree.  

You can see she has made quite a large hole in the tree.  She pulled out many grubs in the ten minutes I stood and watched her.  

How to tell this is a female, the male Pilated has a red "moustache" just under their eye and along the top of the beak.

The next morning while walking again, I found what I assume is the same female in about the same area getting breakfast.  I sat at a nearby picnic table and waited over 20 minutes for her to come on the side of the dead tree by me.  Unfortunately this was as close as she got.  As this dead tree had become hollow, it made quite a racket when she was hammering on it.

A Blue Jay in a Sycamore tree.

I was thrilled this spring when this very special visitor showed up many times at my birdfeeder.   It is a beautiful male Indigo Bunting.  I was so happy to capture a photo of him.