Damsel Connection

While fishing a few days ago a pair of mating damselflies spent some time perched about the boat providing me with a photographic opportunity.

The attachment between the mating couple is quite secure allowing them to fly in unison. Here you can observe that the attachment is so strong that the lower fly is suspended in mid air with only one leg toughing the boat seat frame.

Bumble Bees & Thistle

Late last evening I found these bumblebees to congregating on a single thistle bloom during a light rain. I don’t know what was so special about this one particular flower as others nearby were devoid of bees.

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Country Captures turns Three!

Three years ago with this photo of a small foot bridge at the Meadow Grounds Lake in Fulton County Pa Country Captures began.

After having neglected photography for twenty some years I was rediscovering it in the digital age with a little Canon S2 IS point & shoot and Photoshop Elements.

A year later, still shooting the S2 this photo of a wild sunflower graced the page

The second anniversary of Country Captures displayed a Porcupine sitting high up in the branches of an oak.

The Porcupine was content that it had reached safety as I maneuvered about the base of the tree with a Canon 30D & 100-400mm lens in an attempt to get a good photo in what has been to date my one and only photo encounter of these prickly little beast

Today, to begin the forth year of Country Captures, a pretty butterfly is the featured photo.

Two things that we do know about the Butterfly are that it is beautiful and if we were to follow it we do not know where it might lead. The same can be said of Country Captures.

Be assured that in the coming months and hopefully years, Country Captures will contain images of the Beauty that I encounter on my walk through life and that like the butterfly I do no know where my interest in photography might lead but where ever that is it will be contained here on the pages of Country Captures.

I do hope that you my faithful readers will continue this journey with me as Country Captures begins its fourth year with this the 791st post.

Deer & Flies

Each season presents challenges for the Whitetail Deer. In autumn they must avoid hunters. Winter is the time of cold & snow with food sometimes difficult to be found. Does face the problems associated with birthing and predators preying on the newborn fawns during spring.

Summer is the time of insects. Stinging, biting, nagging, annoying insects follow the deer through every moment of every day. Escape cannot even be had at night when the mosquitoes come out in droves and of course the ticks are with them 24/7.

This image was captured in the evening as the shadows were advancing across the meadow. With the deer & flies silhouetted against the sunlit grass the horde of flies became quite apparent. For a better view of the tiny insects mixed in with the larger flies click to enlarge this image.

That the insects bother the deer is quite obvious as the deer are never still for more than a moment; rippling their skin, switching their tails, standing their hair on end, stomping and biting at the offending bugs.

A Splash of Green: Damselfly

Venturing through the high weeds in the remnants of the path leading to the old swimming hole of my youth I came upon a number of brilliant metallic green Damselflies.

The late evening sunlight lit the scene well as the Damselflies would land on a leaf for a moment, then zoom off only to return to the exact same perch after a few seconds. I didn’t have the tripod or the extension tube with me so I made do shooting handheld at the 400mm lens’s closest focus.

Most of the shots were slightly out of focus since I could not hold the camera still enough to stay in focus but a few were acceptable.

Damselflies come in many sizes and colors with these being some of the largest specimens I have taken notice of.

Damselfly

Today was the perfect May day, clear skies with white fluffy clouds and temps in the mid seventies. After supper I visited our local wetland.

The wetland was a hubbub of activity with a great variety of bird and insect life flitting about. While sitting along the water’s edge my attention was drawn to the diminutive damselflies patrolling the shoreline.

This exquisite little creature perched a few feet from me allowing me to capture a number of handheld macro shots using the 400mm lens with a 25mm extension tube.

Second Choice Image

This evening I decided to hike to an area where I had found a large concentration of Monarch Butterflies feeding on thistle last September. Upon arriving I found that I was too late. Most of the thistle had already matured and died. I did encounter one Monarch feeding on a goldenrod but before I could complete the camera setup it gracefully fluttered off among the pines.

Looking around for another available subject I spied this little butterfly. Although not the stately Monarch I was searching for: this little thumb-nail sized butterfly posed beautifully for its portrait session.

Hover Fly

While shooting this Hover Fly I suddenly noticed it quickly run across the bloom and took flight as a Bumble Bee took its place searching for nectar. I didn’t realize until I reviewed the shots later that I had actually caught the bumble bee approaching and scaring the Hover Fly away.

This shot as well as many other of my insect shots was captured in an overgrown area where Penn Dot once had a small depot. After moving out a few years ago the weeds have slowly taken over.

What appears to be an eyesore from a short distance away is a vibrant community of wildflowers and interesting insects. Often the best habitat we can provide wildlife is to simply allow some land to revert with no further intervention on our part.

Close-up: Grasshopper

From a distance a grasshopper really doesn’t look like much but when viewed up close the intricate detail and color scheme makes it into an object of beauty. I also liked the touch of color added by the thistle blossom in the foreground of this shot.


In an attempt to increase my capability for shooting macros, I added a Kenko 25mm extension tube to my gadget bag. It has performed flawlessly on the 100-400mm but with the 24-105mm I find that I have difficulty in achieving focus in the auto-focus mode.

Another Dragonfly: Haines-Seville Wetland

After a full day of traveling I cannot think of anything to say so I must allow this image to speak for itself.

Haines-Seville Wetland: Dragonfly

Sunday evening my wife & I visited the Haines-Seville Wetlands. Haines-Seville is a man-made wetland that was built a few years ago by Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation to replace wetlands lost during highway improvements.

Today the Haines-Seville is a thriving wetland community. During the spring migrations it is a favored resting spot for waterfowl passing through our area. Mallards, wood ducks and Canada geese remain throughout the nesting season. Although we sited wild ducks on two different occasions, an opportunity for a photograph did not present itself.

The wetland is alive with insect activity. During our short visit I photographed no less than five different dragonfly varieties along with numerous bees. Song birds were present in good numbers but the lush foliage prevented any acceptable photographs.

This small Dragonfly, illuminated by strong backlighting, posed for the camera.

Celebrating my Second Blog Anniversary

Two years and 500 Post

How swiftly the time has passed since I uploaded my first post on what was to become Country Captures. What began as a whim has become an interesting hobby.

I have found this blogging experience to be very positive. Thanks to you, the photo-blogging community I have learned a great deal, not only about cameras and equipment but also about the world we live in.

So to you, my blogging friends; Thank you for all of your positive comments over the years, thank you for the encouragement, thank you for all of your visits and thank you for the inspiration that comes from reading your blogs and viewing your wonderful photographs.

Resting Damselfly

Even as a kid I enjoyed watching Damselflies flitting around. Few if any creature is more agile. Their coordination is simple amazing; controlling four wings as they fly at relatively high speed, stopping instantly and hovering in mid-air for extended periods of time and then darting off in seemingly any direction going from zero to top speed in the blink of an eye.

This little Damselfly surprised me as I was photographing wildflowers and butterflies. I was not expecting to see a Damselfly as I was quite some distance from water when it appeared and perched upon this dead weed.

The flight of the damselfly reminds me of that of a helicopter. I have only once had the opportunity to ride in a helicopter. That was over two decades ago but the memory remains fresh. This was the first time I had ever flown and the bird was a two-seat crop-duster with a little clear bubble cockpit. I felt as if I could see all of creation from our vantage point above the West Virginia farm land. At one point the pilot told me we were traveling at 50MPH and a short time later he stated that we were sitting still, I could tell no difference.

Since then I have flown in fixed wing aircraft many times but no flight has been more memorable than that first time in the air. ............Flying like a Damselfly.

A New Butterfly

While walking along the overgrown fence row bordering one side of my property I noticed a gray butterfly flutter down into the underbrush. As I began to pay closer attention I found that a number of them were flying out of the brush into the open and then descending again into the thick growth before alighting. Soon one made the mistake of landing upon an exposed greenbrier leaf allowing me to capture this image before it fluttered along its way.

As with the Calico Pennant Dragonfly, I don’t have a name for this subdued beauty and am hoping someone here will be kind enough to identify my little treasure.

Red Dragonfly

Last weekend while fishing I noticed many large dark colored dragonflies patrolling along the lake shore along with a very few smaller red ones. This weekend the red dragonflies seemed to outnumber the others.

This dragonfly allowed me to drift the boat right up to the sprig of marsh grass it was resting on.

I attempted to identify this creature by checking some web sites but was unsuccessful. If any of you viewers could enlighten me I would appreciate it.

On The Wing: Stream Bluet Damselfly

This morning while fishing my favorite lake I found large numbers of dragonflies and damselflies flitting about.

The tiny Damselflies were hovering low over the lake’s surface. They would allow me to approach within a few feet with the boat. The 100-400mm lens set at 400mm allowed me to capture this image of a hovering Stream Bluet Damselfly.

I found it nearly impossible to auto-focus on these slim creatures if there was anything in the background other than open water.

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Of Dragons & Flies

A Dragonfly rest momentarily on a stalk of grass

This morning I spent a considerable amount of time on the lake attempting to capture a Dragonfly in flight. Dragonflies are masters of fast flight and instantaneous directional change. Although I shot quite a bit, none of the images were of the quality I desired.

This evening while checking one of our hay fields which lies near the creek, I came upon this obliging subject.

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Hummingbird Clear-Wing Moth, A Sharper View

Earlier I posted a shot of the Hummingbird Moth showing its long proboscis curled up in the flight position. I chose that shot to show the proboscis even though the shot lacked the crisp sharpness that I would have preferred.

Today I share with you the very best shot I obtained in this session. I am particularly fond of this shot because of both excellent subject sharpness & detail along with the beautiful background provided by the lilac bush.

Hummingbird Moth

A close-up of a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth reveals the long proboscis curled up into a convenient travel position.

Today as I followed some yellow and black swallowtail butterflies around our lilac bush I encountered this interesting little moth. It showed a clear preference for the shaded areas which made it difficult to obtain correct exposure while using a shutter speed fast enough to capture the image. Finally I settled on ISO 800 and captured this image at 1/640th of a second with an aperture of F5.6 and a 400mm focal length.

Grasshopper

This large grasshopper watched cautiously as I captured her image. The grasshopper is so heavy with eggs that it was difficult for her to jump let alone fly.