This is the third in a series of posts from recent trips to the prairie meadow near where I live. If you missed the first 2 posts, you can visit them by clicking on the following links:

“Prairie Meadow at Sunrise”

“Magnificent Dragons!”

In this post, I am highlighting some more meadow critters I found and was able to make some macro images of. First, here’s a few butterflies I found in the meadow:

Large Wood Nymph Butterfly (Cercyonis pegala)

Pearly Crescentspot Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos)

Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)

Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio spp.)

And then I came upon a Cicada that was resting on the stem of a meadow  plant: 

And just beyond the Cicada, I found a Northern Spring Peeper (Hyla crucifer crucifer) that was clinging to a leaf of a meadow plant:

In the next post in this series, I will highlight a couple of spiders busy in the meadow.

This post is the second in a series of posts of images made the other day at my nearby prairie meadow. If you missed the first post from this series, you can click on this link:

“Prairie Meadow at Sunrise”

During my recent prairie meadow outing, I was pleased to find a new Dragonfly, the Black Saddlebags Dragonfly (Tramea lacerata). I had been looking for these beauties this summer, but had not been able to find them until this outing. This first image is a newly emerged Black Saddlebags Dragonfly. The wings of newly emerged dragonflies are more opaque than they will be later in life. In this image you can see the “saddlebags” appearing vaguely, at the rear of the wings:

Further into the meadow, I came upon an older Black Saddlebags Dragonfly. The ”saddlebags” are much more evident in this older dragonfly than the newly emerged dragonfly:

Further along the meadow, I came upon a dragonfly that allowed me to get extremely close to it. I believe this dragonfly is an Eastern Pondhawk female (Erythemis simplicicollis), but could not get a good enough look at it’s backside to get a positive ID. As I was photographing this little guy, he seemingly reached up with one of his legs and “scratched his head”. Here is the action as I captured it:

In the next post from this series of prairie meadow images, I will highlight other creatures I managed to capture in macro mode that day.

During my last trip to the nearby prairie meadow, I decided to go a bit earlier than I normally do so that I could try to get some sunrise images at this location at the actual sunrise time (this meadow is located on a hilltop and is surrounded by woods, so the sun does not directly hit any of the meadow until ~30 minutes after actual sunrise). When I arrived, I was very pleasantly surprised. There was a very heavy dew over the meadow; this is my first trip to the meadow where the dew was heavy, although I had longed for these conditions many times!

This day would be my “best” day at the meadow since finding it this spring. Besides the early morning macro images in this post, I also saw several new wildflowers budding or blooming, a small tree frog clinging to prairie grasses, several cicadas hanging onto meadow plants, some new dragonflies (some at extremely close range), a yellow garden spider catching/encasing a freshly-caught insect, several species of butterflies, and almost stepped on a deer fawn! Oh, and I can’t forget the young oppossum I found in a tree cavity in the woods, along the short woodland trail that I must take to reach the hilltop meadow! Too many things to cover in a single post, so I will feature my finds over several posts. Let’s start with the fantastic dew and early morning sunrise!

This first image shows several droplets of dew on prairie grass stems. Note the interesting illusion: the surrounding scenery is reflected “upside-down” in the beadlets! :

While I was photographing dew on the grasses, a small fly flew in and landed on a nearby dead branch of a shrub that had been burned during this spring’s “Prescribed Burn”. Timing was perfect … the sun was just beginning to peep through the upper reaches of the surrounding woodland trees, making an interesting background, as well as backlighting the fly. I carefuly moved the tripod a few feet to the left and composed the image with the orange sky in the background:

As I continued through the waist-high grasses/wildflowers, this clump of prairie grass stems, with it’s hanging seeds backlit from the emerging sun grabbed my attention:

As I said earlier, this was one of my most rewarding mornings I’ve spent in the meadow. By the time I finished my round, I could squeeze water out of my pants/shirt! But it was all worth it. In the next prairie meadow post, I’ll feature some of the magnificent Dragonflies I encountered on this magical day!

While in the kayak yesterday, this Common Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) was active. He would swim from his den, built into the bank, to a patch of American Lotus. Here, he would cut down a stalk and take it back to his den. During one of his trips out of the den, he swam right up to the kayak, even brushing against it as he went by. I shot several images of him as he approached … the shutter sound did not phase this little guy. My minimum focus distance with the 100-400mm lens is ~1.8 meters, so that is about the distance he was from me when I shot this frame:

I must admit, these ”wet rats” are not the most glorious animal, but they sure are fun to watch as they swim about … always busy and always on a mission! 

Well, the time has finally arrived … the fish fry are now large enough for the Belted Kingfishers (Ceryle alcyon) and the kingfishers are now actively fishing! During yesterday’s kayaking, I was fortunate to have a female belted kingfisher fly to a nearby tree branch, with a small fish in her beak. Here are a couple of images I made of her:

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch or photograph the actual catch. The American Lotus plants are so thick this year that there is little open water, so getting close enough to photograph the actual catch, without being seen, will be very difficult. But I’m hopeful that I might get a bit lucky … certainly offers a challenge for me!

When discussing nature photography with others, I’m often asked what I do to keep from “getting bored”, when the action is slow.  The first thing I say is that just being in a secluded area, with peace and quiet, and the natural sounds of nature, it is not often that I get bored. But I also say that I have a little “game” that I play when action is slow. I will often find something that is rapidly moving about and work on attaining, and maintaining, sharp focus on it … after all, this skill is quite necessary when photographing active wildlife.

When I play this game in summer, I often use small birds; the smaller they are, the greater the challenge (hummingbirds or warblers are great to practice on!) or even dragonflies. Since I’m in the kayak most of the summer months, let me show you some of the recent images I have made while passing the time away:

So, as you can see, I really don’t have time to get bored! And working with the dragonflies is a great way to help improve my ability to attain quick focus on a subject, and to be able to pan with the subject, keeping him in focus … at least for most of the time! :o)

But what about winter? Well, unfortunately this game is difficult to play in winter due to the inability to find something moving around to shoot! But with the cold temperatures of winter, I’m usually not out that long anyway. And when I’m out, I’m usually moving about quite a lot.

While visiting the nearby prairie meadow this spring, I found an unusual wildflower. I had not seen this plant before and was unsure what it was, particularly since it was not budding or blooming yet:

And here is a close-up of the plant’s leaves:

The leaves were very soft to the touch, and had lots of soft “hairs”. But still no idea what this was. Then, in early summer, I noticed a similar plant in the meadow … much larger than the ones I had seen in early spring, but very similar leaves:

Did you notice the tall flower stalk that was standing above the plant? Here is a close look at the flower stalk, from a different plant in the area:

In the last 2 photos, you can see a lot of dead branches around/behind this plant. These were killed when this prairie meadow underwent a “Prescribed”, or “controlled” burn (for more info on a prescribed burn, click on this link) in late winter/early spring. Here is a close-up photo of the flower stalk’s flowers:

With all these images, I was then able to identify this unusual plant. It is a Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), commonly referred to as ”the Flannel Plant”. This plant grows to 7-feet tall and the entire plant is densely hairy, hence the flannel plant. This plant is a biennial. During the first year, the plant’s leaves are basal only; the plant’s flower stalk rises during the second year. The basal leaves persist during the winter, on petioles to 1 foot long and are extremely hairy and soft. The stem leaves are progressively smaller toward the top, with leaf tissue continuing into the stem.

The Mullein was a very early immigrant. Indians smoked the leaves; an extract against respiratory problems was used by Indians and settlers; and settlers used the soft basal leaves for diapers … sort of a “grow your own Pampers” plant.

Now that I am aware of this plant, I have been seeing more of them along the country roadways. Although this plant may not be one of the most beautiful wildflowers around, they certainly are unique!

Hot and humid here, like it is in a lot of places. But through all the “discomforts” of the weather, there is new life being breathed into our midsts. One of the things I have noticed the last few days is the number of new fledglings that are feeling their way in their newfound world. Over the past week, I have posted twice on a fledgling Prothonotary Warbler. Within the last few days, I have also been delighted to be able to watch some newly-fledged Tufted Titmice (or, is that Titmouses?) … and a single young Northern Cardinal get acquainted with their new surroundings, both accompanied by an adult. I am focusing on the Tufted Titmice (Parus bicolor) in this post.

While I was drifting in the kayak, the calm, quietness of the secluded area was suddenly disrupted by several Tufted Titmice. Straining through the dense vegetation, I then observed 2-3 fledglings, along with at least one adult in the nearby trees. As I watched the young ones, I focused in on one particular fledgling, who was desperately trying to get mom or dad’s attention … “Where’s breakfast?”:

It is so cute watching new fledglings trying to get attention from the parents! All of this twitting of the wings and constant “chirping” went to no avail … the parent bird was close, but busy working on a Cicada that he/she found on a tree branch. A short time later, the parent flew into a nearby dead tree snag and continued to work on the Cicada. This fledgling decided to move closer to the parent. But instead of continued “begging”, he settled in a nearby Buttonbush and began to work on removing a Bagworm from it’s encasement:

Hmmm, too much trouble getting to it from this angle. Maybe if I use my wings, I can get some leverage on it:

Hmmm, maybe another angle would be better:

This little guy finally finished his snack and flew off with the rest of the family. On the way home, I thought to myself, “Gee, wonder why the Tufted Titmice at my house don’t eat the Bagworms off our trees?” … I’m guessing the sunflower seeds are easier to get to! Anyway, it’s so much fun to watch the little fledglings learnin’ the ropes! :o)

The last week has brought one of my favorite aquatic birds near my kayak, the Green Heron (Butorides virescens). In our area, these birds are very skittish and are hard to get close to, certainly not like those that inhabit places like Ding Darling NWR, where they are habituated to humans. So getting close to these colorful birds is a special treat for me. In fact, I no longer try to get close to the birds. Instead, I learn where they like to perch/fish and then I arrive in the area before they show up, and wait for them in the kayak. This approach works well for me and it is not uncommon to have one or more of these beauties fly in and perch close to where I’m sitting.

Here are a few images I collected this past week: