I thought for today I would focus more on different types of plants than I typically do. As I wandered the meadow behind the school this pale coloured plant caught my eye.
Wild grass
This seed head was the only one that was this pale yellow. All the others were a dark green. I wonder what caused this one to be a different colour.
End of the Day
I was out a little later in the day than normal so I was able to catch that beautiful late day light as the sun shone through these reeds.
Damselfly
That light wasn’t just perfect for those reeds but also for this white damselfly that was taking a rest on a blade of grass. Usually they are hard to photograph but it looks like later in the day they are not as active. Or I’ve been extremely lucky.
Today I went in search of ladybugs. I knew from my last encounter with them that they were hanging out on the burdocks in the meadow behind the school.
Hello There
I had a harder time finding them, so I was pretty excited to find this lone one. He climbed up and down the burdock bud before he finally gave me a chance to get his photo.
After finally nabbing that photo I explored the field for more insects and came across this red clover.
Red Clover
Of course, there wasn’t just one flower, but a whole bunch. Then I noticed there was a skipper on one of the flowers. What I didn’t realize was that he had been caught by another insect.
Caught
What exactly caught him, I don’t know. I didn’t realize that the skipper had been caught until I got home and zoomed in. The attacker was so well camouflaged that I didn’t even notice him when I took the photo.
It was a wonderful surprise to photograph something that shows the life cycle of nature.
There are days I walk this path and it’s as though a new plant has grown overnight. I’m sure that’s not really the case but I guess the point is that you really have to keep your eyes peeled to make sure you don’t miss something special.
Burdock
This emerging flower is what I believe to be a Burdock. As with most things in nature I’m not 100% sure so please let me know if I’m way off or not. It’s the closest name I could find that looked like this before it started blooming.
Female Stream Bluet
I love damselflies. They are little sticks with huge eyes that fly and the bonus is they eat mosquitos and other harmful insects. Did you know that there have been fossils found of damselflies dating back 325 million years ago? I think they are the most beautiful insect out there.
Upside Down
But then there is also the cute little ladybugs who apparently have voracious appetites. In its lifetimes of about 2-3 years, it can eat up to 5,000 insects. That tiny little insects favourite food is the aphid. Go Ladybug!
It’s another beautiful summer day and the birds are begging to be photographed. Bird’s-foot trefoil that is.
Birds-foot Trefoil
This cute little yellow flower has blooms that are small with a unique shape. Sometimes the flowers are streaked with red making its other name, Eggs and Bacon, more appropriate.
Daisy
I couldn’t pass up some shots of the daisies. The soft evening light shining on them was amazing.
Tawny Skipper
And of course, the Tawny Skipper got some love, although he didn’t look overly impressed by me being there. At least they like to pose, right? LOL
Today was all about the insects. It seemed that everywhere I turned I found some sort of insect to photograph. First I found these two bees battling it out or maybe working together to get the pollen out of this Chicory flower.
Two Bees on Chicory Flower
Then I was poking around the stadium seating at the track and found this brightly coloured grub.
Grub
But the pièce de résistance was this dragonfly that landed on a leaf just as I was walking up.
Orange Bluet with Prey
You’ll notice that this dragonfly has caught himself a meal. Some poor fly has become his prey. How cool is that?
As I was taking photos of some tawny skippers on my walk today, I started wondering about what they thought about us humans. Specifically about us humans with cameras.
Having a nibble
Here I was this large looming figure with a large back thing sticking out of my head leaning in towards them very slowly. I would be creeped out by that if I was them.
Orange Skipper
It’s no wonder they look all judgy at me sometimes.
The Stare Down
This one sat on that bud and stared down at me as I took a few photographs. I’m probably overthinking it but I swear there was attitude there.
Cabbage White Butterfly
On the way home I spotted this Cabbage White butterfly. Now, these butterflies are pretty skittish which is typical of anything I try to photograph. So why are the Tawny Skippers so much friendlier? Or are they just tolerating us?
