Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Macro
Full Body Tattoo
I found this uniquely decorated spider hanging around in my wife’s flower bed. In our part of the world we call these large arachnids, yellow garden spiders. This spider falls under the Argiope Aurantia classification.
The markings on it’s abdomen remind me of a tattoo. I think it looks like a tattoo of some space alien.
Because of this spider’s size, it looks menacing but the Argiope genus are harmless to humans. Like most garden spiders, they eat insects, and they are capable of consuming prey up to twice their size. The etymology of Argiope is from a Greek name meaning “silver-faced”.
Because of the very sparse web this one is hanging on, I’m guessing it is a male since the females tend to have a large, more complicated web with a prominent zig-zag pattern in the center. (Here’s an example from my collection – Found On the Web.)
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Predator
This bee was persistent in his attack of this dandelion. My getting close didn’t seem to dissuade it. As I approached, it would leave the flower, hovering a few inches above, and then settle back down for the work. That made it easy for me to get a good shot. The tiny butterflies I was trying to capture were considerably more shy. They vacated the blooms anytime I got within range.
This scene was captured on my own front lawn. I titled this one, “Predator,” because I think the bees face makes an ominous impression. I know I wouldn’t want to meet one in a dark alley.
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Early Morning Stretch
Sometimes I just pick up my camera and wander around my yard to see what I can see. On a recent morning stroll around the yard, just after sunrise, I snapped a few photos of the pea plants growing in the farm field that surrounds our property.
This shot appealed to me for several reasons… The green glow of the plant in the morning light, the tiny drops of dew still clinging to the plant in the cool of the morning, the graceful curve of the vine-like shoot and the small buds that will bloom a pretty purple flower.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
World of Chaos
The globe thistle is a unique, flowering thistle and is garden friendly. It provides an appealing contrast of color and texture to the flower bed in mid summer.
I didn’t know these were called “Globe Thistles” until I looked them up to provide more info for this post. This photo was taken in one of the flowerbeds at our home.
According to Gardening Know How…
Echinops is the botanical name for globe thistle. They are stunning flowers with deep dark blue petals set in a spiky frame. The leaves are deeply notched, dark green on top and slightly silver underneath and slightly hairy. The plants are native to Asia and Europe and the name means hedgehog in Greek, which is appropriately referencing the prickly blooms. Globe thistle flowers make excellent dried displays and last for years as part of an everlasting flower display.
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Wildflowers of Yellow
A delightful collection of flowers blooming wild and free in Northeast Wisconsin.
These wildflowers were spotted along a trail at the Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, in Brown County. It was a beautiful day for a walk and a terrible day for misquotes. On this particular hike, every time we stopped we paid a price in insect attacks. Of course we survived, but we had to keep up a pretty good pace, continually swatting at the air and our arms. Might have missed a few shots in our hurried state.
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Frog Days of Summer
On a pleasant summer day, hiking through the woodlands of Northeast Wisconsin, we found this frog chillin’ in a small creek. The sparse sunlight, filtering through the trees, seemed to highlight the frog and made it an interesting scene. I rather like the blueish reflections on the water.
We were hiking on the trails of Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, in Brown County. I used a 250mm telephoto lens to get close enough to this critter without scaring him away. Even then, I had to crop this image quite a bit to get a good view of the frog.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Summer Jubilation
The day lilies are abundant this year in Northeast Wisconsin. These are a couple of specimens found in our front yard.
Every year we have a clump of day lilies that bloom around the utility pole in the front yard of our home. This year, will all the rain we’ve had, they are putting on quite a show.
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Some of Your Beeswax
I was able to capture a close-up of couple of honey bees as they feasted on some old honeycomb.
One of our sons has become a beekeeper. On a recent visit to his homestead in Ohio, I snapped a number of photos of his bees working over some old honeycomb he had set out for them. It was a great opportunity to grab some macro views as they were docile, content and, seemingly, oblivious to my presence. I will post another image or two from this shoot sometime in the future.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Fuzzy Stump
This tree stump has hair! What looks like redish hair sprouting from this decaying stump is moss sporangia. The forest is full of these tiny life forms this time of year.
I’m always intrigued by these tiny plant structures, often found while walking through the woods. On a recent hike, hunting mushrooms, I spotted this collection growing from the moss on a stump. A small stream of sunlight was filtering through the trees to illuminate the spot. I also like the cocklebur stuck in the moss near the top of the stump.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Springtime Vibe
These sweet, tiny, wildflowers are known by a variety of names such as, Spring Beauty, Virginia Spring Beauty, Eastern Spring Beauty or Fairy Spud. Not all clusters are as vibrant in color as these, most plant blooms are white with very subtle striping.
They bloom in early spring. The life of the individual flowers is short. They bloom lasts only three days, and the five stamens on each flower are only active for a single day. They can be found in many different habitat types, especially in forests. I found these in the woods of northeast Wisconsin.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.