Category Archives: Wild flowers
Dead Head
Friends, a recent trip to the tall grass prairie was a great source of flowers, but also flowers that were past their prime. I liked the details in this macro shot of a dead head. If this were on one of my mom’s plants she would pull it off, but out here under the clear blue sky of impending fall, this looked as beautiful as the fresher flowers. til Tomorrow MJ
Bee on a Bottle Gentian
Friends, a trip to the tall grass prairie in Iowa we found some bottle gentian that are a pretty shade of blue, but the insects had eaten many of the blossoms, so i chose to concentrate on the bees that were clustered around the,., These blooms are closed on top, but must be very sweet cause the bees were still attracted to them, til Tomorrow MJ
Fall Bouquet
Friends, yesterday the backlight pointed out these primrose blooms. I worked for about 30 minutes at all the angles without getting wet. The fog had left all the foliage very damp. At f11 the depth of field was adequate and the bokeh was ok. When i came back in the late afternoon, the blooms were wilted beyond recognition. So go early. til Tomorrow MJ
A Rare Butterfly?
Friends, normally you find monarch butterflies all over the Northwestern corner of Wisconsin, but this year they have been scarce in Crex. So i took a little trip south to Fish Lake Refuge on Thursday and in my wanderings, was able to find eight of these on the abundant blazing star flowers. Maybe the second hatch has been successful or my friend, Agogo is releasing a sustaining population. I like the little slash of orange contributed by the backlight on this particular butterfly. Not sure that i like the color scheme, pink and orange, but i like the bokeh. til Tomorrow MJ
Green Details
Friends, this leaf was backlit this morning and i couldn’t resist trying to photograph. I think all the tiny details are interesting. it is a arrowhead leaf and this time of year it has some white blossoms that are arranged on a stalk. I wanted an image that incorporated both the leaves and the flower, but alas could not do unless i wanted to get very wet. Do you like? til Tomorrow MJ
Dogbane Beetle- A Natural History
Friends, a friend (thanks Kathy) pointed out this very colorful beetle to me. It is a dogbane beetle and eats leaves from Dogbane and Milkweed of which we have plenty in Crex. Probably the most noticeable characteristic of this tiny bug is the iridescent glow of color caused by small scales stacked at different angles on top of pigment. The circled areas show the scales as dark dots in lighter circles. One area will have focused scales while an adjacent area will be out of focus. The light bounces around and give the iridescence. These beetles are harmless to agricultural crops in that they only eat the leaves of milkweed and dogbane.
Another Karner
Friends, could not resist showing you one more Karner Butterfly, and endangered specie here in Crex Meadows. This is a better image in that he is perched on a lead plant flower instead of the usual scat perch and the blue spots on his hind wing are showing their iridescent glow. The light needs to be right for those spots to glow and look like abalone. The bokeh is also better than the previous image. til Tomorrow MJ
Orange on orange
Friends, this is one of the many fritillary butterflies in Crex. I think this is Atlantis but can’t be sure. To me they all look alike and i have difficulty differentiating them, but don’t need a name to appreciate their beauty. This one is perched on butterfly weed, an orange milkweed. til Tomorrow MJ
Skipper
Friends, this tiny skipper is sipping from the vervain that is abundant in Crex right now . His yellow head suggests that he is a Dun Skipper, maybe someone can help with the identification. I am far from a butterfly expert. I like his proboscis looped in the air and i like the bokeh. The background was rendered as amorphous because the distance between the subject and background was greatly out of focus. I am not always so lucky. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Foreshadow
Friends, these leaves of the Solomon Seal plant are curly and have longitudinal veining. I like the pattern Foreshadowing the blooms. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 