Busy Bee

Head On

While usually pretty skittish, this Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) was too busy collecting pollen to notice my camera lens inching ever closer to it.

Dew-Covered Daisies

Orange & Green

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly

Blue & Green

This little butterfly called a Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) are one of my favorite butterflies to photograph.  They are very small and move fast, but once they land on something where they are feeding, they pretty much ignore me and let me photograph them.  This is the first time I have actually seen an Azure open its wings while perched.  They generally keep their wings closed when at rest.  I have never photographed on with its wings open like this.

Dragonflies Are Everywhere!

This spring has been amazing for dragonflies, especially my favorites - the Clubtails.  A few years ago by complete accident, I discovered Riverbend Natural Area, which is part of Ingham County Park system south of Lansing.  There is a big prairie near the Grand River and surrounded by forest where dragonflies of many different species hunt and roost.  The conditions must just be right to make this a perfect habitat for Clubtails, as several species can be spotted on any given day in May and June.  This spring I have already seen nine different species there and I expect a few more will emerge soon.  Given the special conditions there, I always keep my eyes open for Clubtail species that I have not seen in the past, as I figure they may be there and I just have not encountered them yet.

Stained Glass Wings

The fresh wings of a very young clubtail dragonfly glisten in the sunshine and take on an almost stained glass appearance.

Bright Spring Colors

Pileated Woodpecker

I have seen many Pileated Woodpeckers in my ramblings through the woods over the years, but this past weekend at Riverbend Natural Area, I finally had my camera and big lens ready to get a marginal quality photograph.  I would like to get a better picture of one of these someday, but they are not the most patient of subjects to photograph.

More Wintery Contrasts

More Early Autumn Colors

Those Are Some Mighty Fine Antennae You Have There!

Totally by chance, I noticed this Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus) out of the corner of my eye the other day when I was photographing a much more colorful American Lady butterfly (see below).  The moth blended in well with the surrounding foliage from a distance.  Once I noticed that it was not a dead leaf, I got closer to capture some images.  It was huge.  The average wingspan on this moth is six inches wide!  I really like its big antennae and really fuzzy body.

Scruffy Looking Buck

Concrete Horseshoe

Two concrete pillars stand along one of the trails at Riverbend Natural Area.  Both have a horseshoe protruding from the top of the pillar, encased in concrete.  They both also have a piece of barbed wire attached to them, so I speculate that the pillars once served as the supports for a gate that had a fence attached.

Half-Frozen Heron Pond

The "heron pond" at Riverbend Natural Area with a thin film of late winter ice still covering half the pond.

Caught In The Current

Wild Indigo Duskywing Butterfly

Wild Indigo Duskywing Butterfly (Erynnis baptisiae)

Cherry-Faced Meadowhawk

Cherry-Faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum)

Orange Sulphur Butterfly

Orange Sulphur Butterfly (Colias eurytheme)

Tiny Butterfly

One of the tiniest butterflies you can see in Michigan is the Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta).  Butterfly experts still debate whether the Summer Azure and the Spring Azure are separate species or two different subspecies.  The Spring Azure is often one of the very first butterflies you will encounter in the early spring.  The two species do have slightly different coloring on the upper side of their wings, but most people never get the chance to see them as they keep their wings firmly closed when they perch.  I have tried for several years to find an Azure with its wings open to photograph the bright blue on its upper wings.  These butterflies have a wingspan of no more than one inch but most do not exceed three-quarters-of-an-inch.  Being so small, most go unnoticed by people that are not intentionally looking for them.