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comettose

Photos - Animal, Vegetable or Mineral (and Birds) LOL

comettose
16 years ago

I wanted to start a thread to expand on birds to include nature of any kind! Photos encouraged of course - we all like to see pictures! Lately I've taken an interest in semi-close up photographs because with my point and shoot I can't do real macro. I'm still working out issues with small insects - I get the background clearer than the insects which has been disappointing so far. Objects that don't move or move little are a snap! So please share your photos and thoughts.

Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus

{{gwi:170122}}

Waiting for Homegown Tomatoes to Ripen!

{{gwi:170124}}

Eye of Frog (and Tail of Newt). I've not checked but I wonder if I bring that photo of the eye in closer will I see myself taking the picture?

{{gwi:170127}}

Comments (77)

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL!!! @ your last sentence, CT! That toad is SO handsome/pretty! And the moth is pretty, too! When I was younger, I used to be grossed out by their thick, hairy bodies, but now, I'm happy whenever I see them, even if it's only knowing they'll be food for something else some day. :)

    When I was a kid, my folks used to have hundreds of toads (not like CT's, though!) every year, under the cracking concrete, in the lawn, you name it...and they didn't even have any water nearby! I used to hold them, gaze into their eyes, and cuddle them. LOL I even tried to name them. Toads have to be one of the cutest creatures on the planet!

    Catherine, that's exactly the reason I retreated! I was scared he/she would see me and think, "That's it! I'm not dealing with THESE neighbors! Hmph!" LOL If I saw a great horned owl, I'd probably pass out. :D

    Brenda

  • chickadeedeedee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh Brenda. That is classic. I thought I was the only one to apologize to birds, spiders, frogs ... what ever. Barn Owls are sooooo special! Lucky you!

    C3D

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I seem to be missing about a dozen frogs (since earlier this year). In fact I don't seem to have any frogs! Do you think the barred owl could be thinning out my population?

    I finally got some time to id some moths from the last couple of days. The first one really had me fooled, I could have sworn it was a type of sphinx moth but it's not -it's a Spotted Apatelodes Moth, which seems kind of funny since he's not very spotted. The second moth is an Io moth, found dead and looks as though he had quite a lively evening!

    {{gwi:170074}}

    {{gwi:170075}}

    I've been playing with my macro lens again ... and the damselflies are such willing participants. But you may never look at a damselfly the same way again ...

    {{gwi:170076}}

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jean! Those are fantastic! The first moth the feet have snowshoes for some reason. Must be for soft landings. The IO looks like a massacre with anothr tiny dead bug on the leaf. Both are beautiful. Love the false eyes on the Ios,

    The forktail looks like those walking pod alien ships in War of the Worlds, but with a face. I'm glad I'm not a gnat - can you imagine this creatures hellbent on eating you for dinner. Insects are scary looking. Good thing they are not big or humans would be doomed. In the end we might all be doomed due to the smallest of organisms anyway which is kind of funny when you think of it. With all our intelligence and supposedly empathy and ability to reason to be smacked down by a virus. That darn natual order of things when one species gets too bold.

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Those are awesome creatures, Jean! I LOVE the fuzziness of the moths! They look so soft. That "spotted" is my favorite. The vibrant colors of the Io are incredible, too, though. And no, I will never look at damselflies the same way again. LOL They're SO intricate, like little machines, as CT mentioned. It looks like he's asking you to dance. :D

    Not sure about the owl eating your frogs, but they are on their menu. Do you tend to get a lot of rodents in your area? I would think that if the rodents are having a less than bumpercrop year, the owls may tend to lean toward more frogs as meals.

    Brenda

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wasn't able to get a photo, but just a few minutues ago, I heard the most beautiful northern mockingbird singing his heart out!! He never once repeated a sound the whole time. I was able to catch the calls of the jays, the finches, the maggies...and SO many others! I could listen to that all day. He should cut an album. I'd buy it! :D

    Brenda

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmm, I'm not sure rodents are scarce this year - I seem to have a bumpercrop of chippies - they are everywhere! I love to see them running from the feeder area to the house with their little tails up in the air. So maybe the owl is not the reason for the disappearance of the frogs, but it is strange considering I usually have at least a dozen of them.

    I have never heard a mockingbird :^(. My winter-resident mocker disappeared this spring and I never heard it make a peep last winter. So lucky you!

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Frogs sometime leave on their own and then show back up. I've had that happen in past years. This year, however, I started the spring with my usual six frogs (including Droopy) and two months ago only two frogs. Still only two frogs and Droopy is among the missing:-( I think a bumper crop of snakes may be eating them. I don't have hardly any toads, a few I see here and there and my porch pal. I had a baby garter snake in my small front water garden. He was looking for snails. Speaking of snails I need to get a non-blurry photo of one to see if anyone can ID. They are shaped like a soft ice cream (swirled and piled high) and are brown with yellow-gold sheen to the shell. They area about 1/2" in size and came on their own. The back yard, bigger pond has snails now too but they are smaller and spend much of their time on the sides of the pond out of the water. These brown/yellow-gold types are larger and stay in the water all the time, sometimes eating algae on the surface of the water upsidedown.

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Photos:

    Black and Blue Salvia - Toad lives underneath.

    {{gwi:170149}}

    Salvia pulled back to reveal toad buried in the mulch to stay cool during the day. He can go deeper so only his nose is peaking out. He uses the same hole each time. I hope a snake will be reluctant to come up on the porch to eat her/him.

    {{gwi:170150}}

    Snails in front pond that I put in a small dish of pond water for the photo: Regular shot and cropped up a bit closer. Anybody know what species they are? They only eat algae as none of the plants are messed up and are not prolific. I like the orange-yellow pattern on the shell. The shells are not very hard and they are classic snails with a foot that comes out and you can just see the antennae peeking out on some of them. They seem to be solely aquatic. I never see these out of the water and they survive the winter here in Zone 7.

    {{gwi:170151}}

    {{gwi:170152}}

    Unknown moth resting on my siding - fuzzy red-brown head and banded wings.
    {{gwi:170154}}

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    NICE Calibrachoa behind the Black and Blue, CT! And the white bacopa is very pretty! That combo goes great together.

    That toad is so adorable, thinking no one can see him. LOL "I'm invisible!...Did I just hear a 'click'?" :D I have NO idea what those snails are, but they look like they're made out of topaz! They are a great compliment to the gorgeous moth, too. I love that red, fuzzy head, and the "painted" wings!

    Brenda

  • fairy_toadmother
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    amazing- toad in a planter. great macro shots, too.

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My moth was tentatively ID'd by a man named Bob Patterson. His hobby is photographing and idenifying moths where he lives in Maryland. I sent him my photo via email and he got back to me today and said he thought it was a Danatas in the family Notidontidae. A photo of moth ID #7906 - Datana contracta is linked below (scroll down to the number once open), but he could not be certain. I think it looks the same although the link photo may be a pinned specimen and much paler in color, but the furry head and wing pattern are quite similar. The moth link is pretty good as it has a thumbnail page for quick searching by sight.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Contracted Datana Moth

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    CT - I get those moths too - they look like a dead, curled up leaf, quite an ingenious camouflage! I think I need you to come design my pot plantings, mine always look a little wild (aka "messy") and by the end of the summer there is just room to get around them.

    I don't recognize the snails (hmmm, another photography venue perhaps except I'm sure I would drop my camera in the water). Are they a type of ramshorn snail?

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Finally, I got some pictures of the brown thrasher - he's a sneaky little devil and even when I do get to see him, he's deep in the shadows. Taken in late evening light which makes for some dramatic lighting but seems approriate for the bird somehow.

    {{gwi:170077}}
    {{gwi:170079}}

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    One of my favorites Jean. I have a lovely pair I see all the time. A few years back I didn't have them but since feeding year round and always adding fruit and suet the thrashers come back each spring like clockwork.

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just look at those yellow eyes and the streaks on the front! He's so handsome!

    Brenda

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It was just too hot to do much today so I spent a little time sitting by the pond and watching the dragonflies. This blue dancer would not share his little puddle though and kept chasing the other dragonflies away.
    So he was my portrait sitter.
    {{gwi:170080}}
    {{gwi:170081}}

    I finally got some time to id some of the bugs that I've photographed.

    This first one is a robber fly. I always though robber flies were large flies but this particular species is only 3/8" of an inch.

    {{gwi:170083}}
    {{gwi:170084}}

    This is one of the plant hoppers - not to be confused with the leaf hoppers!. Just a 1/4" long.
    {{gwi:170085}}

    This is a red-banded leaf hopper. Also just 1/4" long.
    {{gwi:170087}}

    And last, a clear-winged hummingbird moth. I also saw a different hummingbird moth tonight but didn't get a picture but the body was yellow instead of green.
    {{gwi:170088}}

    Okay if you gals are tired of my bug pictures, please speak up!

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I will never get tired of your bug pictures - they are fantastic. Love the colors and shapes. Spectacular! The robber fly has some wild eyes! Thanks!

    I'll be hit or miss for the next week as I have my sister and some out of town friends visiting.

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jean, I could NEVER get tired of your pics! Any and all, please keep posting! :)

    Blue dasher, pic 1 - is he flexing his "arms"? LOL Oh, yeah, look at him posing in pic 2, sticking that bootie up in the air! :D

    Robber fly - do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Looks like he might have one of the Beatles...maybe Ringo? (Awesome close-ups, Jean!!!!)

    The color of that plant hopper is incredible! It looks like an undersea tropical fish! Are they dangerous to plants?

    Same with the color of that leaf hopper! His little turtle head is very cute. :D

    That hummer moth is so fuzzy and cuddly! Is that a Lantana bloom he's drinking from?

    I've been seeing a LOT of damselflies around the yard lately - bluish ones. But they're SO fast, no way I could get a pic! LOL

    CT, hope you have a GREAT time with your sis and friends!

    Brenda

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, I'm glad you enjoy them! I am having fun and the birdie activity is a little slow right now so it keeps me from going into picture redrawal (believe me, it's not a pretty sight!).

    I only had a few minutes tonight but immediately found an interesting bug to photo and spent hours identifying it - ackkkkk!!! I think it's a wheelbug nymph! I've seen the adults a few times and know to stay away from them but didn't recognize the nymph and I was turning the leaf over and nudging him to get him to come out of hiding. I'll post pictures tomorrow, not a bug you want to fool with (see link before).

    On the damselflies, quick is not neccessary, in fact slow is the way to go. Find a place they like to hang out (usually tall grasses, lilies, etc.) and park your butt on the ground and wait. They don't seem to be particularly skiddish and when disturbed will often only move a few inches away and sometimes return to the same blade of grass. The dragonflies are a little more skiddish but will return to the same spot if you sit still. And for some reason blue is a good color to wear when trying to get close.

    Off to bed and have nigthmares about assassin bugs - uggghhhh!!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Wheel bug

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Holy cow, that is one scary bug, Jean! This explains it all -

    "The Wheel Bug's odor...is produced by orange-red scent sacs that it everts from its anus, especially when disturbed."

    Yummy!

    *sniff* "Did you fart?" "Nope, must have been...AHHHH!"

    Brenda

    P.S. Thanks for the damselfly photo tips!! I'm going to give them a "shot" later today! :)

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL Brenda!!

    I've been getting quite a few butterflies lately, although not as many as usual since the demise of my coneflowers (big sigh). This female eastern swallowtail was drying it's wings after a brief shower and she was such a perfect specimen - so many of them have rips and tears. It's my new pc background ...

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:170090}}

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What a beauty Jean! I've been seeing lots of butterflies lately too. They were late this year. Mostly swallowtails of various sorts (Eastern, Spicebush, Zebra). No Viceroys or Monarchs on the Joe Pye Weed which is strange.

  • bonnieblueyes
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You all are so funny! Jean i love all your photos so never worry that i dont like them even the bugs are cool. I have some sort of stink bug or wheel bug all over my butterfly bushes so i guess i have some bad insects they are eating. Yaaaaa for wheel bugs! I never use any kind of spray or fertilizer because i am too scared to hurt the beneficial bugs and birds that eat the bugs. So i have all kinds of creepy crawlies out there but im not getting close enough to see what they are because i am soooooo scared of BUGS!!! So they can just keep on doing what their doing and i am happy for them. I know im a wuss but im a nice wuss :-)------Great Great Photos on here and thanks for sharing, and i can get close to bugs here and not have a heart attack! :-)------bonnie

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Okay CT, pictures please of the Zebra swallowtail - I've never seen one, so time to share! I had my first black swallowtail today but I didn't have the camera and I never saw it return - RATS! But the giant swallowtail flitted through several times. I've got spicebush and pipevine swallowtails - check the undersides of your spices as they look very similar and it's easier to tell them apart from the underside. My spangled fritalaries (SP??) haven't shown up either and they are probably my most common butterfly. Just a few monarchs but I see more of them in the fall. Funny though that my milkweed only had a few blooms this summer.

    Okay so do we consider the moon a mineral??? I've already violated the topic with my bugs so I wouldn't want to be a two-time offender. This was my first attempt of taking pictures of the moon through the telescope. I think we have the wrong adapter for the camera but I thought it turned out pretty well considering I had to focus manually with my ole eyes!

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:170093}}

  • chickadeedeedee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Holy Kamole!!!

    That is stunning, Jean! What a gorgeous photo. A bug or insect is an animal. Hey ... I think you just mooned the forum. LOL!

    C3D :-)

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Beautiful moon Jean. I'd love to photograph the Zebra swallowtail but with my camera it is not possible. They don't sit still at all and the amount of time from pushing the button and the actual photograph being taken they are not even on the flower or plant anymore! If I was telepathic I would be in business:-) Snails I CAN DO!

    BTW - pipevines - if you have those there must be Dutchman's Pipe vine plants around. Do you have any seed? I want to add that plant as the Pipevine swallowtail is disappearing due to that plant not being popular any longer as in my Grandmother's day.

    I am getting Painted Ladies sometimes at the mud puddle. I really wish I could take photos of the moving insects. Maybe Santa Claus will bring me a decent camera and telephoto lens for Christmas!

    Actually I do have a 'sort of' photo of one but it is behind the Dutchman's Britches flower and I posted it a while back and only FTM noticed it!

    I took care of a friend's place for 10 days recently and her property is covered in Paw Paws with little fruit (all related plants) but it is the host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail and I saw them flitting around in the bottomlands near the marsh and also visiting the one coneflower plant she has. She cannot keep hardly any plants due to heavy deer predation. She has two twin does from last year, Holly and Polly, and Holly has one fawn and Polly two. I did see them cruising through the property. They come to drink out of the bird bath I filled each day.

    My prior photo with the Zebra under the blooms:

    {{gwi:166664}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: Zebra Swallowtail Images:-)

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jean, you DID moon us, but you did it with style, lady! LOL Dang, that's the best moon pic I've ever seen! Absolutely incredible!!!

    And that swallowtail looks like it's glowing! SO beautiful. I haven't seen any butterflies here at all, and my butterfly weed died during our freakishly cold winter. I hope we get the usual painted lady migration this year, though. I forget when that happens...

    FTM had a good eye! That pic looks like a painting, CT. With a special secret. :D

    Brenda

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OK - I went out to my buttefly bush and took 30 photos and I end up with one that I can post. I have all these great close-ups of the plants and blurry butterflies! I had 4 species stop and I managed this marginal photo of a Variegated Fritillary - Euptoieta claudia. I also saw some type of duskywing, a silver spotted skipper, and a spicebush swallowtail. No zebras right now.

    I think I will take photos of them when they are farther away since in most of the photos I can see details about 5 feet out and not at two feet or less when everything is moving. We have a lot of wind right now and that butterfly bush was whipping around quite a bit.

    Jean - if I ever get a decent camera I am going to give you a run for your money on insect photos:-) LOL - WINK - WINK, etc. etc. :-)

    Varigated Fritillary

    {{gwi:170155}}

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok - I went back out and got a few more from underneath the buttefly bush which turned out better than being at eye level or above the plant on my porch. Also - noted two praying mantis and a pretty stargazer lily.

    American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) with sunlight through her wings. Remember she has the two big eyes and the Painted Lady has four smaller eyes.
    {{gwi:170156}}

    Reverse view of the American Lady.
    {{gwi:170157}}

    Praying Mantis (two different individuals)

    On a hoya plant in the classic praying pose
    {{gwi:170159}}

    Much larger one in a different potted plant. This bugger bit me as I positioned it around a bit. It had quite the grip!
    {{gwi:170160}}

    Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
    {{gwi:170161}}

    Boa Constrictor - St. George, Grenada West Indies - compliments of a friend that took this photo on his veranda. They help keep the rodent population in check and sometimes get into his house.
    {{gwi:170162}}

    Bumblebee sleeping on a flower
    {{gwi:170164}}

    Close-up of the Stargazer Lily in the sunlight. Now, wouldn't it have been nice if a great big buttefly, maybe a Malachite, landed on this flower first! LOL

    {{gwi:170165}}

  • sheepco
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    CT, great photos, but I DON'T want a boa in my house - eewwww - I really don't do snakes, when we meet, I run one way and they slither the other!

    Jeanner - I have now been mooned by the best! Great Photo!

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mega dittos on the boa! I'll just (try to) keep my owl around for critters. :D

    GREAT pics, CT!! My favorite has to be the bumblebee! I didn't know mantiseseseses bite! I mean, it makes sense with that mouth, but...did it hurt?? I don't think I'll cuddle with them anymore, though. LOL

    Brenda

  • bonnieblueyes
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey, I love being mooned like that! What a spectacular photo! I also really love the butterflies, glad i can see yours ,i didn't have many this year and i even planted a lot for them. Something happened to our hummers, bees, and butterflies, i believe we have a toxic neighbor :-( --We had a bunch of everything in April and early May and then blammo they were all gone for about 6 weeks. They are slowly returning but i was VERY upset! I know someone hurt them :-(-----I am so glad to see yours though! I even love praying mantises but i dont want to touch one. ( SHUDDER ) I would rather touch the pretty snake, Hope my mother doesn't see that she would freak out.------bonnie

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oops, my bad - somehow in my warped little mind, insects shouldn't be in the animal kingdom. They look more like little robots, or aliens! But cute ones! Big DUH!

    I'm glad you enjoyed the mooning! Isn't the internet great, I can moon anonymously!

    CT, I wish I did have pipevines but I have tons of snakeroot which the pipevine swallowtails also use as a host (I believe they are in the same family). I'd love to get some seeds of the pipe vine, but are they hardy to Zone 5?

    And thank you for the beautiful pictures - and admit it, wasn't that the most enjoyable part of your day? I also like the bee picture but I didn't know they took naps!

    I just planted a paw-paw tree a few years ago, it's just a little thing right now but maybe I will get the zebra swallowtails some day.

    I was out watering last night, it was almost dark and I had a bright pink shirt on. A hummingbird moth flew up to me and started walking up my arm, it was too cool! But when he got to my neck and started probing me for nectar I had to let him know that I was not a flower.

    I did get some pictures yesterday of some of the butterflies, hopefully tonight I will have time to post.

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's some of the butterflies that frequent my garden, still missing a few of them and I've given up on getting pictures of the cabbage butterflies and those little tiny blue butterflies, they never sit still!

    These first two are of the dark form of the eastern swallowtail that I originally posted {{gwi:170090}}

    {{gwi:170096}}
    {{gwi:170096}}

    The giant swallowtail, I never really got a good picture of the top of the wings but they are black with rows of yellow spots ...
    {{gwi:170097}}

    And the {{gwi:170098}}

    And a {{gwi:170103}}

    These are plentiful and common ....
    {{gwi:170110}}

    I think this one is a {{gwi:170112}}

    And last, {{gwi:170114}}

    And here is the promised picture of the {{gwi:170118}}

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here is the second picture of the dark form swallowtail ...

    {{gwi:170120}}

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Excellent pics, as always, Jean!! I'm SO jealous of your butterflies! They are all beautiful. I love the flower that the red admiral is on, too!

    That wheel bug nymph is so crazy! It practically screams, "Don't touch me, or ELSE!" LOL

    More!!! :D

    Brenda

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lovely photos Jean - thanks for posting them. I have to admit being outside looking for photographic subjects sure beats dusting!

    I didn't know the PVS also hosted on snakeroot. I've not found seeds for the hardy DMP but I've seen plants on sale on Ebay on occasion. They are quite the large vine with heart shaped leaves and the flowers are not showy but they would make a quick screen cover.

    Oh - I am with you on trying to get a photo of the cabbage and summer blue. The only time I see the cabbage is when I walk past something and disturb it into flight and then I try to follow it and sneak up on it which is impossible. Same thing with the blue which I spook up off my moonbeam coreopsis and it flits all around the yard and I lose interest waiting for it to land somewhere (anywhere). The next thing I know I'm back at the moonbeam and it takes off again! Dang! Some of the most interesting patterned butteflies are quite small and elusive.

    And my photo for today. Introducing Elvis my sponsored child in Cameroon. The photo with his father Patrick was taken in 2003 and with his mother Josephine in 2005. His father died in 2004. He is really a nice kid. He sends me drawings and letters. I send items both he and his mother can use or barter.
    {{gwi:170166}}

    I put the link to the organization in case anyone wants to see what it is about. If you click on the 'Visit a Village' there is a map you can populate with clickable links where you can meet the inhabitants and the projects in one of Plan's sponsored villages. I love listening to the villagers speak - very reserved and polite. Elvis' village is not yet so advanced. I found his location in Cameroon and he is high up on the edge of a volcanic crater near the rainforest but not quite in it. Cameroon also has dry savannah terrain. He gets rainy and dry seasons and attends school and helps his mother as peasant farmers.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Plan USA

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Elvis is in the building! :) What a great looking kid, CT! Good for you for helping him and his mother out. Thanks for the link, too! I visited Nyalakot, Uganda. :)

    Brenda

  • koijoyii
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This beautiful butterfly landed on my hanging basket yesterday. The first few pics are taken through my sunroom window. I was afraid of scaring it away. Then I decided to venture outside to see just how close I could get without scaring it. This butterfly was so interested in getting nectar from my lantana I was able to get 3-4 inches away from it. Enjoy.

    Jenny

    {{gwi:170169}}

    {{gwi:170171}}

    {{gwi:170173}}

    {{gwi:170175}}

    {{gwi:170176}}

    {{gwi:170177}}

    {{gwi:170178}}

    {{gwi:170179}}

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    {{gwi:170181}}

    {{gwi:170182}}

  • youreit
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Absolutely gorgeous!! I'd LOVE to have one of those visit my garden! The color of that Lantana is stunning, too. I love Lantanas for their nectar supply, and the things they attract.

    Brenda

  • chickadeedeedee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh Jenny! Stunning photos! *WOW*

    C3D

  • bonnieblueyes
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I second that! WOW- WOW- WOW is all i can say about all the photos on this thread! Just beautiful and gorgeous pictures on here. Everyone of them are stunning. I am so envious!
    Bonnie

  • maryo_nh
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jenny! WOW is right!
    We get those on and off on our butterfly bushes. I think it's a tiger swallowtail. It's the largest butterfly that we see around here - even bigger than the monarchs.

    :) Mary

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Gorgeous! It is an eastern swallowtail - definitely one of my favorites. And I am seeing peeks of a pond in the background, can we see more please?????

  • koijoyii
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    jeanner:

    Yes, that's my top pond in the fourth pic down. Here are some pics of my water lillies in the top pond. These were taken over the weekend. The most blooms I have ever had open at one time: 9:

    These were taken at around 9 a.m. before all the lillies opened.

    {{gwi:170184}}

    {{gwi:170186}}

    {{gwi:170189}}

    {{gwi:170191}}

    These were taken around noon after they all opened.

    {{gwi:170194}}

    {{gwi:170196}}

    {{gwi:170198}}

    {{gwi:170200}}

    Here is one of the many pond spiders that live at the edge of my pond. I absolutely hate, hate, HATE spiders. I was shaking so bad when I took these pics some of them are blurry. Was trying to get my floating duck and ducklings unstuck with a stick when I hit the web and noticed it. Wonder how they get that web spun from one floating planter to the next without going into the water. This spider is so colorful I couldn't resist. After I took the pics I was shaking so bad I had to go ay down after I hurled. I still get the creeps looking at it. My son can't believe I did this either. What we won't do for our ponds!!!! Lol Enjoy.

    Jenny

    {{gwi:170202}}

    {{gwi:170204}}

    {{gwi:170207}}

    {{gwi:170212}}

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Holy cow! That's gorgeous, and all so healthy! I envy your large pond .... and pond envy is not pretty :^)I only have room for one lily but I have two crammed in there.

    That is a pretty spider, we need FTM to id that one! Just remember ... spiders are good .... spiders are good .... spiders are good .... spiders are good .... spiders are good ....

  • jeanner
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So what happened to CT's pictures????? And where is she, I haven't noticed any posts from her in awhile.

  • comettose
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brenda - thanks for looking at the Plan website!

    Jenny - beautiful photos of the butterfly, waterlilies and spider. I love spiders.

    Jean - been taking a break and had a picture host snafu. Someone should start a new thread and let this thread pass into oblivion. Thanks.

    CT

  • fairy_toadmother
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    well, we used to call those banana spiders. technically Black and Yellow Garden Spider or argiope (Argiope aurantia syn. Miranda aurantia.

    i was happy to see one in my strawberries one year, but never saw one since. mostly i recall walking through meadows and suddenly putting on the brakes prior to just walking into a huge web suspended b/t two tall grass clumps. if the spider weren't there, i would have. the spider REALLY makes you stp fast. big things!

    Here is a link that might be useful: interesting spider page

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