Macro Friday- A Walk in the Yard

Most of what I photograph is within a quarter of a mile of my house, unless otherwise noted. This time, all of the photographs were taken literally in my front or back yard.

This male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) appeared to be drinking water off the gravel of my drivaway after a rain.

This Leaf Footed Bug (Acanthocephala terminalis) was enjoying my deck.

Yes, I love a good mushroom photograph. I wish I knew what kind it is, but I don't.

An adorable grasshopper nymph on a red clover leaf.


After turing over a board I discovered this
Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris).


I also found a female spider with her egg sac.




Spider photos to follow!





Arachnophobes proceed no further!

Unfortunately, I was unable to determine what kind of spider she is.


She looks similar to a Rabid Wolf Spider (Rabidosa rabida),

but she also resembles a Fishing Spider (Dolomedes okefinokensis).

If I can find her again and if her babies have hatched and if they are riding on her abdomen, she is a Wolf Spider. That is a strangly maternal behavior unique to Wolf Spiders.

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Macro Monday

I'm linking to Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.
Stop by and see what macros you can see today!
-Susan

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to click for a closer look.
Don't forget to stop by Life With My 3 Boybarians to see what others have to share.

-Susan

Critter of the Day

This Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the critter of the day.




They sure are handsome fellows!

-Susan

Butterfly Macro Friday

It's Friday again! As a stay at home mom, I enjoy weekends with Hubby, but the perpetual Moday-dread I've had most of my life is gone. I love having adventures with the kiddos, too! Happy Friday!

So far this year the butterflies have not been as cooperative as they were last year, but I did manage to get a few shots this week.

Here is a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) who was posing outside my back door.

He didn't seem to mind my photographing him, but, even so, he didn't stay long.


Below is the dark morph female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

She was really enjoying the monarda, but wouldn't hold still. She has a lovely solid (or nearly so) black body, which turned out blurring in all my shots.

The next butterfly pair took a lot of identifying. And I'm still not sure.
I *think* this is a pair of Pearl Crescents (Phyciodes tharos).

According to Butterflies and Moths of North America, they are quite variable, but the males usually have black antenna knobs. Black antenna knobs- check!

They also have those cute, little upturned "noses."

They are also quite pretty when they finally open their wings.

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Macro Monday Critter of the Day

It must be a turtle-y time of year. Saturday, while out and about in town, I saw two or three turtles of differing kinds. Today, we have had two in our front yard. The first, and only one I got to see personally, was this Eastern Box Turtle. I love these little turtles! As a kid, we would often find and play with these turtles. If the dogs found them first, we'd rescue them and drive them down the road a piece and release them.

One thing that makes Eastern Box Turtles easy to identify is that, unlike every other turtle in this area, they can completely close themselve in their shells. They close so tightly, in fact, that they frequently a knife cannot be admitted- not that I would try that!



Is it safe to come out?

It's usually simple to tell the sex of these turtles, too. Males have red eyes, females have yellow eyes. At first I thought this was a female turtle, but looking closely at the photographs, I think it may be a young male.



See the red starting to show in his eyes?

Box turtles are slow to grow and slow to reproduce.
It takes ten to twenty years to reach sexual maturity.


They are also quite long lived. Fifty years is about average;
one hundred years is not unheard of according to some sources.
The primary things to shorten their otherwise long lives are cars, dogs, and raccoons, all of which we have around here.



Box turtles are omnivores in the truest sense of the word.
If they can get it into their mouth, they will eat it.
Favorite foods are fruits, slugs, bugs, and mushrooms.
They can even eat some mushrooms that are poisonous to humans.


I think this individual is rather young because his shell is in such good shape. Many I have seen have chips out of their shells or significant scratches.




Their patterns are highly variable. I suspect that I could recognize this particular turtle again, based on these photos.

I'm linking to Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.
Stop by and see what macros you can see today!
-Susan

Macro Monday

I saw quite a few turtles last week. In addition to the usual Eastern Box Turtles, I have seen two or three Snapping Turtles crossing the road.
June is the peak time for egg-laying for Snapping Turtles. Based on that, this may be a female trying to get somewhere to lay her eggs.
As long as I can remember, I have been a turtle crossing guard. One time I assisted a large Alligator Snapping Turtle who was in a rather good mood.
I didn't even come close to getting bitten.

This snapper, on the other hand, was a rather ill-tempered. I still managed to help the turtle cross the road, but it wasn't easy. And I had one narrow escape.
Don't try to move these guys without a rather long, sturdy stick. They can reach out of their shell and bite nearly to their tails!


Doesn't she have pretty eyes?
Sorry, but I don't have any other macros. This was close enough.

Here's a blurry action shot:

I'm linking to Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.
Stop by and see what macros you can see today!
-Susan

Critter of the Day

Today's Critter of the Day is brought to you by my hubby.
The other night, while I was getting the kiddos to bed, Hubby was letting the dog out and found this lovely male Luna Moth. He grabbed the camera and took some pics because he knew I'd want to see. Luna Moths have always been favorites of mine. My sister and I even had matching nightgowns as kids that we called our "Luna Moth" gowns because they were such a lovely green.

I was really happy with these photos, not just because of the lovely moth, but because my sweet husband thought to take these pictures AND because they are really cool pictures, too! He didn't know anything about how to put the camera into macro mode, but he captured this:

Check out his reflection!

Even in all my years of watching Luna Moths,
I had never had an opportunity to examine their legs.
The ones I have seen were always either moving or dead- with their legs shriveled.
You can tell this is a male because the antennae are fat and feathery.


Look at how branch-like the top margin of his wings is.
He was much the same color of fresh, new leaves.

By the next morning, this Luna Moth was gone. I'm so glad Hubby took some pictures! Yes, he did give me permission to post his photos.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Sweet Shot Tuesday

I took some pictures at the park yesterday. These baby Canada Geese were just adorable foraging. Mom and Dad stayed nearby and made us all keep our distance. I wasn't nearly as close as this pic makes it appear.

"Look but don't touch. Got it?"

Feel free to click for a closer look.
Don't forget to stop by Life With My 3 Boybarians
to see what this Tuesday has to offer.

-Susan

Critter of the day

Today's critter of the day is the Eyed Click Beetle.

Ever heard of it?
I hadn't.
I was still unaware of its existence when one smacked into the side of my head as I was picking strawberries.
Apparently, in true armadillo fashion ('dillos jump vertically when threatened), click beetles launch themselves into the air when frightened. This produces their characteristic clicking sound. It is an interesting defense.


I really like the big, fake eye look. It reminds me of some caterpillars.


They can get to be up to two inches long. This particular one wasn't quite that large.


Eyed Click Beetles are quite common throughout the southeast although I had never seen one before today. They have a rather striking appearance, so I think I would remember if I had seen one before.

Have you seen any cool bugs lately?

-Susan

Edited to add:
I figured this would be a good post to link to Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos .
Have a great week!

Macro Monday

Mrs. Killdeer on her nest of rocks. Isn't she pretty?

Here are her eggs. She lives at the local airport. The folks there said she stayed on the nest through all the storms we've been having.

Here are some photos from a trip to the local city park.



I'm linking to Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.
Stop by and see what macros you can see today!
-Susan

Pretty peony

I am still waiting to hear how friends fared Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The destruction there is unreal. In 2005, a similar sized tornado cut a swath through my home county. It's not something I will ever forget. I'm filled with compassion for those struck by Wednesday's tornado outbreak.

As always, you can click on any of the photo for a closer look.

I decided to link with macro friday.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan


Edited to add:
They are okay! My friends weathered the storm fine. I'm not sure about their property, but they are all okay! I'm sooo relieved! Thanks for the concern!