Toy Soldier in Meadow

Hummingbird on the Winged Elm

Cat and Golf Ball

Loretta found a golf ball in the meadow on Saturday; it made her very, very happy.

Moth on Lantana

Red Dragonfly

I think I am slowly, finally learning the art of photographing dragonflies. When you step near them they get up from where they are squatted and fly around and around, but if you then remain still like a tree for a while, they come back to sit on exactly the same thing they were on before. Natch.

Other Butterflies

Finch on Yucca

Rock Rose, White

Tiny Hopper

A tiny hopper with only one back leg, poor little guy. He's about half an inch long.

Autumn Butterflies

I have been sick this week and stayed home on Friday; spent much of the day outside in the sun with a book. Lots of butterflies about! Some Monarchs, these Gulf Fritillaries, and many smaller, faster, more fleeting varieties.


I couldn't tell if these two were fighting or flirting or just playing; they sort of did a little dance with each other for a while but the one above was definitely more dominant.

Mantis and Moth

Hugh's dramatic Mantis / Moth photos, taken while I was out of town. He got tired of waiting so did not see the deed done, but believes the mantis ate the moth...


Mantis close-up: note the gorgeous wing lines on its back


The scary B-movie grayscale version

Our Mockingbird

Mocks disappeared for most of the summer, but came back in the last month or so. This bird has endeared itself to us over the last several years by tapping on our living room window on a regular basis.

Spider and Ant

This spider in the outdoor shower started wrapping up the ant below while it was still alive and fighting for its life. The ant lost.

Tennessee Drive-In

There is still at least one drive-in movie theater in the world!

Tennessee Bee

Delay in posting due to overlong (but good) business trip to Michigan. I am SO glad to be home...I missed my cats and insects.






Back to some Lake Watauga photos again...I am still going through them all. Here, A Bee. Love those giant leg-pod things. Bee experts everywhere are cringing at my lack of knowedgeable bee vocabulary; however, that lack does not negate my love of and fascination by them.

Tennessee Thistles

I'm still not done with all of my Lake Watauga photos. These are from the morning when I think I heard a bear! In fact, when I was almost eaten by one!!

The Green Door: England 2008

The Church Tower: England 2008

What IS This Thing? I Mean, Really, WHAT IS THIS THING?

I found this thing crawling in the bedroom. It is tiny! Perhaps half the size of my littlest fingernail! In its entirety, the thing seems to be an insect that has created a little carapace of other dead insects, such as ants. Above is the top view. Is the whitish thing an egg? There are little legs underneath, upon which it is crawling, and in person I imagine that I can see an incredibly small head with antennae.


This is a side view of sorts, or at least as close as I could get to a side view. I believe that we see here its own legs and perhaps even its own pincers. Not sure about the latter; it could be something else's pincers that this creature is wearing. Why do I not have a magnifying glass???

10:29 p.m. update: The lightning-quick bug genius at What's That Bug has answered my questions yet again. Hit the link to see "Debris-Carrying Green Lacewing Larva." That's my bug!

Cats Will Fight

And Fritz will rule, though he is the smaller of the two. And then Hamilton will take it out on Loretta later. It is the way of the cats, Little Grasshopper.

Lichen

Finch