Filed under: animals, birds, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, birds, kingfisher, life, nature, wildlife
working all day trying to make some big bucks for cody bear’s upcoming surgery, i had a few moments to look around and saw something flop in the pond. a few seconds later a kingfisher, brilliant blue, landed on the “no swimming” sign and looked right at me.
ugh! i didn’t have my telephoto and he was so far away. he came back after lunch and was on the other side of the pond, but i did catch a couple shots.
i know the photos are not great, but trust me, he was fantastic!
kingfishers are one of my favorite birds and i never thought i would see one in town!
anyway….i had been venting to a friend (boohonky!) about the worries and then started gushing about this fancy bird and she pointed out to me that perhaps the kingfisher was a harbinger of good news….
Filed under: animals, cats, dogs, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, cats, dogs, life, lizards, nature, pets, random, wildlife
that cat of mine likes nature. the kind of nature that sometimes gets in the house.
today’s wildlife interlude was with a baby lizard, about 2.5 inches long. the cat, spree, was just staring at the little motionless thing. i went and got the march issue of shutterbug magazine to scoop him up, but he moved. slowly.
i hesitated. big mistake. it went right under the bed.
spree, watching lizard, pickles watching spree, cody bear watching … i’m not quite sure.
Filed under: bees, hiking, insects, nature, photography | Tags: animals, bees, damselflies, hiking, insects, nature, photography, toads, wildlife
sunday afternoon the sky started getting moody and i started feeling desperate. “i need more bug photos for my upcoming show.”
braving the elements, (rain and thunder….not too frightening) i headed east to my favorite dragonfly hotbed.
first of all, it must be said, my new hiking boots are totally comfy and i’m so glad i didn’t let anyone talk me into returning them.
and yes, my feet ARE totally adorable when they’re…in shoes. moving on….
’twas a brilliant day. the light was diffused with clouds and the roll of thunder kept going on and on and on. (like a moody blues tune, only you actually like that it’s not stopping)
big surprise of the day? tiny toadkins. these little toads were hopping all over when i climbed down to the pond bed. and also, these little toadkins are why i smelled like dead fish for a wee bit.
but, how cute? they were worth it.
you’re wondering,….”how tiny IS that tiny toad?” well, he’s about the size of watch battery. maybe smaller. maybe the size of a micro sd card?
now, regarding the upper body strength….
damselflies.
they have some staggering upper body strength. …no?
sadly, the last visitor reminds me about how i’ve lost my bee friends.
agapostemon.
i miss my agapostemons.
eh. nice critters out there.
afterwards i hopped back in the honda. listened to van morrison, ray lamontagne, and…what?…mazzy star. ’twas a good day.
Filed under: animals, insects, life, nature, photography | Tags: animals, beers, cicada, insects, life, meteor shower, nature, photography
thursdays are good nights to sneak beers into a movie, grab a burrito afterwards, then head out of town to find a dark patch to view a meteor shower. don’t you think thursdays are good for that?
fridays are good for catching up on work before the weekend, then sneaking out to take photos of cicada leave offs. their sheddings are stuck to our building and trees.
these cicadas will not shut up. it only bothers me on the really hot days.
every now and then a thrasher will catch one and fly around with it in it’s beak. they sound REALLY pissed off when that happens. the birds love it and seem to fly laps around the property.
tomorrow is saturday. saturdays are good days to sleep in late, cuddling with dogs and do whatever….
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, insects, long horned cactus beetles mating, nature, photography, wildlife
so, yeah, i like photographing insects. you all know that. but those who know me very well know i like …um….catching them in the act!
and it just turns out that my yard is a hot bed for insect sex.
you can’t turn around without seeing long horned cactus beetles hooking up. they make rabbits look like prudes.
in this photo, the one on the bottom is EATING during copulation! (oh no she dih-unt!? oh yes she did!) aren’t you guys glad i didn’t use a macro lens???? can’t you just HEAR john mayer singing his creepy song “your body is a wonderland?” (ew….i just grossed myself out. creepy guy. creepy song.)
here you have a lonely beetle.
don’t worry little one…stick around long enough, someone is bound to find you.
for more photos i have taken of insects in flagrante, visit here and here.
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature | Tags: animals, insects, nature, palo verde beetle, photography, wildlife
and so goodbear came back from a very exciting movie and was feeling a bit like a femme super hero.
first order of business upon my return? let the dogs out. let the dogs in. glance at wall by door as letting dogs in…and BOOM!
WTF????
look at her! she’s HUGE!
and she’s trying to get into my bedroom window! back off beetle chic!
she’s gone now. i used my crazy super powers and my magical canon flash to intimidate her and make her fly away in an outrage!
Filed under: animals, friends, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, friends, insects, long horned beetle, nature, photography, poppies, wildlife
buzzy and r have come and gone, leaving two depressed dogs and one very restless goodbear. we had so much fun and now i need to find something to keep me busy.
now, keep in mind….our fun isn’t everyone’s fun. for instance, friday night we went out to the forest and set up camp with a bright light on a generator to try to get as many weird insects as possible to join our bbq.
just like old times. this long horned beetle was a show stopper:
on the menu: brats, garden burgers, beefburgers, pasta salad, chips and salsa and guacamole, sw bean salad, and r made a cake over the campfire! all t he salads and dips were home made. oh, and there were beers, also. (duh! of course there were beers!)
it was a beautiful night with some great scientists, some amazing photographers and one bad ass cop. oh, and me.
prickly poppy/aka cowboys eggs
Filed under: flowers, hiking, insects, life, nature, photography, plants, wildlife | Tags: flowers, hiking, insects, life, nature, photography, tucson, wildlife
and so it came to pass…abacus and i fancied a hike in the catalinas.
we arrived at the trail head to see this:
a harbinger of pain? how tough was this hike going to be?
not too bad, actually! it was hot, but i think we sort of kicked ass! it was full sun, but we made good time.
now, i need to say, my hopes for nature viewing were low, but we were treated with views of ravens and a hunting red tail. also, scads of funnel spiders had set up shop:
one knoll was plastered with these. i like the funnel spiders. they’re efficient eaters…and their bodies remind me of sugar smacks!
we also had some lovely flora…
whatcha got right there is the Mirabilis linearis – Narrowleaf Four O’Clock.
the climb was steep so i noticed the plant life on the way up: moving slowly and all. on the way down, only critters caught my eye.
here is a punk ass grasshopper who i followed for a great while he would only turn his back to me.
grasshoppers are the biggest teases in sonoran nature. they know you want to take their picture…they leave, but they stay close enough for you to follow.
how high were we? this high:
we also saw the dainty sulfur and the claret cup hedgehog:
we were back down town by 11:15 for beers and clams at bob dobb’s!
my computer has a bug….
literally….
i was watching netflix on the laptop while working on the pc. turn my head and saw that little plant bug. cute, right.?
Filed under: animals, bees, flowers, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: bees, ecology, flowers, insects, life, nature, photography, wildlife
the bees are out in full force and i’m telling you….this is a very industrious spring for them. my allergies have been going crazy, so you can imagine how the bees are just loving all the extra pollen. hey, if it makes you little bee sweeties happy, i’ll just keep on sucking down the benedryl and not complain.
i’ve been a little spastic about bee photos. as i mentioned a few days ago, my portfolio was accepted for a show at a nature gallery next summer so i need to get to work snapping some fresh insect images.
yesterday morning i climbed a ladder and perched there with my telephoto. it was only 8 am and the bees were already hard at work. but lookie here:
most of the bees had pollen loads the size of the one’s on the left….but look at the one on the right! holy shit bee! what time did you get up to get that much work done by 8 am? and how are you even flying around with that much extra weight?
if you’d like to learn more about these sticky bee leg weights, please visit buzzy’s blog here: http://buzzybeegirl.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/shes-got-legs-she-knows-how-to-use-them/
i made it safely down the ladder then got to work at the day job.
what’s blooming around you? what wildlife, big or small, have you spotted lately?
cody bear's friends 