CalArti

Last weekend I managed to get a few nice Blue Dasher photos, but I haven’t had a chance to prep them and get them up on the blog here. So, here are a couple of retrospective shots from the archives that I prepped a while back.

These photos were taken in late June, 2008, in a field off 44th Street that was a riot of blue vetch. Like so many other fields in the Allegan State Game Area, this one was just a square, cut out of the woods, with woods surrounding three sides and the road bounding the fourth.

These blue dashers are always striking subjects, and in this case I tried to get him lined up with the hazy bluish vetch in the background. I’m looking forward to photographing these creatures again, once the summer warms.

Last week I found myself in the flatlands of Indiana. The corn was just getting started. This place was pretty flat - the earth seemed to stretch out forever in all directions. At day’s end the setting sun lingered on the horizon. With no hills or buildings to obscure it; sunset lasted forever, bathing the land in the sweet light that comes at the end of a long summer’s day.

Here’s a snapshot of some trees in a place where the grass was left to grow long.

That little Nikon camera really came through with this shot. I pulled a 12 x 18 inch print of this image on the Epson 3800. The quality is great - good enough to exhibit - and I supect that the image will hold up for a 16 x 22 inch print. I can’t ask for much more form any digital camera at this point, but from a compact point and shoot? That’s great.

Last Sunday I paid another visit to the McLinden Trails. This park is always a great place for dragonflies – it seems that I can get more photos here in an hour than I can muster in the Allegan Game Area in a whole day.

This visit was brought two pleasant surprises – the first sightings of the season (for me) of blue dashers and meadowhawk dragonflies.

Things are moving slowly this year, and the appearance of both species seems to be at least two weeks later than in prior years. (Checking the archives here confirms that.) And even now, I’ve only seen a few individuals of each species. Here’s a shot of the first blue dasher of 2009:

This subject still has immature coloration – it will probably be a couple of weeks before they show up in their blue and yellow splendor.

And here’s one of the two immature meadowhawks I spotted on Sunday – it obligingly posed on a flower:

I can’t identify the species from immature individuals – it expect it will be one of the “red’ meadowhawks – either a ruby, whiteface, or cherry faced meadowhawk. In a few days it will be flying around in its scarlet finery.

Aside from new sightings, I also spotted several species that are now well established. Aside from the Dot Tailed Whitefaces and Rapids Clubtails, I also spotted several Widow Skimmers, including several males sporting the immature male markings, with black bands on the inseides of their wings. In time in smaller white bank will appear outside of the black bands.

Here’s a shot of a male wideow -if you look closely, you can see a hint of the white markings just starting to appear in the male’s wings:

And here are two female (or immature) Spangled Skimmers:

Dragonflies weren’t the only subject of the day – the trails were full of butterflies, including skippers, cabbage whites, and the occasional fritillary and red spotted purple. Here’s a snap of a cabbage white on a white flower:

As a parting shot – another image of the immature meadowhawk:

Note to self - visit McLindon more often!

I’ve been carrying the Nikon Coopix P6000 with me as I travel around the midwest. Here’s a shot of the wild Rocky River - a remote wilderness nestled in a place called Cleveland… :-)

Continuing on with the wildflower round up - Jack in the Pulpit. I don’t run into these flowers as often as I used to, and it seems to be even rarer to find one in good shape for photographing. This one is from May 1, 2009.

A week ago Sunday I made a brief trip to the McLindon Trails to look for dragonflies. The many acres of grass and fresh, clean water – both a pond and a fast flowing brook – make this place a haven for dragonflies.

I arrived under heavy, overcast skies, with thunder rumbling in the distance. As expected, many species were out in abundance, and Calico Pennants, in particular, were very abundant. In the short time I had before the rain settled in, I managed these few shots of this late spring / early summer dragonfly.

Yippie! On Monday I received an advance copy of my new book – The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder . This project has been in the works for over a year, during which time I’ve been privileged to work with physicist Jon Nelson and the great people at Chronicle Books. The book will be available in stores later this year – you can read about it in Chronicle Book’s catalog, here.

The 2009 spring wildflower season is all but over. But every year I learn something new that helps me with future shoots. This year’s revelation is a simple one – watch for the pollinators. In those early days in spring when you’re not sure if the wildflowers will be out or not, check to see what bees, flies, and other pollinators are flying around. If they are out, the flowers are out. Of course.

Here’s a native bee in a trillium flower: