These wildflowers already lost most of their pedals before I took this photograph. I wanted to capture the bright yellow of the flowers against the backdrop of the red vine leaves climbing the tree in the background.
Great Blue Heron in a Tree
While photographing a tree on an island in the James River, I realized there was a Great Blue Heron perched on one of the branches. Pleased the heron was close enough for some zoomed in shots, I took several pictures before it flew away. This was my favorite picture of the bunch.
Like all the other pictures on my blog, you can click on this one to see a larger version of the image.
Praying Mantis on Pine
This praying mantis was on a picnic table when I found it. I moved it to a pine tree where it began climbing as I began shooting.
Grass Seedpod
The long stem of this wild grass silently hangs above competing weeds, wildflowers and native plants, patiently waiting for its seeds to drop. Some will be eaten by birds and field mice. Others will fall in places they cannot germinate. But for eons these simple seeds have dropped from similar pods carrying the lessons of their ancestors. Each year enough find their way into the earth to continue the silent tradition.
Blue
This picture was taken after a rain shower in the early evening of a warm September day. Between the rain dripping off the porcelain vine berries and the bright, mixed colors of the ripening fruit I couldn’t resist getting a few photos of them.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary
Hiking through the woods I found this single, orange leaf that had fallen into a sea of brown. It struck me as quite a standout and a good candidate for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge topic “Solitary”.
White Admiral and Berries
Walking through a vineyard near Scottsville, VA, I spotted this White Admiral butterfly perched near colorful berries.
Evening Frog Encounter
This small frog was hunting insects in my yard one night. To get the picture I used a handheld flashlight and the on camera flash with my camera mounted on a tripod. I think it is a leopard frog. If you believe differently, please let me know.