Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
I had a little trouble identifying this species of wasp but I believe it is a paper wasp. In my experience they are not aggressive unless you disturb their nests. In this case I was photographing wildflowers when the wasp approached to gather nectar. I sat still, watched and photographed it and the wasp didn’t even seem to notice me.
Last Saturday morning I walked through an open field covered in wildflowers. I always like diving into areas like that and discovering all the little things you would miss if you didn’t actually look for them. On this particular morning I found the butterflies, bees, wasps, and dragonflies had their run of the meadow. This little skipper was feeding on the nectar of thin-leaved sunflowers which dominated the field.
It’s been a very busy summer and I haven’t spent as much time with my camera as I would have liked so I’m pulling out some photos from last year that I never got around to publishing.
This Black Eyed Susan was growing in a forest meadow alongside wild daisies. It looked sort of like the odd man out, surrounded by white flowers. I took a few photos of the lone blooming Black Eyed Susan surrounded by Daisies but I preferred this more closely cropped image of the flower.
Hiking past a large patch of Arrowleaf Balsamroot, I noticed a Zebra Swallowtail drifting from flower to flower collecting nectar and unwittingly spreading pollen in the process.
The views of the Grand Teton range are spectacular enough on their own. Throw in a few blooming flowers in the foreground and it’s hard to imagine a better landscape opportunity.
A black bear forages for food among the wildflowers and fallen logs in a woodland meadow of Grand Teton National Park.
Wild Daisies grow along an open trail on a late spring morning in Central Virginia.
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.
Searching for good photographic subjects on Big Walker Mountain, I happened upon a group of these large, blue and black butterflies. My friend James Shelton, who is quite the amateur entomologist, tells me this butterfly is a Pipe Vine Swallowtail.