Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Photographs of caterpillars, bugs, spiders and more
This Pearl Crescent butterfly rests peacefully in a bed of white and yellow flowers. According to “An Instant Guide to Butterflies” by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons, male Pearl Crescents patrol their territory and will fly at other butterflies and insects.
This Mourning Cloak butterfly stops to rest and feed in a patch of tiny, purple wild flowers. I encountered it while hiking with a friend this spring in the Great Dismal Swamp near Suffolk, VA.
Five of the eight legs of this spider were on the surface of a small pool of water. The other three were resting on a leaf floating on the surface. At first I thought this spider had been stranded on the leaf but I later realized it was probably waiting there for lunch to come along.
Like all the photos on my blog, you can click on the image above to see a larger, high resolution image of this photo.
Over the weekend I sat on my roof to get a better view of the bumble bees pollenating our redbud tree. These trees never cease to amaze me. They are in full bloom in Richmond and quite beautiful right now. The bees will be all over them for the next few weeks. Some of the birds will even eat the flowers. Then, late in the summer they will start to produce seed pods and become nature’s perfect bird feeder. Of course the trees benefit immensely from feeding the birds. We have one full sized tree in our yard and we must get a hundred saplings sprout up every year.
A Zebra Swallowtail butterfly feeds on henbit and buttercups along the Washington Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near Suffolk, Virginia.
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.
The grasshopper waited quietly in the tall grass and weeds while I watch and photographed it. When I attempted to coax it into a “better” pose it decided I was no longer trustworthy and quickly disappeared into the foliage.
Another dragonfly found in my yard. They really seem to like using this fig tree as a resting place while they hunt. Apparently dragonflies are territorial. As I watched them I noticed they would frequently chase each other off and there would rarely be more than one on the tree at a time.
Walking through a vineyard near Scottsville, VA, I spotted this White Admiral butterfly perched near colorful berries.
Here’s another dragonfly photographed in my backyard. This dragonfly seemed to rest with its wings pointing slightly forward. Dragonflies prey on mosquitos and anything that reduces the mosquito population is a friend of mine. Maybe its because we have so many mosquitos in the summer that so many dragonflies stake claim to our yard.