I had been planning on photographing this steeple for a while. When I arrived I found a hawk perched atop. As I watched and photographed another hawk arrived. From my angle I couldn’t see the interaction between the hawks and I haven’t been able to identify them. I believe one is a juvenile and the other an adult. The landing hawk may be the adult because it came and went while the other stayed put. It may have come to feed the younger hawk but I can’t be certain.
Resting On One Foot
This Canada Goose stands on one foot with beak tucked under its wings, while it rests in the shallow water.
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.
Grasshopper
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.
Great Blue Heron
Here’s another picture of the great blue heron I spotted in a river near Damascus, VA. In case you missed the first photo, you can see it here: https://blog.dougcouvillion.com/2012/07/25/great-blue-heron-taking-flight. The earlier photo was under exposed to account for the brightness of the river. In this photo I increased the exposure to capture more detail of the heron and manually compensated for the glare on the river by editing the image later.
Black Dragonfly on Fig Tree
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.
White Admiral and Berries
Walking through a vineyard near Scottsville, VA, I spotted this White Admiral butterfly perched near colorful berries.
Dragonfly Profile
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.
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.