Tag: RVA

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Ruby Throated Hummingbird 2

photograph of a female ruby throated hummingbird hovering at a feeder

I’ve been experimenting with photographing hummingbirds as they fly to our feeder.  It’s quite an exercise in patience.  This little female comes regularly but sometimes it’s 15-20 minutes between her visits.  I captured this image recently after waiting for about 45 minutes.  It was her third visit but the only one with sharp enough focus and good enough lighting to share.

In past years I’ve noticed the hummingbirds come more frequently later in the summer.  Perhaps there are simply more of them after they’ve raised a brood or two?  Or maybe there are just fewer feeding options for them?  Whatever the cause, I’m hoping to get more images before they migrate south for the winter.

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Rose Buds

photograph of red rose buds beginning to bloom

Sun, rain, plant, earth, and gardener all played a part in producing these magnificent buds.  How many hours of sunlight, drops of rain, atoms of nitrogen, and beads of sweat have gone into them?

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Goldfinch in Sycamore

photograph of a gold finch in a sycamore treeThis gold finch, in winter plumage, was feasting on the seeds of a sycamore tree near the James River.  It was rather far away and very high up in the tree but I was able to zoom in and crop the photo to produce this image.

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King of the Mud Puddle

photograph of a red southern toad sitting up in a mud puddle

 

Walking in a park near the James River on spring afternoon, I stopped to see if there might be anything interesting in a large puddle adjacent to a small pond.  Sitting, quietly a few feet from the trail was this red toad.  It remained so motionless as I photographed it, I began to think it might be a toy frog somebody put there as a joke.

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Bumble Bee on Redbud

photograph of a bumble bee pollenating a redbud tree

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.

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Pink Orchid

close up photograph of a pink and yellow orchid

This beautiful pink and yellow orchid was on display at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Orchid Show in Richmond, VA.  I couldn’t resist the temptation to try and get a Georgia O’Keeffe style image of it.

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Tulip Bloom

close up image of a purple tulip blossom

Of course tulips are at their peak while the flowers are still slightly closed.  This purple tulip, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, looked pasted its prime but I thought the vibrant colors had a beauty all their own.  While it no longer had that new tulip shape, the open flower revealed a lovely contrast between the yellow pollen and the deep purple and blue flower pedals.

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Sheep

close up photograph of a sheepThis sheep resides at Maymont Park in Richmond, VA.  It was showing off its winter coat when we met it in the late fall.

 

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Blue Orchid

close up photograph of a blue orchid bloom

These blue orchids have an almost unreal color.  That’s because the stems are injected with a blue dye before the flowers bloom.  While the color may be a bit surreal, they are quite captivating.