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Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Nature Notes: Butterflies, Mallards, turtle


I'm going to start with some shots of the American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) which I took during the later part of May and haven't posted yet.
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When our Nature Notes host wrote about the migration of the various Vanessa butterflies in the post at this link, I was pretty sure the ones in my garden are there all summer.
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However, after reading her post I started paying attention and noticed that I hadn't seen any lately.
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I decided to hold off on posting the last of the shots I took until I was sure they weren't still around. At this point I'm pretty sure the American Lady has moved on to cooler spot for the summer. I don't blame her because I would if I could. I live in the North Carolina Piedmont.
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Another butterfly that I photographed almost a month ago that hasn't been around lately is the Silver spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus )above and below.
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As I mentioned last week I've been seeing many Eastern Tiger Swallowtails in the Yellow as well as black forms but the black forms have been camera shy.
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The shot above is actually a black form from last year for comparison with the yellow ones, because the only ones I'm getting any shots of so far this year are the yellow form. The shot below is a recent shot of the Yellow Form.
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I don't have any idea what kind of moth the little fellow below, who I photographed recently, is but I think he's cute.
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I went to Shelley Lake to check out the wildlife on Monday and there were a ton of geese and ducks and a few heron. The mallards and geese are in many different sizes and I have trouble telling from photographs which ones are adults and which are teenagers.
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It's obvious when they are together because the adults are much bigger than the teens. I don't think the mallards above and below are fully grown.
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I heard a mother calling to her child to come see the turtle or I would have missed the fellow in the next two shots.
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I don't know what kind of turtle he is and I hope he's not a threat to the ducks and geese on the lake. I don't think his head is enough to be a snapping turtle and do the damage that the Rambling Woods turtle did as the post at this link told us about.
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For more participants of nature notes, please visit the nature notes home at Rambling Woods. The official day for the theme is Thursday.

16 comments:

Carver said...

Note - I've been getting comments in my email but they aren't showing up on blogger. Even weirder I have left a comment myself to test, been able to see it, and then a few minutes later it no longer shows up here. Not sure what's going on or if anyone else is having this problem.

Smalltown RN said...

The butterflies are gorgeous....you have such a talent for capturing nature....hope you are surviving the heat wave.

mommanator said...

the shots are just great! love the turtle!
your site looks fine to me and i havent had that problem

Cezar and Léia said...

Bonjour sweet Carver,
yesterday my blog was crazy as well, but today it looks fine, at least I can see all comments! :)
I loved this post,with all beautiful and blessed critters!For sure the turtles are a "plus"here, adorable!I love turtles!
Merci!
hugs
Léia

Arija said...

I have had the same problem lately and sometime later, like a couple of days, they appear. On some comments blogger has told me that the upload failed. It is all part of the service...

You have wonderful butterflies in your region. We only get emperors and moths. Hope you are not too hot. Enjoy your summer while we freeze.

DeniseinVA said...

I was away for a few days so didn't notice the problem, but from what I have heard I think blogger has fixed it, whatever it was. Keeping my fingers crossed here.

Your series of photos are so lovely, I enjoyed them immensely.

Thanks also for stopping by. That dream of yours shows your love of those backyard friends and how much you care for them I think. Funny what we dream of sometimes. I had a couple of strange ones over the last month. I am blaming it on the heat ;)
An English Girl Rambles

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful butterflies, Carver! I have been trying to see if I can find any different species of butterflies too. Wonderful photos!

Leora said...

I really love your turtle shots. Like seeing the little head poking out from the water.

"I've been getting comments in my email but they aren't showing up on blogger" - someone else reported that. I always say - WordPress! works better.

Caron said...

I want so much to have a butterfly garden! I'm trying.

Your post sort of made me think of that episode of Gilligan's Island - something about a swallowtail...

EG CameraGirl said...

Lucky you to be seeing butterflies. My camera is poised but the weather has been hot, hot, hot so I haven't spent enough time lying in wait.

I have seen several Eastern Tiger Swallowtails but they have all been in a hurry to get somewhere!

NicoleB, Egypt said...

Those shots are beautiful again!
Love the butterflies!
Wish I could move somewhere cooler too, but nope, not possible for now ;)

Squirrel said...

Beautiful captures and wonderful selections for nature notes.

http://graceolsson.com/blog said...

wonderful photos.congrats
http://graceolsson.com/blog/2010/07/looking-the-sky/

Anonymous said...

I love that you pay attention to the butterflies you have seen and may not be around now...I am seeing plenty of skippers, but they are so hard to identify... It's hard to tell mallard at this time of year because the males molt into feathers that look like the females for their flightless flight feather molt. Also the bill color isn't a dead give-a-way during this time either.. The turtle looks like a red-ear or slider, but not a snapper..Michelle

Anonymous said...

I just looked again. I think those ducks are males that are almost in their alternate plummage...

Ayie said...

it's so nice to see more butterflies this summer than last year