Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[Doug Watson]

And your reward for looking through all my bug pics: tetrapods!

Great shots Newt I especially love how well that Katydid mimics the plant it is on. For the bugs are you on Macro or zoom?

[Halichoeres]

Newt, great bug shots (using the word "bug" just to rankle). When I take pictures of things that small, they always come out looking like piles of lint.

[Newt]

Thanks guys!

Great shots Newt I especially love how well that Katydid mimics the plant it is on. For the bugs are you on Macro or zoom?

Both, I guess. I'm using an elderly Canon DSLR with a 70-300 mm lens, zoomed all the way out to 300 and with macro mode on (on this lens, macro only works at full zoom). This combination works well (occasionally); it's very sensitive to vibration, and you can forget taking good shots in low light without a tripod. Even in bright light, probably half my shots are shaky. It would probably help if I cut back on caffeine...

This is my only camera; I'm itching to get a waterproof point-and-shoot, but haven't managed to scrape up the money yet.

Newt, great bug shots (using the word "bug" just to rankle). When I take pictures of things that small, they always come out looking like piles of lint.

I like "bug" as an all-purpose word for little critters. Entomologists didn't coin it, and they can't claim it, so nuts to them!

[Doug Watson]

Back on Reply #352 I posted some alligator shots I took on an everglades trail in 2012. Well today I saw the story about the 14 foot python that was shot in Missouri and that story mentioned the 18 foot 3 inch python that was captured on July 9 on the Shark Valley trail. I hadn't heard about that one but that is the same Everglades trail that we biked back in 2012 and I was actually hoping at the time to spot one of these and in my perfect world help capture it. They probably wouldn't have let me anyways for insurance reasons but it was nice to dream about. At the time I asked if they caught any there and they said they had just caught one the week before.

Well they caught this 18'3" burmese python on the 9th and later euthanized it. It was a female too so even more important to get it out of the ecosystem. Apparently she had bird feathers in her gastrointestinal tract.

This photo is from the US Geological Survey.

[Halichoeres]

I like "bug" as an all-purpose word for little critters. Entomologists didn't coin it, and they can't claim it, so nuts to them!

That's the spirit. Similarly, when I hear, "Tomatoes are technically fruit," or, "Peanuts are technically legumes," I always want to say, "Get over yourself." But with more profanity.

Doug, another few decades of warming and maybe we'll get pythons up in your neck of the woods!

[Doug Watson]

Well my skunk finally checked out so I have now skunk proofed my front step by burying hardware screen, hope it works.

I found this girl had woven a nice orb web off of my deck. The beauty of this Cross Spider is she was munching on one of the Japanese Beetles that have been damaging my roses. One introduced species eating another introduced species. She can stay.



Here are a couple other "bugs" from around the house.

Normally you just hear these guys sounding their siren high in the trees. A Cicada on my screen door.



This Northern Walking stick was having a hard time getting around. It had freed itself from a spider web but was trailing a long wad of web from one of its legs. So I freed it from the remaining web and it gave me a hug before I let it go.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice! You rarely see walking sticks around here..I'm even struggling to find my favorite insect, the Praying Mantis this year..though my second favorite, Dragonflies seem to be everywhere!

I saw a Cicada myself yesterday but it didn't fly fast enough and became Leopard Gecko chow.. lol

[Doug Watson]

Nice! You rarely see walking sticks around here..I'm even struggling to find my favorite insect, the Praying Mantis this year..though my second favorite, Dragonflies seem to be everywhere!

I saw a Cicada myself yesterday but it didn't fly fast enough and became Leopard Gecko chow.. lol

They are pretty rare to spot up here as well because they camouflage so well. I think I have seen 4 in my life. 2 fairly recently that I have spotted walking around. My first 2 were in my teens and they both dropped on my neck in the bush at different occasions. Each time I thought a branch had fallen and reached back to find a surprise. I used to see at least one Praying Mantis a year, but haven't spotted any lately. We have some lovely Dragon Flies up here I especially like the emerald green ones. Often when I am out on the lake a dragon fly or damselfly will land on me or my kayak for a rest. They often land on my legs because they are stationary.

So are you saying you have a pet Leopard Gecko, that would be cool?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice! You rarely see walking sticks around here..I'm even struggling to find my favorite insect, the Praying Mantis this year..though my second favorite, Dragonflies seem to be everywhere!

I saw a Cicada myself yesterday but it didn't fly fast enough and became Leopard Gecko chow.. lol

They are pretty rare to spot up here as well because they camouflage so well. I think I have seen 4 in my life. 2 fairly recently that I have spotted walking around. My first 2 were in my teens and they both dropped on my neck in the bush at different occasions. Each time I thought a branch had fallen and reached back to find a surprise. I used to see at least one Praying Mantis a year, but haven't spotted any lately. We have some lovely Dragon Flies up here I especially like the emerald green ones. Often when I am out on the lake a dragon fly or damselfly will land on me or my kayak for a rest. They often land on my legs because they are stationary.

So are you saying you have a pet Leopard Gecko, that would be cool?

That sounds about right for here too..I can only recall maybe 3 I've seen. Usually they are only a couple inches long. I can't recall ever seeing one as big as the one you found ( or found you? ).  I used to breed Mantids and release them at farms around here, I know I've turned thousands loose on this property . When I was a kid I used to be able to take a net through any tall brush and come up with a couple. Now not so much. I think those invasive Japanese Hornets are the cause, they have jaws so strong everything is prey to them...even small lizards.  The dragonflies and Damsels here are usually the black ones but on occasion I get a really nice blue one.

Yeah I have a pet Leopard Gecko, I've had her since around 98'or before. I had a large reptile collection at one point but her and a baby snapping turtle are all that remains. heh

[Halichoeres]

To continue with the bug theme, this happened in my window recently:



Sorry for the lousy picture, but it happened pretty quickly, and I only have my phone for pictures. It's some flavor of mud dauber wasp (fam. Sphecidae, possibly Chalybion californicum) preying on one of the thousands of orb weavers (fam. Araneidae) camped out on the windows of my building. Mud daubers paralyze spiders, carry them back to their nests, and then lay their eggs on the body.

[Doug Watson]

To continue with the bug theme, this happened in my window recently:
Sorry for the lousy picture, but it happened pretty quickly, and I only have my phone for pictures. It's some flavor of mud dauber wasp (fam. Sphecidae, possibly Chalybion californicum) preying on one of the thousands of orb weavers (fam. Araneidae) camped out on the windows of my building. Mud daubers paralyze spiders, carry them back to their nests, and then lay their eggs on the body.

I am amazed you got the shot. I know spiders have a pretty nasty way of eating themselves but I always feel sorry for them when a wasp gets them. Not the way I would want to go. I had a rocky relationship with wasps/hornets when I was a kid (stung way to many times to count) so I always cheer for the spider in those wasp vs spider videos on YouTube. Unfortunately they never win. I hope nobody gets the big girl on my deck.

[Doug Watson]

Here are some shots from the last three kayaking excursions at Murphy's Point Provincial Park.

Adrift in a sea of duckweed. It is neat how it closes in behind you.



A big female Dolomedes, the biggest I have seen this year. Just to freak me out it disappeared from sight as I looked through the viewfinder.



Pickerelweed.



Pickerelweed flower.



Male Blue Dasher with shed nymph exoskeletons. I always knew we had a large variety but I didn't realize that we have 26 species of Dragonflies and 19 species of Damselflies in Ontario.



Male Blue Dasher again.



Male Emerald Spreadwing, I mentioned before that dragonflies often land on me or my kayak. Usually they will stay while I paddle but the minute I raise my camera they fly off. This guy stayed on my knee.



Male variable dancer on my kayak.



Young Map Turtle with a Marsh Bluet Damselfly.



Adult Map Turtle.

[Doug Watson]

Here are the rest of my latest kayaking shots.

A large Bullfrog.



A Green Frog, love the stripes on the back legs.



Spotted Jewel Flower.



Fragrant White Water Lily.



Flowering Rush, pretty but is an invasive species.



Cardinal Flower.



A Map Turtle chorus line.



Painted Turtle.



Northern Water Snake.



Great Blue Heron.



A Ring Billed Gull sharing the island with a larger Herring Gull.



Herring Gull.

[suspsy]

Superb photos, Doug!

I find spiders fascinating, but damned if I can't stand them when they're not separated from me by glass! I had to confront my fear last month when I was trying to leave the parking garage in my building and suddenly the woman in the car in front of me came to a halt and jumped out in terror. Turned out a gigantic wolf spider had suddenly crawled over her head! I took a glimpse inside and saw the spider on her headrest. Biggest damn specimen I'd ever seen. And I had no choice, I couldn't just not help her, especially since her car was blocking mine. So I whipped off one of my sandals, put it on my hand like a boxing glove, leaned into the car, carefully took aim, and crushed the spider into paste. Needless to say, the woman was extremely relieved!

And yes, I'm sure there are some people here who will say I should have tried to catch the spider alive and then release it, and I understand that reasoning, but that's just how I roll.

[Doug Watson]

Superb photos, Doug!

I find spiders fascinating, but damned if I can't stand them when they're not separated from me by glass! I had to confront my fear last month when I was trying to leave the parking garage in my building and suddenly the woman in the car in front of me came to a halt and jumped out in terror. Turned out a gigantic wolf spider had suddenly crawled over her head! I took a glimpse inside and saw the spider on her headrest. Biggest damn specimen I'd ever seen. And I had no choice, I couldn't just not help her, especially since her car was blocking mine. So I whipped off one of my sandals, put it on my hand like a boxing glove, leaned into the car, carefully took aim, and crushed the spider into paste. Needless to say, the woman was extremely relieved!

And yes, I'm sure there are some people here who will say I should have tried to catch the spider alive and then release it, and I understand that reasoning, but that's just how I roll.

Thank you.

I remove spiders all the time in my house when my daughter and wife see them but I have a paper cup and stiff card handy to do the job. If you don't have the right tools and it escapes into her car she isn't going anywhere. I think you did the right thing, we need the rain anyway 

[paleoferroequine]

   It's been a long time since I contributed to this thread(years?) But can anyone help ID this spider for me? Carpenter ant will give idea of size. I thought Tegenaria sp.

[Doug Watson]

   It's been a long time since I contributed to this thread(years?) But can anyone help ID this spider for me? Carpenter ant will give idea of size. I thought Tegenaria sp.

I am no expert, I only play one on the Interweb but from the orientation of the legs I was thinking Crab Spider. I did a little looking and I found this one identified as an immature Ground Crab spider Xysticus luctans. That is my layman's guess.

[Halichoeres]

Those dragonfly/damselfly shots are great.

I am no expert, I only play one on the Interweb but from the orientation of the legs I was thinking Crab Spider. I did a little looking and I found this one identified as an immature Ground Crab spider Xysticus luctans. That is my layman's guess.

I think you nailed it. The extra long first two pairs of legs scream crab spider. (Also not an expert, but I minored in entomology if that counts for anything.)

[Doug Watson]

Those dragonfly/damselfly shots are great.

Thanks, the hardest ones to get were of the Blue Dasher Dragonfly. The wind was blowing that day so I had to wait until the wind calmed and the stalk it was on stopped swaying.

Also not an expert, but I minored in entomology if that counts for anything.

Good enough for me and the lads I run with.

[paleoferroequine]

   It's been a long time since I contributed to this thread(years?) But can anyone help ID this spider for me? Carpenter ant will give idea of size. I thought Tegenaria sp.

I am no expert, I only play one on the Interweb but from the orientation of the legs I was thinking Crab Spider. I did a little looking and I found this one identified as an immature Ground Crab spider Xysticus luctans. That is my layman's guess.

Thanks for the ID. I had failed to consider immature spiders, in this case a male. Here's another one, I'm reasonably sure of ID. Neoscona crucifera- orb web spider