The arrival of the month of September is a special time for me because I love living in a location where seasons change, bringing along with that various types of photo opportunities. Just so you know, this colorful spider is about one-quarter inch in size.
And lastly the Lantana flowers in our yard are now showing a nice mix of colors. The unusual citrus-sage scent of these flowers has always been something I enjoy. That’s why we keep planting them every year.
They keep on coming and I keep on making photos of my colorful “friends” who brighten my day.
Imagine my surprise when I glanced out the kitchen window after supper last night and saw nine Wild Turkeys grazing in the grass in our back yard. Thankfully, I had my Fuji with 55-200mm telephoto lens mounted and was able capture several images.
I’ve seen large flocks of Wild Turkeys before, but it was always in relatively remote wooded areas. Seeing this small flock in our back yard was, to say the least, unexpected. The photos aren’t as sharp as I’d like but I was shooting through (thankfully relatively clean) window glass. I’ll take what I can get.
From the number and quality of photos I see here on WordPress, I’m not the only one, by far, who gets joy capturing images of colorful insects at this time of year.
We are fortunate to live in a relatively rural portion of SW Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with 2.5 acres of land, home to various critters. Robins are numerous at this time of year as are various types of Butterflies feeding on our Lantana flowers. Rabbits, on the other hand are hardly seen, but they are here, always on the lookout for predators. I was fortunate recently to capture each of them doing what they do.
Greensboro, NC Parks and Recreation Department has several very nice nature-oriented facilities for public use. One I like to visit from time to time is Higgins Lake.
Lake Higgins is a 226-acre municipal reservoir. Walking the shoreline presented me with several nice photo compositions. It was fun standing below a tall pole with Purple Martin Houses while the birds flew around. I learned the birds eat a massive amount of flying insects daily such as mosquitoes, capturing their prey while on the wing.
Living in a relatively rural SW Virginia neighborhood for as long as we have, I’ve seen all kinds of wildlife: Raccoons, Possum, Coyote, Chipmunks, Deer, Squirrels, Feral Cats, and a wide variety of birds. I’ve seen signs of Black Bear but never the animal itself. Most I never photograph for various reasons. But, here are some images I just made that I liked. Both animals were very skittish (especially the Feral Cat) but were not fast enough to hide from view of my telephoto lens.
The Bluebird stopped overhead to munch on an insect it had just captured on the ground below, while a small, inch wide butterfly enjoys the sweetness of yellow wild flowers in the grass. I often fail to see these small butterflies. But, no more.
Like I say, having a camera with you can lead to often unexpected shots. I had my 55-300mm Fiji lens mounted on my camera while walking to get the newspaper. I surprised a squirrel looking for food in the grass and he darted up a nearby tree. By the time he turned around to look at me I was ready. “Click!”I captured him through my lens.
