Bird & Butterfly Stand-off

The heat and humidity has worn down my desire to be out in nature and take photographs. And if it's not hotter than a 600 degree sauna, the hard rains arriving almost daily make me wish I had a little boat to paddle around the neighborhood. So you may see a decrease in posting from me for the rest of the summer. Sorry about that. I will still be visiting you, but won't be posting as much until I can once again enjoy the great outdoors.

A titmouse image from January 7, 2014.
I added the butterfly from JoesSistah's collection on Flickr.

Please visit our wonderful host, Anni!

Also linking to
Our World Tuesday.

and

Wild Bird Wednesday!

Thank you to Hilary of The Smitten Image for bestowing a Post of the Week award on this post!

Creepy Crawlies

During the second week of June I went to the local arboretum specifically to photograph dragonflies. Why do I even bother making plans? Sigh. The dragonflies weren't cooperating so I turned my attention to other insects. I don't know what most of these critters are, so if anyone can help with IDs, I'd be very appreciative.

Cute little bee with emerald eyes.

Armor in place and ready for battle!

I believe this is a whitefly, which is very destructive to plants.

Sweet little face with an ink dot for an eye.

After downloading, I noticed that this unidentified insect was apparently
rubbing his antennae together quickly which caused the blur/feather/prism.

Weird and wild!

Eating his way to the other side. Um...that won't work. lol

Wasp on a fence. Is this stretching the Good Fences qualification?
Sorry, my material is thin this week. :/

Sharing (a little prematurely) with

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Also linking with sweet Eileen at
Saturday's Critters!
Come join the fun. :)

Jefferson Island: The End

Well, not 'the end' forever. Certainly I'll be back to Jefferson Island at some point in the near future. Right now it is just too hot and humid to survive the sub-tropical elements. These are some stragglers from my June 7th outing. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Cattle egret

Roseate spoonbill and female anhinga

Breeding Louisiana heron (aka tri-colored heron)

Roseate spoonbill

Breeding Louisiana heron

Cattle egret

Nesting (L-R): cattle egret, white ibis, roseate spoonbill with chicks

View of nesting area, called Rip's Rookery

Sharing with I'd Rather B Birdin', Camera Critters, and Our World Tuesday.

Jefferson Island: The Spoonbill Babies

Standing at the forest's edge with the western sun setting behind me, I was thrilled to see the roseate spoonbill chicks being cared for by their doting parents. It is truly a marvel.

Ah, relief at last.

So nice that the parents take turns.

Enjoy your weekend! As usual I will take weekends off to play, shoot, and bird. See you on Monday!

Sharing with Saturday's Critters! Thank you, Eileen! Please visit other fun critters from around the world.

Jefferson Island: The Great Egrets

Getting towards the end of what I plan to post of my SUPER FUN day at Jefferson Island's rookery. These are the great egrets, sometimes by themselves and sometimes hunting with others. They seem to be very social and graceful birds.

Great egret reaching over a white ibis

A cattle egret walking over the turtles, following a great egret

Old fence at the perimeter of Lake Martin, not far from Jefferson Island

Linking with TexWisGirl at

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fences from around the globe.

Jefferson Island: The Flying Spoonbills

Capturing birds in flight is not my strong suit, but I had plenty of practice this day. One thing I knew was to set my 100-400mm lens on Shooting Mode 2 (panning) and make sure Image Stabilization was enabled. Unfortunately, the IS button broke off last year and I can't seem to part with the lens to get it repaired. I had hoped it was still in the "on" position. Based on these photos it appears to be engaged, at least to a degree.

Although this one and the next are rather soft, I liked the wing spread.

Going on an impromptu fishing trip with my dad today and tomorrow. Will catch back up with everyone on Thursday!

Jefferson Island: The Cattle Egrets

Nest building appears to be an intimate exchange between these birds. The male makes a huge production with his offering as the female accepts the stick from him. I was simply in awe. Later I spotted a mating pair, which will need to be in a separate, rated X post. :)

The onlookers appear relieved that the exchange is over. Tee hee.

Sharing with Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY Please visit the link for more birds around the world!