pieceoflace's photostream  

Good morning everyone. For Feathery Friday I thought I would post a short series on the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary. These tiny birds are year around resident here and the only type bird (i.e. a finch) that I have a feeder for since the resident squirrels can't get at the seed.

As for these photos, all were taken at the end of 2011 and all the birds, especially the males, are in their winter plumage. To see a male in its summer plumage, which is dramatically different than the male pictured in the first photo in the comment section, please click on below link...

www.flickr.com/photos/pieceoflace/5713105654/

Thank you for visiting...and I hope you have a terrific Friday and a most pleasant weekend.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/8, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 500mm

Good morning everyone and Happy Dragonfly Thursday. After posting a series late in 2011 on the female I thought it was long overdue to follow-up with a series on the male Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa). Nothing special, just a few photos from my archives taken last season.

As for the photos, the first two are of mature males while the last two are of a teneral male (not fully mature) and a female respectively for comparison purposes.

Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly nice day.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .011 seconds (1/90) focal length 300mm

Good morning everyone and Happy Hug a Bug Day. Featured for one more time from last season is the Banded Argiope (Argiope trifasciata). The most common Argiope spider here locally and definitely the largest spider along with its close cousin the Black & Yellow Argiope.

As for these photos, they're all females and all were taken in the fields at the reclaimed strip mine I frequent often. The first photo in the comment section is of an immature female that was much smaller in size than the other three mature females pictured in this series. The second photo in the comment section is of a mature female I photograhed while she was in the process of repairing her web. The last is a ventral view of the same spider in the above photo.

Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly great day.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 230mm

Good morning everyone and I hope you had a nice weekend. Featured once again for Butterfly Monday is the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) seen in these pics feeding on Water Smartweed. The photos were taken in late August when the Water Smartweed was in full bloom along a bog next to Lacey Pond.

I also posted a photo in the comment section showing the plants where these photos were taken along with a brief description of the plant.

Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly great Monday and week.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .004 seconds (1/250) focal length 300mm

Good morning everyone and Happy Feathery Friday. Featured today is what I call the Rodney Dangerfield of the bird kingdom, being the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) which in general gets very little respect since as with most invasive species it tends to have a negative impact on its new environment in a variety of ways. But while it might not be very popular here in North America it has to be begrudingly admired for its ability to adapt and survive as it has done in many parts of the world where it was introduced due to no fault of its own.

As for these photos starting with the above male, they were all taken in the yard and of the birds while perched in Exbury Azalea bushes. Strangely this winter season I'm seeing very few House Sparrows as well as other birds in general. About half the numbers I've seen in past years.

Thank you for visiting...and I hope you have a nice Friday and most pleasant weekend.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/6.7, exposure .008 seconds (1/125) focal length 450mm