Camera Critters #250

Wow…250th Camera critter…what a wonderful milestone and a great run.  Let’s do 250 more!

I have several photos I could use for this week’s post, but I’m looking forward to something and decided I would give everyone a peek at what I hope is in my future.

Even though I live in a desert environment, there still are colors other than brown and yellow, which are the most common colors I see in the summer.

But a couple of years ago, while wandering along the Dry Canyon Trail, I came across a colorful patch which really stood out.



Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #188

Last week, I showed you photos of purple wildflowers with critters on them.

This week, it the most common wildflower color in the high desert, and of course, with critters on them – yellow.

I had a few more photos of yellow wildflowers with critters, but the critters just weren’t all that interesting.  I do hope you enjoyed this smaller sampling.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critter #187

Being in a desert style climate, the major color I see here during my photo safaris is brown.  Weeds dry out quickly under the intense sun we get here.

But I also see other colors.  Yellow is very common.  And so is the color these eight critters are checking out.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #157

The past week here has been a strange week.  A week ago Friday, it was 74 degrees…our first 70 degree temp of the year.  Then Sunday and Wednesday, it snowed.  This is suppose to be spring!  8v)

It has me wishing for the hot days of summer.  I can’t wait for the 95 degree plus, cloudless skies we get here in the high desert.  And when those days come, I’ll hopefully be able to improve upon the photos below.

Wasps of different species abound here.  Most I can determine the species they belong to.  However, the black wasps are a different story.  I need better images to ID them.

And then there are bees.  I see so many different types of bees here.  Anything from bumblebees to honey bees to carpenter bees.  I shoot all of them and hope to shoot a lot more images of them this summer.

But that all requires for winter to end in the high desert!

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critter #121

A couple of days ago, I was at one of my favorite spots looking for odonata (dragonflies, if you’re wondering).

I didn’t see any, but along the shoreline there was a large gathering of wildflowers and within them…bees.

I enjoy watching bees do “their thing,” especially bumblebees.  While watching the bees, I noticed two different types of bumblebees.

One had a small, single yellowish-white stripe near the end of the abdomen, and the other is typical of most bumblebees I see in my area.  It had a yellowish-white stripe further up from the end of the abdomen and on top of that, an orange stripe.

But bees gave me good looks and the time to get a decent photo (even after I had screwed up my initial settings as I shot the top bee’s photo).

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way to see critters the world over.  Go to the homepage here and check out more critters.  Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critter #113

Last year around this time, I was shooting a variety of critters, from the bee shown here, to beetles to flies to butterflies. I was having a blast.

But so far this year, wildflowers haven't bloomed, few critters of any type other than birds are showing up, and I'm desperately waiting for better weather. It's been cool, cloudy and wet for the better part of the spring. We have had maybe a half dozen days when the temperature was above 70.

But hopefully that will soon change...and I, again, will be a happy photographer.

Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme is a great way the see photos of critters from around the world. Stop by the homepage here and check out more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critter #105

It's only one image, but it's what I am truly waiting for...summer on the high desert.

I don't know the species of the sweat bee above, but I loved the coordinated colors of the shot the moment I saw it.

The high desert summers are almost as bland in color as the fall and winter. For the most part, there isn't a spring here...unless you count the migrating birds as proof of spring. It's late in the calendar version of spring that life begins to blossom here. Colors pop up in the dull brown backdrop all around...and those colors sparkle and jump out at a person.

I just can't wait for the explosion of color here.

Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme is a great way to see animals from around the world. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and post your own Camera Critter.

Camera Critter Meme #28

Whenever I am out on safari, I look for interesting things the critters around me are doing. It can be almost anything as the past couple of CCM posts of mine have shown. This week, it's one of my favorites...multiples.

I love getting more than one species of critter in my photos...and the more the merrier as far as I am concerned. Below are some of my favorite 'party' shots.

Is this the Pollen Anonymous Meeting?

Last one to the bottom is a Stink Bug

Lost to a Crab Spider...how embarrassing

Mind if I play through?

Hey buddy! Can ya spare a dime?

Oh my! It is a BEE! I'm allergic!

At least he's crying too...(sniff sniff)

If you enjoyed my entry for Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme, check out more entries here. If you like what you see, let the person know...better yet...add your own!

Camera Critter Meme #20

The Dry Canyon Trail in Redmond, Oregon, is one of my favorite places to wander around, looking for the cool critters this world has to offer.

Generally, I'll walk through to the weeds, looking on the plants as I pass by. Anything which looks out of place, I'll check out and if it's a critter, I start shooting.

In the years I have been doing this, I have learned a lot about the behavior patterns of many of the critters in the canyon...at least I thought I had learned a lot about their behavior.

Last Sunday (Aug. 17) I learned something new about two different species. But first, let me set the scene. It was midday and the sky was partly cloudy. The high sun was shining bright and the temperature at the airport at the time was 103. In the canyon, it was probably 105 or 106.

I had been wandering the canyon for about two hours and having a great time. Every now and then, I'd stop, get my water bottle (I always fill a plastic bottle with water and freeze it the night before I go out) and take nice cold, drink from it, then shove it back in the cargo pocket on my pants.

At one point, I had wandered near a lava outcrop hoping to see something, when I stopped for a drink. Now, remember, the canyon area is called the "dry" canyon for a reason...there's no water in it. After I had refreshed my thirst and as I was putting the bottle back in my pocket, something landed on the right side of my beard, just below my lower lip. For a moment, I didn't know what was happening. Then their was a slight pain in the area and I swiped my hand across the spot. When I did, a bug flew to a sage plant nearby and the back of my hand felt the wetness of a drop of water which was in my beard. I immediately lifted my camera and got this shot of a Blister Beetle, a first for me.

I have seen similar critters in the area, but nothing this big (it was about an inch and half long). Thrilled I had gotten a new species of something, I continued my walk-about. After not finding anything on the rocky outcrop, I continued on towards an area with a number of Juniper trees.

After about ten minutes, I stopped, retrieved my bottle of ice water and lifted it to my lips. As I pulled the bottle away from my mouth, a drop of water fell and landed on my shirt just to the left of center on my chest and below my breast. The drop no more than landed on the shirt when something slammed into my chest, right on the spot of water. I looked down and there was a Robber Fly sitting there (see my previous CCM post for an image of a Robber Fly). I brushed him away and as I did, felt some pain in the area.

I lifted my shirt to check out the area and noticed a spot of blood. I wiped it away and there was a small hole in my chest, with a reddened area surrounding it. I knew immediately, the hole was caused by the proboscis of the fly. The proboscis is the feeding tube for most insects. On the Robber Fly it is a stiff tube they insert in their meal and suck out the liquid. I guess the fly, like the beetle, needed water in the heat and probably could smell or detect the water on my lip and my shirt and went for it. I doubt it was coincidence that both critters hit me where water was.

Nothing like that has happened to me before and I doubt it will again. But it was still cool and still an interesting way to learn something new about the critter I cross paths with. 8v)

But before I close this milestone Camera Critter Meme, I've got one more image to show. A NTM (new-to-me) bee. I believe it is a Resin Bee of the Megachile species. I almost didn't capture this beauty, as I saw it from a distance on a sage brush with a number of other insects and assumed it was a common Honey Bee. But just as I was about to turn away, a voice in my head said, "Shoot it Bear." So I did...and I am glad I did. Just look at those eyes!