Camera Critter #179

I see jays often. In the mountains I see Stellar Jays, sometimes even Gray Jays. In town, I always see Scrub Jays.

What I don’t see is Blue Jays. It’s not that they aren’t out here, normally they aren’t. But during the winter a Blue Jay will show up…but never when and where I go to see it.

I knew that if I was to ever get a photo of a Blue Jay, I would have to head east. So in late April I was in Illinois and I looked and looked for a Blue Jay so I could shoot it (with my Canon of course).

On one of my last days there, I was at my mom’s place and there, in the trees, eyeballing her feed station, was a Blue Jay.

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 #170

One of my goals when I went eastward was to photograph as many new critters as I could.  Well, I didn’t see all that many, but the ones I did see, for the most part, allowed me time to image them.

A good example is my post two weeks ago of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Well, on one of my last days in Illinois, I went to the Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve.  Wandering the paths of the park, I found a few good subjects.

One was this American Copper.

I was rather pleased to come across this butterfly.  I see coppers here, but not this species.

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 #166

They may be despised by a lot of people, but I have always enjoyed squirrels.

Where I live in Oregon there is no resident squirrel population.  Occasionally, one will stop by for one reason or another, but they don’t make a home here.

However, when I was back in Illinois, I came across many squirrels.  One Fox Squirrel in particular held my interest.

You think he won’t see me if I stay real still?

Yes…I do believe he sees me.

One more quick peek..oh no…he still sees me!

For the two weeks I was there, the squirrels were a constant visitor to wherever I was staying.  My sister would call me when one would arrive and I’d head out with camera in hand.

I did so enjoy photographing my squirrel. 

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 #165

One afternoon, while sitting on my mother’s patio, watching the birds feed on the little hillside in front of me, I saw something I had never seen before.

It began with a pair of male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds, who were feeding on the seeds in the area.

Suddenly, another male cowbird swooped in and attacked the first male. I had seen birds fight before and it was generally an attack, retreat and maybe a couple of other attacks. But this one was different. It was like Friday Night Fights right in front of me! These two birds went at it, rolling in the dirt and grass of the hillside, not making a sound, but clasped onto each other with the feet, pecking and flapping their wings. It looked the world like a fight to the death.

I watched these two fight, no more than 20 feet away from me. They rolled down the hillside to a short wall along a sidewalk, with both of them falling to the cement walkway below, still fighting and still going at each other after the fall.

At this point the pair were less than 10 feet from me.

They continued to fight and roll across the sidewalk away from me until they finally split up and went their separate ways.

In all, the pair fought for a good five minutes or six minutes. I was blown away by what was happening. It was absolutely amazing.

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 #164

Having seen a lot of rockchucks around here, I figured someday I’d see a cousin of our local marmot, the woodchuck.  Also known as a groundhog, or Marmota monax, I was surprised when, while sitting in my mother’s living room in Braidwood, Illinois, a large, gray, lumbering critter came waddling out of a wooded area and started munching on some weeds.

I asked, “Is that a woodchuck?”  After a quick look, mom said, “It’s the local groundhog.  He comes out now and then to eat.”

So I picked up my camera and snapped off a few shots.  I guess my movement scared him, as he quickly darted back into cover and disappeared.

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 #162

I had to return to Illinois a couple of weeks ago for personal reasons.  While there I hoped to be able to shoot all sorts of new critters.

One of those critters, though not new, was a Cardinal.  I found several willing subjects and one bird in particular stood out.

Cardinals don’t exist in my area of the country, so it is always a treat to photograph them.

But one Cardinal sure took the cake.  Named “Grandpa” by the people who see him daily, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Grandpa was a very skittish bird.  Any time I tried to get an image of him that was not through the patio glass door, he flew away.  Although a bit soft, this was one of the better images of him I captured.

Someone mentioned that this bird was probably in the molt.  However, birds generally molt after the breeding season, then again before it.  This fellow includes a mal-formed bill, along with the bald spots.  Which leads me to believe he has some sort of disease.

If the person who was responsible for making the Cardinal the Illinois state bird had seen this instead of the top bird, I doubt it would have been selected.

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 #43

I have a love-hate relationship with this week's featured critter.

It's spiders!

Yes, those eight-legged freaks also known as arachnids.

You see, I love it when I come across one outside.  But hate it when I come across one inside...especially in my house.  I do everything I can to remove the critters presence from my dwelling.

This desire to remove any and all from my home, comes from waking several times with a spider walking across my body.  One time, even, the spider was tickling my lips as I slept, and this was in Honduras.  I have no idea what kind it was, or whether it was poisonous or not.  I didn't like where I found it and flicked it somewhere else in my room with my finger.  

Several weeks after that incident, I was participating in an training exercise crawling around under hootches where the nastiest of Honduran spiders resided and they weren't bothering me at all.

So, several years ago when I was visiting my sister, I noticed an Orb Weaver web high in a Juniper tree and added the creatures to my list of photo subjects.  If you look closely on the right hand side of this photo, you can see the web owner sitting in wait for its next victim.  

Also at my sister's, I came across another Orb Weaver spinning a home in the eaves of their garage.  I guess this little fella didn't like me getting as close as I did and took off for its hidey-hole moments after the image below was taken.

However, the best place for me to find an arachnid of any type is on the High Desert.  I don't often come across them, but when I do, I find their variety, size and look very interesting as the next two Orb Weavers show.

I was actually looking for a flying insect which landed somewhere on the spider side of the plant, when I noticed this large creature.  I thought the markings on it were fantastic and fired off a couple of shots.

On another trip into the desert areas around town, I came across the Orb Weaver below.  It was extremely busy at the time building its web and I watched it for several minutes as I snapped shot after shot of it.  The differences between the critter below and the one above is easily seen.  There are more than 2,800 different species of Orb Weavers worldwide and approximately 180 species in North America.

During a trip to San Antonio a couple of years ago, I was wandering around the Mitchell Lake area when I noticed a Jumping Spider scurrying down the stalk of a nearby weed.  This one being different from most of the spiders I had previously seen, I couldn't help but get a photo.  And "a" photo is all I got, as it leaped into the low weeds and disappeared as quick as it appeared.

Finally, one of the more interesting arachnid species is the Daddy-long-legs spiders, also known as Cellar Spiders.  I crossed paths with the one below at a wildlife refuge near Braidwood, Illinois.  I was surprised to see one in the middle of a marshy area, as I had always thought of this species being the type which hide in dark areas such as basements and attics.  But I learned something new that day.

Whether or not any of the above arachnids have more specific common names, I don't know.  My reference material on spiders is limited, and it is slow searching the net for additional information.  Similar looking spiders can be two different species based on the number of bands on the legs, or the number of eyes in clusters, or the design of the critter's mouth.  But I am always doing what I can to improve my knowledge of what I see and shoot in what I like to call, Ashrunner's World.

If you enjoyed (really...I enjoyed bringing it to you) my installment of Misty Dawn's Camera Critters Meme this week, go to her page located here.  There you'll find other players.  And, if you're inspired, join in the fun.