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.

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Camera Critters #178

The American Robin is a resident where I live year round.  During the winter, the population grows to the millions.  Go to the Juniper badlands around here during that time of the year and you’ll most likely get tired of seeing Robins and another bird which gathers here in large numbers during the cold months…the Northern Flicker.

Recently, I walked the River Trail at Smith Rock State Park for about half its length (decided to turn around when thunderstorms began forming…don’t want to be in a canyon area when rains come).  The trail I took is highlighted in red on this page -- http://www.nwhiker.com/SmithRockHike.html 

It is a gorgeous hike and one I have made several times.

On this trip, I came across a lot of Robins…but not just any Robin, but juvenile Robins.  I don’t think I saw a mature Robin the entire hike.

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Camera Critters #177

A couple of Camera Critters ago, I showed y’all a Dotted Blue butterfly.  It has markings similar to a variety of small blue Lepidoptera found in my area.  In case you have forgotten, here is the Dotted Blue again.

I always try to photograph these little leps whenever I can.

Several weeks ago, I was going through some of my photos and noticed one I had forgotten about (I take a lot of photos and have a limited memory  8v).  I looked at the image and my first thought was, "I did image a Dotted Blue before.”

Then I looked closer at the butterfly and saw the outer fringes of the wings are not dark in any part of the fringes.  I also noticed the dominate outline of the wings.  I had read before about a blue butterfly in the west which has evenly colored fringes.  It’s a Rita’s Blue.

However, a Rita’s Blue is not found in this area.  I’ve checked a number of different blue butterflies, and find nothing to match, except the Dotted Blue.  That means I did photograph one before the one above.  See for yourself and if you know a definitive identity of it, let me know.

 

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Camera Critter #176

These days, I often hear Cicadas on television shows and even heard them in the background when I was talking to my mom a while back.

But this year, one place I haven’t heard them (so far) is around here.  Last year, I heard a few, and even got a photo of one.

But this year, the homestead has been rather Cicada quiet on the home front.

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Camera Critters #175

I have travelled to an area near here a number of times to see what new critters are there.  Generally, I see what I saw on my first trip to Lower Bridge.

However a trip Wednesday produced two new butterflies for the area…and a new lifer butterfly for me.

The first is a Lorquin's Admiral.  I have come across this butterfly in different areas, mainly up in the mountains.  It was a nice treat to find one in the Deschutes River canyon area.

Yes…that is my finger.  I was attempting to get the butterfly to climb aboard, and just as I got close enough, I began to slip on the loose gravel I was standing on.  The quick movement of me attempting to regain balance caused the admiral to fly off.

Not long after I came across the admiral, I noticed a small blue butterfly quickly flitting about.  I tried to follow it to get a shot, but lost sight of it.  So I went back to the admiral.  After getting a number of new shots of the admiral, I began to walk the trail.

Whenever I walk the wilds here, I am constantly scanning my surroundings, looking for good subjects.  As I scanned to my left, something just didn’t look right, so I walked over to investigate.

There he was…the blue butterfly I was chasing before.  I lifted my camera and began shooting as I approached the plant it was on.  I got a couple of shots off before the blue butterfly took flight.

When I got home, I checked the images, I realized I got me a new Lepidoptera.  Called a Dotted Blue, there are five different subspecies of this critter.  This one might be the subspecies enoptes, but it could also be columbiae, which is more common in my area.  However, I couldn’t find a photo of that subspecies to verify.

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Camera Critters #174

A couple of years ago, I spotted a beetle rapidly moving around sage in the Dry Canyon here.  My attempts to photograph it didn’t work out.

In October of 2008, I noticed a similar bug, again in the Dry Canyon.  However, this time it didn’t escape my camera.

After several years of here and there checking on its ID, I believe it is an Hippodamia apicalis.  The speedy little critter is a member of the Lady Beetle family.

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Camera Critters #173

Since my favorite dragonfly hunting area is currently difficult to get to, I have been exploring other areas which in the past were fairly productive.

One of those spots is Fireman’s Pond in Redmond, Oregon.  Several years ago, one corner of the pond was alive with dozens of dragonflies and damselflies.  However, I had been there a couple of weeks earlier and the pickin’ were slim.

But not on my last visit.

I first thought the above critter was a Blue-eyed Darner.  However, I wanted verification, so I sent the image to my ‘expert.’  He identified the dragonfly as a Paddle-tailed Darner.

What makes it a special image, is it is the first I have seen of this species.  Scratch another off the life list.

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.