Month: April 2020

Lens-Artists #94: At Home

Posted in Birds, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , 28 Comments

This week, Amy has challenged us to show photos we have taken at home.

During this almost six weeks of sheltering in place I find myself spending more and more time outside appreciating the natural beauty all around me.

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Hibiscus
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First day lily of the season
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Second day lily of the season

We’ve had many birds at our feeder this spring – chickadees, house finches, cardinals, hummingbirds and others. My favorite is a pair of painted buntings that come by every day. So far I’ve only been able to get photos of the male.

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Male Painted Bunting

The cardinals hang around under the feeder in hopes of finding fallen seeds.

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Male cardinal searching for seeds under the bird feeder

Monarch butterflies are continuing to come through the garden. I haven’t found any more caterpillars and the milkweed they stripped is coming back strong with new growth.

I  first spotted a Monarch Chrysalis in my garden about three weeks ago. I’ve been checking on it several times a day and after 14 days I realized this one was not going to make it.

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Monarch chrysalis day 16

Being at home for six weeks has made me realize how much I have to be grateful for. I am so grateful to live in a home where I can go outside into my yard to enjoy the natural world. I’m grateful I can keep in touch with friends and family who are far away. I’m grateful for my health and the health of my family and friends. I’m grateful I am physically able to get out and exercise in the fresh air.

Many thanks to Amy for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – At Home

Inspired by Discover Prompt Grateful.

Lens-Artists #93: Morning

Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , 40 Comments

This week’s challenge from Ann-Christine is morning.

I’ve always been a morning person and for many years I’ve been the first one up in our house. I start each day by going downstairs to the kitchen to put the kettle on for my morning tea. Next comes quiet time, either in my living room where I can look out the windows, or out in my backyard butterfly garden under the arbor.

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Tea in the garden
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Nature surrounds me in my garden
Hisbiscus
Mexican Sunflower
Sunflower

After my tea I often go for a walk in the neighborhood.

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Morning walk
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Beautiful morning for a walk
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It’s nice to see some feathered friends in the morning

Some mornings I’ll do some baking.

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Homemade buttermilk biscuits for Sunday breakfast

Wishing you a very good morning!

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Morning

Lens-Artists #92: Going Back – The Second Time Around

Posted in PhotographyTagged , , 30 Comments

This week the challenge comes from Guest Host John Steiner at Journeys With JohnBo. He asked us “If you visited a favorite place more than once, how did you approach the second trip photographically? If you’ve only been somewhere once, what would you do differently the second time around?”

I fell in love with Rocky Mountain National Park when we first visited there in late May, 2011. We spent several days enjoying the wildlife and natural beauty of the park. Snow in the higher elevations added to the adventure.

One day our goal was to drive the Trail Ridge Road all the way to the top to visit the Alpine Visitor’s Center. The road was clear most of the way with deep snow beside the road. I took the above photo when we arrived at Rainbow Curve, at an elevation of about 11,000 feet. Our drive to the Alpine Visitor’s Center would have to wait.

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Deep snow along Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in May, 2011

Two years later, in August, 2013, we decided to return to Rocky Mountain National Park on our way home from Alaska. With only one day to explore the park our goal was to see the Alpine Visitor’s Center. We stopped at the Many Curves Overlook on our way to the Trail Ridge Road. The next two photos were taken two years apart at the same overlook. The first is from spring, 2011, the second one from summer, 2013. There was quite a difference the second time around.

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View from Many Curves Overlook on May 28, 2011
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View from Many Curves Overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park in August, 2013

The next two photos are from another overlook in the park. The first is from 2011, the second from 2013.

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View from one of the overlooks in Rocky Mountain National Park in May, 2011
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View from one of the overlooks in Rocky Mountain National Park in August, 2013

Did we make it the Alpine Visitor’s Center the second time around? We sure did and the view from there was spectacular.

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View from Alpine Visitor’s Center in August, 2013

Many thanks to Guest Host John Steiner for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Going Back

Monarch Caterpillar Update

Posted in Daily Prompt, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , 16 Comments

Just two days after I posted about the Monarch caterpillars in my butterfly garden the caterpillars are continuing to devour every leaf on several of my milkweed plants. One bite at a time, they chew up a leaf and move on to the next. In just a few days they have stripped some of the plants until there is nothing left but bare stems.

Yesterday morning I counted about 10 caterpillars. One had attached itself in the hose reel on the edge of the flower bed. It was preparing to transform into a chrysalis.

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Monarch Caterpillar preparing to make chrysalis

A little while later I settled down in my chair under the arbor to read a book. I was facing the hose reel but was so engrossed in the book I didn’t look up for about 30 minutes. When I finally glanced over at the caterpillar I saw that while I was reading it had become a chrysalis.

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Monarch chrysalis day 1

Today there are more caterpillars and less milkweed leaves. They will continue taking their bites until they are full grown and ready to transform into a chrysalis.

Meanwhile, there are still Monarch butterflies flying around in pairs doing their mating dance. I’ve had a hard time getting a picture but I managed to catch this one drinking nectar on a Mexican Sunflower.

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Monarch butterfly feeding on Mexican Sunflower

I’ll be keeping my eye on the chrysalis and hope to see a butterfly emerge in about 7 to 10 days.

This post was inspired by Discover Prompts Day 9 -Bite.

Pairs of Monarch Caterpillars

Posted in Daily Prompt, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , 16 Comments

We are in the middle of the butterfly breeding season. I’ve seen pairs of Monarch butterflies flying around our yard recently and the females have been laying their eggs on milkweed leaves in my small backyard butterfly garden.

This morning I counted seven caterpillars on the milkweed including two different pairs munching on the leaves.

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Pair of Monarch Caterpillars on Milkweed
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Pair of monarch caterpillars on milkweed

After about two weeks of eating, the caterpillar will be full grown and will make it’s crysalis. Approximately 10 days later the monarch butterfly will emerge.

This post was inspired by Discover Prompts Day 9 -Pairs.