Monday, September 29, 2008

Just Passing Through?

Back at the beginning of the summer we discovered that we had dozens of dragonflies around, particularly at the pond. Before too long I had dozens (then hundreds) of dragonfly photo's. When you add the damselfly photo's the numbers may now go into the thousands. Of course not all the photo's are of a good quality. And naturally there are quite a few that are virtually duplicates of others. I will often take multiple shots of one perched as I am approaching closer so the numbers add up fast. I realized that I had so many photo's that I might be tempted to flood the blog with dragonfly and damselfly posts and photo's at the expense of other things going on around the pond so I elected to limit my dragon and damsel posts to once a week on Monday.

Well the dragonfly and damselfly season is slowly coming to a close. There are still some around and I am still observing them and taking photo's of course. But, now that the season is closing, I figured I might as well retire the Monday Dragon/Damsel post. I will still be adding Dragon/Damsel posts in the future, but just not on a weekly schedule. Actually this will give me a chance to catch up on researching some of the behaviors I have observed and putting names with some of the species I have seen and captured.

Today I thought I would share with you a few of the butterflies we were able to capture last week at the neighbor's flower garden. We haven't seen many butterflies this summer. Well, I should say we haven't seen many congregations of butterflies. We see butterflies often, but normally they are individuals cruising about and they often don't stay in one general area long enough to track them down and get a photo.
On a couple of recent visits to the flower garden I have had a bit better luck though. There were quite a few butterflies around. The most numerous were the Gulf Fritillary. We had not seen any earlier in the summer, but all of a sudden several showed up. As a matter of fact, one day while I was there they all showed up within a matter of minutes as though they were traveling as a group.
I understand that the Gulf Fritillary is a migratory butterfly so we think the sudden arrival of several may mean they are just passing through. Whether they were residents or just passing through it was a great opportunity for a few colorful photo's.

I found it really hard to pick a favorite. I eventually decided just to make a collection with a couple of those above plus a couple of more. Of course it is best viewed enlarged.

And one more thing. I want to thank our neighbor for planting all those colorful flowers out where we can all enjoy them.

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures! Even though the Gulf Fritillaries are frequent visitors here, I always take lots of pics. I shoot much like you, snapping as I approach, hoping to get cose enough for that one perfect result before the subject flees.

    Re your Olustee comment... it certainly is a small world, isn't it? I'm so proud of my ancestors who fought for their rights. Being uber-eclectic, I find myself neglecting some of my favourite pursuits... namely genealogy these days. If only we didn't have to sleep. 8-]

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  2. Aren't digital cameras great? You can just shoot and shoot. A lot of my extra shots on dragonflies and damselflies were taken to make sure I got a decent enough photo to make an ID, especially on ones I don't recognize or see often. There have been a few species around the pond that I have only seen one time so I try to get as many shots as I can.

    Yep - Strange thing about that Olustee coincidence - Of course most people will have no idea what we are talking about, lol

    Baker

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  3. Oops - I almost forgot - Thanks for the comment, sophiemae - I'm glad you liked them

    Baker

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  4. These are just breath taking Baker! They put a smile on my face after a bad day. Maybe I should try photographing butterflies instead of kids. LOL I think it would be less stressful.

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  5. Awww - Thanks ladykli - I think I was reading your recent post as you were commenting here - Hope things work out well

    Baker

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  6. So glad I found your blog, Baker...these are just beautiful photographs. I take way too many shots...and find myself deleting...alot!

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  7. Those are truly amazing! It is tough to choose a favorite. The colors are so vibrant, and I love the flowers as well :)

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  8. spooky - Thanks so much. Do you delete them from the camera or after you download them? I don't remember deleting one from the camera in several months. Of course I toss them when I download them if they are bad, but I always check them out on the computer first. You never can tell what might pop up on the screen. I've often had pleasant little surprises capturing things I didn't even know were there though I missed the shot on the subject. I probably end up keeping way too many though, lol.

    Momisodes - Thanks - I had a hard time picking a favorite, too. And the butterfly is so pretty from both sides.

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  9. Baker..I think these are your most beautiful shots..just stunning and love the collage...

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  10. Thanks Michelle - All those great color combinations made shooting these a lot of fun

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  11. You have one of the most beautiful sites on the internet. You constantly outdo yourself, these are simply beautiful.

    I particularly like the third one. It reminds me of a Philip Treacy topper, for whatever reason:)

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  12. Baker...First I view them all on the computer...zooming in! I agree, you never know what you might find!

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  13. Hi Baker.....the fritillaries are beautiful butterflies.....we do get them in the lake district but they are not seen in this part of England as far as I know......I suppose they are attracted to the lovely colours and open blooms of your neighbours flowers....

    Such a colourful post...I loved looking at the photographs.....

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  14. I agree with forever foster - this must be one of the most beautiful blogs on the internet!! Your butterflies are so gorgeous! And the flowers... simply stunning!

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  15. forever foster - What a wonderful compliment - I think perhaps the credit has to go to the subjects of most of those photo's - I like that comment about the topper - Perhaps Treacy-meets-Carmen Miranda-in-the-flower-garden, lol

    Cheryl - Thanks so much - Those flowers and butterflies are colorful indeed

    avril - And thank you also for the compliment - Having all those great subjects makes taking and sharing the photo's fun

    Baker

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  16. Absolutely lovely! When I see a butterfly around these parts, the dog takes a snap at it, and I don't see another for days or even weeks.

    Simply amazing!

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  17. Beautiful photos, Baker.

    Would you mind if I used some of these as reference photos for art?

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  18. Thanks Wayne - Your dog comment brought back some memories. I once had an Irish Setter that loved to chase butterflies much to my parents' chagrin. He was a long, lean, beautiful doofus as many of them tend to be. I don't think he ever outgrew the puppy stage completely. And he had great leaping abilities when going for butterflies.

    On one visit to my parents' house the pole beans in their garden happened to be in bloom. Of course that drew butterflies. And they drew the dog. And the pole beans? There was complete devastation, lol. It took us hours to rebuild the supports and get them back in shape. The funny thing was he realized we were not happy and I don't think he ever did that again. (Not that he didn't have a few other adventures along the way, lol.)

    Thanks Tammy - I would be happy to have you use them if you would like - If it works out be sure to share the results with us on your blog

    Baker

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  19. Thank you Baker. You can be sure that I will.

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  20. Absolutely beautiful photos and butterflies!

    I saw the dog quip on t-shirts in Canada recently. I'm not entirely sure my dog has a high opinion of me though!

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  21. Thanks Liz - And I'm sure your dog has a high opinion of you, lol - Maybe he's just upset because you didn't take him on the trip

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Thanks for stopping by to visit our little pond. We would love to see you again real soon.