I am not sure what the tiny little creature in the foreground is, an aphid perhaps, but I am fairly certain he is shortly going to be a snack for the approaching ant. When I took the photograph, I was busy trying to capture focus on the ant and did not realize what was about to happen. Ants are omnivorous and will eat just about anything.
Five minutes into my lunchtime walk, I discovered this little fellow enjoying his noontime meal. About half the size of a pencil eraser, the only way to find a beast like this is to sit still and watch for movement. Nailing focus is a hit or miss endeavor and it took twenty shots to get just one keeper. I have no idea what type of insect this is but I have named it nonetheless. If there are any entomologists out there, I would love an identification. Having had to curtail all my travel plans due to the Covid-19 pandemic, my new macro lens has opened up a whole new world for exploration.
A tour through our garden this morning with my new macro lens produced some interesting images. The rest of my day proved less enjoyable. When someone forgot to reinstall the lint trap on our dryer it led to the ingestion of a towel that wrapped itself around the impeller of the dryer’s blower motor. The repair required a very tedious disassembly of the dryer for the second time in as many months and the better part of my afternoon.
In the evening, the family all attended a rally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Nico joined friends at the Boston event while the rest of us attended a socially distanced event in Concord. Participants were encouraged to remain in their cars with flashers on or to maintain social distancing if not. This aerial photo of downtown Concord suggests that there was very good compliance with the guidelines.
I did not even need to leave our deck to find this jumping spider lounging on the railing. Jumping spiders are distinguished by their eye pattern, two centrally located large ones, and six smaller ones distributed around the side and back of the head. They are capable of jumping several times their body length and use this athleticism to capture prey but not before attaching a silk line to secure them should they fall. Elsewhere on the deck railing, I found another spider in the middle of enjoying his dinner, possibly a tick or smaller spider. Click on the images for a larger view if you are not the sort to be creeped out by arachnids.
This morning, I got an early start to spend more time with the family of owls I have been visiting for the past few weeks. Maya has named the owlets Luna (the larger one) and Paco. Both left the nest for the first time today and my timing could not have been better. Luna climbed the tree in which the nest is located to a high perch. She was not ready to fly but used the excursion to stretch her wings frequently. Eventually, mom stopped by for some tender preening. Meanwhile, Paco was only comfortable climbing out on the perch in front of the nest and then retreating soon after. He is smaller and less confident than Luna. I took over 500 photos and have uploaded the best 100. Click here to view the full album.
The new macro lens I ordered last week arrived yesterday and it was not long before I was scouring the landscape for interesting subjects. I spotted this spider on a mound of moss and patiently waited until it paused momentarily. When it did, I fired off several shots hoping at least one would be in focus, something very hard to achieve with a manual focus lens of this type. Fortunately, exactly one shot was acceptably sharp and to my great surprise, it showed the spider eating what appears to be a small ant. Click on the image for an enlarged image and then zoom in on that. Most spiders have 8 eyes in addition to 8 legs and they are quite unusual to see up close.
Today’s post is a mystery photo challenge. The first person to e-mail me with the correct identification of the object in this photo will have their initials posted in an addendum to this post.
Congratulations JJ – winner, winner, chicken diner; Kidney Stone.
When Maya and Jeanine both come running through the house yelling “grab your camera,” it is a safe bet that something VERY interesting is happening in the backyard. This evening, we were treated to a fawn that could not have been more than a few hours old. It could barely stand, let alone run. Naturally, I did not have the right lens on my camera, so I lost 30 seconds fitting it with my telephoto zoom. By then the fawn and its mother were out of sight, so I ran into the backyard to see if I could get a parting shot of them. When I entered the field, the mother lept into the air flashing her white tail and darted off into the woods. The baby ducked into a small furrow and went completely still. This allowed me to approach within inches for some close-ups. When I moved some tall grass blocking my shot the fawn decided it was tired of my company and did its best to scamper away.
Located under 3 miles from our home, this 180ft diameter geodesic dome sits atop Annursnac Hill. I discovered it while scouting Google Maps for interesting aerial photography opportunities. At first, I thought it might be a greenhouse or possibly a massive residence. Further research revealed that it is the aluminum cover for a 2.5 million gallon concrete water reservoir, one of two that supplies the town of Concord. Despite promises to the contrary, I am compelled to post another photo of the baby owls I have been visiting almost every day. They have grown substantially and I suspect it will not be much longer until they leave the nest. Rest assured I will share photos of that event should I be so lucky to witness it.
The weather today was perfect and Jeanine and I were desperate to get out of the house and enjoy it. We decided to visit the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island which was open to pedestrians and cyclists only. We parked near Newbury Beach and biked the length of the island to Sandy Point State Reservation, stopping frequently to see what there was to see. The 15-mile round trip and intermittent stops yielded surprisingly few good wildlife photography opportunities. I did manage nice shots of a medium-size snapping turtle and turkey both which can be found within a stone’s throw of our front door.
The beach, which runs the length of the island, was desolate but not for the reason that may jump to mind. The endangered Piping Plover makes its nests on the beach and dunes at this time of year and access is strictly restricted. The picture below was taken from within Sandy Point State Reservation where a small section of the beach is open.
The day started innocently enough with some macro photography. These tiny flowers are from our garden. I use a 100mm Canon macro lens on a Sigma adapter with my Sony camera. It is not an optimal configuration. After a bit of research, I decided to buy a new macro lens from Venus Optical. It is a 65mm lens that features 2x magnification (double my current setup) and weighs half as much. Paired with the new lightweight flash I also ordered, it will make for a compact rig I can use in the field. The photo above was taken in our kitchen after I retrieved the flowers. In the afternoon, Jeanine and I returned to the owl’s nest we have been watching for weeks only to find the babies and parents asleep. While there, we met up with an Acton resident who told us about another nest located in the area around Mount Hope Cemetary. He directed us to a trail that led to the teepee landmark pictured below.
Once in the vicinity, Jeanine managed to spot one of the fledglings and one of the parents. The former was so well hidden that it could take minutes to find it again if you looked away for even a second. Talk about finding a needle in a haystack. For someone who has spent 15 years trying to find an owl in the wild, the last two weeks have yielded a total of 3 adults and 3 juveniles. I could not be happier and have also really enjoyed my owl outings with Jeanine.
I had an occasion to do some photography at work today. This image of a 3D printed tooling insert (post machining) will be featured in an upcoming book on additive manufacturing. I have two LED gooseneck lamps and a two-sided light tent at work. Not much to work with, but I am very pleased with the result.
The Horn Pond Recreation Area is located just over ten minutes from my work. I decided to make a brief visit over my lunch hour. In addition to getting a bit of exercise by walking the trails, I encountered a lot of birds, including a fledgling owl. Fortunately, the owl was located way up in a tree and you will not be subjected to any more owl photos today.
How about a fish and a chipmunk to round out the mix?
I am sorry for the recent deluge of owl photos but every time I return to the nest, I manage to capture something of interest. This morning, Jeanine and I left at 6 am to catch the early action. It was a little more than 10 minutes before we spotted this owl landing on a branch with a small squirrel in tow. The interesting part was that the owl decided to leave the dead squirrel in the tree (see the second photo, click to zoom in, and study the branch), presumably to continue hunting. We are guessing that it will return later and feed it to the owlets as soon as they wake up. Unfortunately, we did not have time to wait around to verify the hypothesis. For the sake of a little variety, I am including a picture of a bluebird I took on the way out of the forest.
