I found this little fellow just outside our back door. During the course of our photography session, he enjoyed two little insects for breakfast. Most of the time he would sit motionlessly. The instant something got snared in his web he would pounce on it with amazing speed and gobble it up before I could reposition for a dining shot. I was amazed by the coloration of the hairs on his back and side. I suspect few people will actually pause and take the time to appreciate the beauty that such creatures possess. As usual, anyone who can offer an identification is welcomed to contact me.

In the Midwest, where Jeanine grew up and a lot of corn is grown, the crop is expected to be “knee-high by the Fourth of July.” Our first ever corn crop seems like it is on a more leisurely pace. Still, with each passing day now, it is possible to see the plants getting bigger and I will try to take similarly framed photos every week to monitor progress. I wish I had a spare camera to devote to the task. A time-lapse movie would have been a lot of fun.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold health and economic hardship around the globe. Fortunately, there has been a matching outpouring of generosity to food relief organizations such as Open Table. Here, Jeanine is posing with a check representing a sizeable grant from the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest. Most food pantries rely heavily on volunteers, many of them elderly. Given their heightened risk to Covid-19, a large number are not comfortable putting themselves at risk. This has led to the collapse of many such organizations. Open Table, with a small paid staff, its own facility and truck is faring better than most. Still, it has been a very challenging period and has forced the organization to rethink how best to serve the food insecure in these crazy times.

It has been something like two years since I have taken the kayaks out for a spin. Fortunately, the effort Maya and I put into building them has not gone to waste. Nicolai makes frequent use of them and Maya to a lesser extent. For her 21st birthday weekend, Maya took them up to Maine where she joined friends for overnight camping and a day on the water. This morning, I helped her offload them after doing some early morning macro photography in the back yard.

It has been almost a decade since my father died but his memory lives on in my heart and with all who knew him. I can still hear his laughter whenever I think about him. Infectious is the only way to describe it. He found humor where others did not. He would repeat aloud the thought that he found funny to himself and for the benefit of those in his vicinity. As he worked himself into a frenzy of laughter, those around him were drawn in and soon infected as well. What a tremendous gift. As I age, I wonder what my children will remember about me when I am gone. I can only hope it will bring the same joy to them as thinking of my father brings to me.

The muskrats at Great Meadows had become quite acclimated to humans and can often be seen sharing the paths with them. Not so this little fellow who preferred to hide in the tall grasses. Turning to the sky, I spotted this pair of hawks. I did not have time to adjust proper exposure but liked the silhouette just the same.

It is amazing what you can find in your own back yard with just a little bit of effort. I don’t know what type of insects these are but I definitely know what they are doing. To get this shot, the front of my lens has to be about 2.5 inches from my subject. They were completely oblivious to my presence which gave me sufficient time to get a well-focused image. I could not be happier with my DIY flash diffuser which can be credited with the quality of lighting in this photo. Last night, I glued aluminum foil to the white reflector which had the net effect of boosting contrast in the image. Switching my attention to flora, I am also rather happy with this budding flower.

In addition to helping feed the food insecure in our community, Jeanine also feeds the local hummingbirds with a special recipe she makes herself. Thus, they visit rather frequently. This little fellow stopped in a dozen times over the course of an hour and I managed to get a few keepers. The background is our grey-blue house. Orienting the feeder so that I am shooting into the woods will make for a much nicer image and I will try that next time.

I finally perfected a DIY lighting scheme for shooting macro photos and tested it this evening. Made from an old light modifier for my flash and popsicle sticks, it satisfies all of my requirements; lightweight, easy to set up and tear down, easy to transport, does not prevent me from getting close to subjects, and, most importantly, produces soft light.

Attachment is by way of velcro to my flash head and macro lens. The top half is a reflective white surface that bounces light to the bottom half diffuser. When removed from the camera, the assembly folds flat. The angles have all been calculated to maximize light intensity at the diffuser.

Maya spotted this ant chomping away on what appeared to be some kind of caterpillar larva. He was so engrossed in his meal that I was able to get in very close for this shot. With machine-like efficiency the ant devoured section after section of his prey stopping every minute or so to take a 15-second breather. Then back to work.

For the first time since we have lived here, the field behind our house has been planted with corn. Our property goes as far as the small green patch in the field where a pair of birdhouses are situated. The remainder of the land is Concord Conservation Land, which can never be developed. The pond has recently been restored by the abutting neighbors and it has never looked so good. I shall be sure to post images of the cornfield as it grows. As we get closer to putting our house on the market, our appreciation for the setting we have enjoyed for so many years only grows. Today, those pangs were even stronger as we put an offer on a property near my office.

When I originally posted this blog, I thought that the small round objects on this dragonfly’s abdomen were eggs. Not so. Jeanine reached out to a friend who directed us to a blog by Kent MacFarland at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies whose description I have included below.

I really don’t like weeding. So it was with great pleasure when just moments into the task I spotted a dragonfly acting strangely on a nearby plant. What immediately caught my eye was a pile of tiny, red, egg-like sacs all over its thorax. I ran to grab my camera, and at this point, I am sure my wife was rolling her eyes. Anything to get out of weeding. But heck, I was just about to bear witness to phoresy.

Frankly, I didn’t know the term either. But it turns out that those little red sacs weren’t eggs at all, but rather larvae of water mites hitching a ride on the dragonfly. Ecologists call it phoresy, the process of using another organism to move about.

Arrenurus water mite adults are a mere three millimeters long and usually brown or greenish so you wouldn’t notice them in the water unless you were really looking for them. They mate in spring, and the female lays up to 400 red eggs on underwater objects, one egg at a time.

The six-legged larvae hatch in one to six weeks, depending on water temperature, and they immediately swim around looking for an insect larva. When they find a mosquito, stonefly, damselfly, or a dragonfly larva that is in its late stages of growth, they grab onto it, waiting until the larva goes airborne.

As the dragonfly larva crawls out of the water and sheds its exoskeleton, the mites jump off the cast shell and onto the dragonfly. Now they are not only hitchhiking, but they also become parasites. They form a tube that pierces the exoskeleton of the dragonfly so that they can feed on the victim’s hemolymph, kind of like blood in an insect’s circulatory system. After the mite grows enough, its exoskeleton becomes like a sac and inside the larva develops into a nymph.

When the nymph is fully developed, it just drops off the host when it is over water. Now, like all arachnids, it has eight legs and looks similar to an adult water mite. They eat the same foods as adults too – tiny insects, worms, and even other mites. After they eat and grow, if they avoid being eaten themselves, they find an object to attach to and form another sac to develop into an adult.

I did not need to take more than 10 steps from our backdoor to find a bunch of dragonflies this morning. Maya thinks the photo above looks more like a painting. Other than slight exposure correction and sharpening it is straight from the camera but I do share her opinion. The dragonfly below looks less vibrant, partially due to the fact that it was perched upside down on our photographically bland doorstep.

Today’s post comes in the form of a quiz. How many turkeys are in this picture? For the not so obvious answer, solve the following math problem.

42-19 +28-46

Congratulations if you answered correctly on the first try. Keep at it if you think I got my math wrong. Click on the photo and then zoom in for additional clues.

Addendum: In response to the overwhelming insistence that there are only four turkeys in the photo above, I am providing evidence to confirm that there are indeed five. Also, I watched as the family of five traversed our field before I could get my telephoto lense fitted to my camera for the shot.

Jeanine and I attended an outdoor concert this evening. It has been a long time since we spent an evening outside of the house, let alone while being entertained. This is the first post in 15 years that features an audio clip rather than a photo. See if you can identify all of the instruments in the band. Hint: there are far more than you might think at first.

After work, I swung by Great Meadows for an evening walk where I encountered this Osprey and his dinner companion. Shooting birds in flight is fairly challenging and always satisfying when you find something interesting in the frame. Technically speaking, the photo is not that great. I had zero time to adjust the settings on my camera and was lucky to capture a few frames in focus. Quality notwithstanding, I like the shot.

I left the house early this morning for some nature photography despite the very overcast skies. I thought I would visit my favorite owl family but the density of mosquitoes and my lack of repellent convinced me to turn back halfway down the trail. On my return drive, I spotted a pair of red-tailed hawks high up in a dead tree. Fortunately, they remained there long enough for me to park, grab my gear, and walk close enough for a decent shot. The female mallard is generally not one of my go-to subjects, but the one pictured below was very adorable as it took a bath and dried off afterward.

For everyone who believes they have a perfectly good flashlight on their cell phone, my collection of flashlights may seem ridiculous. With another one on the way, I thought I would take a full inventory and reassess assignments. Twenty flashlights may seem like more than enough for a small police department but I can assure you, each is put to good use.

• 3x one for each car
• 5x one for each room (bedroom, study, shop, kitchen, work)
• 2x his and her camping headlights
• 3x one for each kit (toolbox, camera bag, travel kit)
• 3x the one in my pocket (S, M, or L depending on the activity)

All lights use high-performance LEDs and rechargeable lithium-ion or nickel-metal hydride batteries (21700, 18650, 16340, 14500) and some have built-in USB chargers. Most in the back two rows can output 1000 lumens or more. The fat one is good for 9000 lumens. The smallest one does not get used. It was just too cute to resist. For those keeping track, that leaves 2 unallocated lights and the new one on the way. What can I say? I have a few older lights that do not perform as well as those with the latest technology or have a user interface that I find tedious. Stay tuned for a post on my newest light when it arrives.

A photograph of Jeanine will be featured in an upcoming exhibit at the Concord Museum (more info on this in a future post). This morning we spent some time at the Open Table facility shooting environmental portraits designed to show Jeanine in her work surroundings. None hit the mark and we will try again with a different setting but I did rather like this one of Jeanine and her truck.

I spent the bulk of the day helping Maya to install the washing machine in her tiny home. Most of our time was spent making modifications to the plumbing. We wanted the water shutoff valves located in the adjacent cabinet rather than behind the machine. This will make it possible to turn off the water and winterize the supply lines without moving the very heavy machine. We also made cleats for the leveling legs to prevent the washer from moving when the tiny house is being towed.

Dinner was courtesy of Kyle and Klaida who really outdid themselves.

While walking to the Black Lives Matter protest earlier this week, I paused for a few cityscapes. I thought I would post these today to give followers a break from all the recent wildlife photography.

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is a short walk from our house and traverses a wetland that skirts our neighborhood. Early this morning, Jeanine and I completed a three-mile circuit during which we spotted a swans nest. After dinner, we made a second lap, this time with my telephoto lens in tow. Just as we arrived at the nest, we spotted the family returning from their evening swim.

On our morning walk, I spotted this painted turtle with a slug on its shell.

I had a provocative conversation with Kyle this morning about the state of race relations in our country. We shared views of the systemic problems in our society but differed slightly on the best course of action to effect change. I am entirely supportive of peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience. I draw the line at vandalism, property damage, or violence of any kind. When my boss invited employees to take time off to help make a difference, I decided to join a late afternoon Black Lives Matter demonstration on the Boston Common. I was both a participant and an observer, maintaining much greater physical distancing than most at the event. The Boston and military police were both present in large numbers, positioned to protect property but giving a wide berth to the marchers. I was surprised, pleasantly, to see so many white people supporting the cause and was proud to be among them.

Apparently the “Make Way for Ducklings” were also marching in support of the cause and were being carefully monitored by the police as well.

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.