saturday morning i got out early to walk the grounds of the park with the hope of capturing some of the "life in the park". to my thrill i came upon a fire bush shrub with at least a dozen butterflies fluttering energetically about.
is this a cloudless sulphur???
is this also a cloudless sulphur??? there are many species of yellow butterflies with slight variations... i am not certain which this one is.
there were so many of these coming and going but even so --i had to be patient to capture some- they just don't stay in one spot for long.
monarch
this (queen- i think) beauty was not a problem. it just opened and closed its wings over and over so i have dozens of snaps of this one. hubby even commented, "that one let you get right in its face."
gulf fritillary - agraulis vanillae
the colors of autumn
surprise (or hurricane lilies) lilies are blooming everywhere
bee exploring a wildflower
banana spider enjoying its butterfly breakfast
damselfly
berries for the birds - more signs of autumn. i'm a sucker for 'all things berry' - i think because not only are they appealing to look at... they are a symbol of the season if there ever was one!
we made the most of our overnight stay at this florida landmark and really enjoyed the beautiful landscape. then it was on to tallahassee for saturday night.
WoW! Sounds like a super weekend! You got some great pics! I never did get to Wakulla Springs while admission was free. (DS kept reminding me the boat ride wasn't.) Seems like they'd think about stopping a few times for photos.
ReplyDeleteI think your first Cloudless Sulphur is a male and the second a female.
I love all your pics! It really is a beautiful place. I saw some hurricane lilies blooming i n Tally a couple weeks ago, but couldn't get close enough for a good shot. It drives me nuts, as well, that I can't get that gorgeous red to come true in the pics. The berry pic reminds me... I need to check our dogwood and see if it has any nice table decorations to spare. 8-]
Nice job on the spider breakfast shot! 8-]
is that "gulf" butterfly in the process of leaving the cocoon?
ReplyDeleteAwesome pics. You have definitely mastered that new camera.
ReplyDeleteThe gator pic was great. I agree with MLM though. I am not fond of those big lizards AT ALL. Way too many of them around for my liking. I never worry about them getting me, but my lab doesn't get to swim nearly as much as he would like becuase of those critters.
The wood duck shot was cool. Made my right index finger itchy.:)
sophie: the driver of the boat did back up or slow down several times for the sightings of wildlife but never did it stop completely. hmmm?
ReplyDeleteyou are a master on the butterfly ID's! i am patting myself on the back i was right on the cloudless part. whew. lol!
i'm going to get some hurricane lily bulbs for next year... they are just too gorgeous. we don't see them much down here... not sure why.
mlm: no not coming out but definitely making a feast of something in it. it was not the least bit intimidated by my lens all over it.
ReplyDeletent: i don't know about mastering the new camera, but i am having loads of fun learning it.
i guess that wood duck best stay put in the sanctuary it abides-- where no man's itchy finger will ever get to pull the trigger. :-)
That is why they are there. Smart little critters. ;)
ReplyDeleteOf course you don't complain about my itchy trigger when I bring home a mess of quail. ;)
nt: you got me there ... bring me a mess of quail any day... no complaints about any kind of trigger... :-)
ReplyDelete