Dragonflies, Chickadee nest

This afternoon I found my first dragonflies of 2010. 3 of them were flying around our parking area, I managed to get a few grab shots. Looking through my dragonfly books I'm narrowing this down to Beaverpond Baskettail, next guess Common Baskettail. Will have to get some others to look at it and confirm. My Field Guide to The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Algonquin Prov. Park and the Surrounding Area says that the Beaverpond baskettail comes out earlier. Seeing as how their colours look pretty much "set", they must have emerged at least a day or two ago.

After chasing dragonflies I wandered around taking shots of coltsfoot and Dutchman's breeches, then noticed a chickadee flying back and forth from a broken off tree stump to some small trees. When it landed in the small tree it spit out a mouthful of sawdust/shavings. Another chickadee joined it, and started doing the same. I realized there was probably a hole on the other side of the stump that I couldn't see, and they were cleaning out a nest cavity. The landscape is such that I couldn't get down around the hillside to see the other side of the tree, so I just snapped a couple of grab shots and beat it out of there quickly so as not to disturb them. I would love to know if they're just doing a little housekeeping before nest building, or if they are excavating a larger cavity. That will remain a mystery, I want them to keep constructing, so I'll have a nest that I can come back to later and observe them bringing food to chicks.

Dutchman's Breeches

Dutchman's breeches are one of the first springflowers to appear in our woods. They literally explode out of the ground, in a couple of sunny days they go from little bunches of frilly green leaves to larger bunches of frilly green leaves with stalks of white blossoms shaped like puffed out pantaloons. They're blooming in abundance this year, many of them on hillsides/rockwalls where I can climb up and view them at eye level, not having to crawl upon the ground to view them close up.

My Audubon guide tells me that these are pollinated by bumblebees who have a "proboscis long enough to tap the nectar". I often see bumblebees buzzing about these flowers, trying to get a clear photograph of them is challenging. They're busy trying to get food and don't often sit still posing for me.

Another critter I sometimes see crawling about is the stilt bug, pretty little green bug, looks like a miniature walkingstick. To get these shots I was standing amongst the rocks on the hillside, picking my way about carefully to get a footing for both me and tripod. There was a 3 foot drop behind my heels, I kept my left arm firmly wrapped round a small ironwood tree to steady myself. To the left of me was a large section of rock that has parted from the base rock, there is a long 18 inch wide gap. When I was 4 and 5 years old I used to scamper through that gap, it was like a secret hiding place. I looked longingly at that gap, reminded that in my near five decades of life on this planet my travels through these rock hills have slowed from a scamper to a careful treading and plodding.

Hepaticas

Hepaticas are one of my favourite spring flowers. Trying to photograph them can be a bit of challenge. Even though they're blooming in abundance this year, trying to find some that are in a good "clean" situation without a lot of grasses or twigs or other debris, and with a good background, has not been easy. I finally found a clump that was growing at the base of a clump of trees that looked like what I wanted, but it was behind a pile of pine firewood. I had to jam my overgrown self in against the tarp and pull branches out of the way in order to get the shot. There were a few bits of pine needles and dead grass that I picked out of the way so that streaks of white wouldn't show up in the photograph.

Many shotst that I take are what photographers refer to as "record shots", which are just fine by me, sometimes I want a record of how nature really looks. I think too much of our visual presentation of "cleaned up" scenes can create an unrealistic expectation of how nature appears. Many people who grow up in cities and who do not have much experience getting out and about in the woods and fields are disappointed when they don't find the showcased images on t.v. or in magazines. Having been influenced by fellow photographers I do try to get the "best" image, but have to watch that I don't overlook grabbing some shots of what's "really there". Sometimes those "record shots" are valuable when teaching people about where to look for things in nature, and about their real life history.

After shooting the "pretty" blue hepaticas in their nice clean setting, I wandered on up the hillside. There were bunches of white hepaticas growing in the grass...er, sedges. I took some shots of them in their "real" setting. Only after downloading the pictures did I realize that the abundant sedges surrounding the hepaticas were not a distraction to the image, but became a background pattern, and enhanced the shape of the flowers.

Tom Turkey

Couple days ago we were driving along the back roads and spotted this ol' Tom Turkey struttin' his stuff to impress a hen. They were only 20 feet from the road, he was busy trying to get the hen's attention, she paid no attention to him or my truck, she was busy turning leaves trying to find some breakfast. He puffed out feathers, waved and strutted...such a guy thing.

Went down to the park with Tanka again today, good thing I brought my camera. Several pairs of geese were wound up and fussing at each other, bullying a small flock of ring-necked ducks, and getting looks of annoyance from a pair of tundra swans.

One pair got just a little too close to another pair's territory, and a fight broke out.

A lot of pushing and shoving and biting until one of them finally gave it up and took off.

The maples are in bloom. A close examination shows a pretty frilly blossom. Didn't have my tripod with me, but managed to steady my arm using the "firewood hook" I keep in the truck to get a focused shot with the macro lens.