Flutterby

When I get bored with not finding any exciting photo ops, I always turn to messing around with Photoshop.

Macro Monarch

Birding has been quite slow, so insects have been the focus lately. The milkweed blooms are still producing plenty of food for butterflies. This time of the year is great for Monarchs, which are starting to hatch from their cocoons.

Click for a close up inspection!

Something Different

Just for a change of pace, I converted this photo to a black and white and liked how it came out.

Insects!

Now that Goose Lake Prairie is in full bloom, there are plenty of butterflies to be had. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was being bullied by the Monarchs. It could not feed for very long before a monarch would come over and divebomb him until he left.







There were plenty of Monarchs on hand.







Milkweed bugs are similar in appearance to Box Elder bugs. Milkweed bugs are one of a small group of insects that have the ability to tolerate the toxic compounds in the milkweed plant. They are therefore important in regulating populations of this plant.







Milkweed bugs are colored orange (or orange-red) and black. They have a long proboscis which they use to pierce the seed and inject salivary enzymes used to digest their food. This couple was rudely interrupted by a certain local nature paparazzi.




I don't know what this lil creature is, but he was pretty cute for ummm, a bug!