Long-tailed Skipper

I've been calling these guys long-wing skippers but their actual name is a long-tailed skipper. This one is called Urbanus Proteus. I've seen some long-tails that are as large as a small monarch. Seen is the operative word as these butterflies are very shy. Movement seems to spook long-tails more so than other butterflies.

I was photographing bees when the skipper showed up. I just froze and waited for it to move to a flower where I could get a shot in. A lot of butterflies are methodical in that they will feed on several blooms if nothing disturbs them. I can move my arms, the camera, but shifting position for a better angle is not good. The less movement the better on my part.

Ended up with six frames of this guy. This was the last as I'd gotten several shots dead center frame and I liked the look of that little zinnia in the background. Always comes round to backgrounds with me. Wish I had better light but I'm still under clouds for the most part. More rain tomorrow.

tags: photo butterfly long-tailed skipper

Feline Friday

Harley hanging out in the yard this past Wednesday. Yard cat is back on patrol although it's more like a "watch" than an active patrol. Harley has put on some weight and since his return I've not found bird remains like I used to find. Probably for the best. Bumper crop of doves this fall season.

Welcome to Feline Friday, time to share the felines in our lives!

Last week we saw Abby, the Mighty Huntress, watching the birds. Armand shared a photo of a Sumatran Tiger. Phinney introduces us to Magic, a manx cat without a tail! Midnight was showing Halloween with glowing eyes. A new arrival in Arizona as Eclipse welcomes Trinity to the family. Kenz posed with a pumpkin! Maria shared a photo of a cat who moonlights as a watchdog.

Great bunch of cats along with new puppy, Trinity!

All you have to do to play along with Feline Friday is update your Journal/Blog with a feline update. Show off your cat in pictures or share a cat tale! You can post your cat story in comments if you'd like. Leave a link back to your Journal/Blog in comments. If you would like to guest host a Friday just post in comments!

tags: photo cat feline friday

Yesterday's Monarch

The rains came today and tonight with the passage of yet another cool front. Turning out to be a great fall with mild temps early and lots of rain although I'm weeks away from seeing fall colors. Yellow Cosmos is still blooming away so I've a good chance of adding to my butterfly shot total this weekend if I get the weather.

Very doubtful on the weather. Feline Friday tomorrow and I've got photo of Harley cat from yesterday's shoot as well. Pickle is bouncing off the walls with all the rain this week. Poor cat, his porch is flooded tonight and thunder scares him. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday as it's been a very long week.

tags: photo butterfly monarch

The Sunlight Returns

So much for my rain break from the camera. Instead of rain today it turned out to be very nice. I'm still expecting clouds and rain through Sunday though. Great shots at noon today. The anole was a surprise as it darted into the sunlight for a few frames after I spotted it in the shade. Below is a Skipper butterfly in-flight. It's actually leaving the Zinnia as I spooked it while going for a super macro. 50% chance of rain tomorrow so I'm holding today's monarch shot for a rainy day.


tags: photo anole butterfly

Gulf Fritillary

From last week as it rained for most of the day. Looks like conditions might improve tomorrow although I don't think I'll see cloud free skies for a while. Partly cloudy around here often means more cloud shadows than I care to deal with. Give me clear sky sunshine so I can just shoot!

Finishing up my computer buy research. Looks like I'm going to get a new Dell in a few weeks. I don't wanna build one plus I'm getting tired of buying or carrying over parts, CRT monitors on the old PCs. A complete new system with 19" flat screen monitor is what I want.

I have another round of blog template tweaks planned. A couple are tedious changes with blogger conditional tags. I'm not looking forward to spending a few hours with CSS and HTML but I should tackle those tweaks while the weather keeps me from shooting tons of photos.

tags: photo butterfly gulf fritillary

Quality is Job One

Apparently the Houston Chronicle on Sunday published a crossword puzzle that was not correct. I don't pay much attention to this part of the paper so the error did not frustrate me. Nothing like an unsolvable riddle passing for entertainment curtsey of the Houston Comical.

My run of good weather has come to an end. I'm not too depressed as I've shot hundreds of photos lately. If it were not for the newsprint folly, I'd be posting some unblogged shots this evening. I'm way behind on my photo indexing, reviews and most importantly backing up the original files to CD. A week of rain and clouds will let me get my photos squared away.

On the subject of quality and newsprint. Time magazine has a unique cover photo for it's October 16th issue. A true classic. Worth framing.

tags: photo newspaper error correction

Anole Hunting

The Yellow Cosmos attracts butterflies and that attracts critters who eat bugs. I've been looking for the anoles in the cosmos but until today I had not spotted a single one. This guy was in a perfect spot to leap onto a bloom to catch a feeding butterfly. I waited for a while but the hunt did not play out for my camera. Best weekend with the camera I've had in ages.

Have a great week ahead!

tags: photo anole

Gulf Fritillary Day

This morning turned out to be a butterfly morning! I had three Gulf Fritillaries fluttering about and I was able to get two butterflies in a single frame more than once. None of those turned out very well as I was not prepared for two butterflies in a shot! Each time it happened while I was shooting I was too close.

Butterflies tend to check each other out. One butterfly would be calmly feeding, easy shot for me, and then a second butterfly would just fly right into the other! There is a point where I commit to my shot with a distance and angle on a subject. Anything that happens in frame after I compose often catches me by surprise. Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I don't.


tags: photo butterfly gulf fritillary