Curious Flicker

Good afternoon everyone!  I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here.  I have missed both writing my posts and reading yours.  Another project has kept me pretty tied up lately.  I haven't been taking many photos lately, so nothing new to post here.  However, I'm behind on posting my summer snapshots.  Like these- taken a few months back, shortly after the rat snake invaded the Red-bellied Woodpeckers nest in this tree.  A Northern Flicker decided to investigate the nest site and spent several hours going back and forth to it.  Was he considering raising a family in this spot?  I prayed not, for fear of a repeat snake attack.  (These shots taken at a distance with my old 300 mm zoom lens, so the results aren't tack-sharp)

He checked the spot out thoroughly, scoping the scene in all directions.  Eventually he crawled inside the hole and sat there for several minutes.  Fortunately, he decided the spot wasn't suitable enough and left.  I haven't seen him at this tree since.  

I love the feather patterns and colors of Northern Flickers- so pretty.  They're even more beautiful in flight when the bright yellow (or red, depending on species) underside of their wings are visible. 

Hope your Thursday is going well.  Thank you for peeping in!

Super Excited About My New Camera Lens!

Hi Everyone!  It's been weeks since I've posted on my blog.  My internet service has been horrible latetly!  I get a connection for one to two minutes then lose it.  I've never had worse internet connections than this one.  I'm planning to check into more options next week.  

Now for my good news- I now have a new camera lens, hooray!  I received my Sigma 150-600 mm Contemporary lens a couple days ago.  The Canon 100-400 mm was on my wish list for a while, but the Sigma was more affordable and I think it will serve my purpose.  

I tried the new lens out today while there were so many hummingbirds present at the feeders. I've been waiting for the crowd to show up because autumn is approaching.  They suddenly appeared yesterday morning- at least a dozen of them, ready to devour the sugar water.  I accommodated them by refilling the feeders and even adding a couple more.  

The Sigma lens is pretty heavy (4.3 lbs) so I had some difficulty shooting with it hand-held, but even so, the photos aren't too bad considering the speedy subjects.  A Manfrotto 393 support bracket is on its way to me so I'm anxious to see how well the lens does when mounted on a tripod.  

Hopefully my internet connection will improve soon and I'll be able to post more often.  It seems to take forever to upload photos.  I become really annoyed while trying to pay some of my bills online, ugh!!!  

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts.  I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and a great week!  

Coneflowers

One of my favorite and most hardy late summer plants is the Coneflower.   These have survived the stifling heat wave that gripped the south a couple weeks ago.  Fortunately we've had some relief with frequent rain showers the past few days.  

I hope your weekend is a good one.  I'm off work this weekend, so I plan to get caught up on some much needed house cleaning.  Thank you for visiting ;)

Summertime Hummers

We've had 2 to 3 little hummingbirds hanging around this entire summer.  At times I've seen up to 6 or 7 of them fighting over the feeders.  I haven't taken many photos yet.  I'm waiting to see if the feeders become more crowded within the next couple of months, particularly during September when fall migration begins.  Last year there was a feeding frenzy at the feeders during that period- up to 4 dozen of these tiny birds at once!  It can be challenging to capture good shots of the hummers on my back porch due to the areas of bright sun vs dark shade.  

I haven't been around much lately- working quite a bit these days.  I hope you are all doing well.  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some cooler weather.  Temperatures here have been in the upper 90's and lower 100's with a heat index of 110-120- now that's HOT!  Many of my plants have succumbed to the unbearable heat.  However, it was cooler today, at last some temporary relief.  I was able to sit on the back porch for a little while without becoming drenched in sweat.  

Have a great week everyone!  :)

Bush Katydids

While scanning the flower garden with my camera lens, I spotted something move on the Blue Salvia.   I stepped in and zoomed closer.  Through the lens I saw a couple itsy bitsy insects, one tinier than the other, with super long antennae.  It was the antennae moving that had, seconds before then, caught my attention.  Were these young grasshoppers?  I wondered.

A quick look online informed me that these are nymph katydids.  More than likely, they are fork-tailed bush katydids, the most widespread katydids in the U.S. 

These little nymphs will lose their colors as they grow, with the exception of green.  I had seen the adult katydids before but didn't know the difference between them and grasshoppers.  

I found a couple interesting web sites about katydids- Bug Eric's blog (click here for the link) and Bug of the Week (click here).   

I hope your week gets off to a great start!  Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  

Patience

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet" 

~ Aristotle

Eastern Bluebird

July 2015

Brief Season of Liatris Spicata

For a few weeks the lavender colored blooms of Liatris spicata attracted all sorts of insects to my back yard garden.  Butterflies and bees particularly enjoyed it.  I grew these plants from corms then transplanted them to my garden during early spring.  They grew rapidly and required little care. Little did I know that the field across the road would be full of Liatris spicata blooms!  I may just dig some of those plants up and bring them to my garden next year.  

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope your summer is going well. 

It's been a busy, busy one for me- I need some time off to catch my breath!