I was deep in the woods and came to a wetland where there were so many frogs hanging around. I saw a green heron in the opposite side of the pool. Walking through the high grass, I finally settled down next to the pool and waited and waited and waited. Finally the Green Heron walked away from me and started squeaking and then up in the air another one flew and I was lucky enough to catch the shot. I came back the next day and got a few more. They are such photogenic birds.
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I'm here on Bird Island in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean east of Tanzania. Truly a tropical island and a bird lover's paradise. I'm here with two of my favorite photographers, Denise Ippolito and Paul McKenzie. It is hotter than hot (at least 100 degrees most days), totally humid, bugs galore, but the photographic opportunities are incredible. Here's a few of what we've found so far.
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| Sooty Tern Greeting |
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| Sooty Tern - Tonsil Check |
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| Seychelles Small Day Gecko - Look at those eyes!! |
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| Tortoise at Sunrise on the Beach |
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| Tiny Hermit Crab at Dawn |
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| Talking to the Blue Crab |
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| Fairy Tern Showing me her egg!!!! |
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| Baby Fairy Tern waiting for Mom |
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| Giant Tortoise - Could be over 100 years old |
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| Blue Crab - My Favorite |
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| Momma Fairy Tern feeding a fish to her baby |
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| Noddy Terns in the Boudoir |
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| Fruit Still Life |
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| Tropic Bird - Look at that Tail |
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| Noddy Tern with Nesting Material |
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| Noddy Terns in Love |
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| Noddy Tern and Red Flower |
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| Another of Mom and Babe Fairy Tern |
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| Baby Noddy Tern |
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Brand new bug for me. And not such a good one. I learned that they hang around flowers that wasps like. Then the female beetle lays her eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae are carried by the wasp to their own nests. "Instead of eating both the wasp's egg and the pollen stored in the nest, the wedge-shaped beetle larva waits for the host's egg to hatch, then burrows into the wasp larva. It consumes the larva from the inside for a while, then rips its way out of its still-living host, wraps itself around the poor host's neck like a spiny collar, and proceeds to eat away at its victim from the outside, eventually killing it." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity). Oh what a world!
I got up early one morning this week and drove out to my favorite bug field in Valley Forge. Oh, it was so good. They are all young bugs for the most part. Tiny and difficult to see, but they still have all their body parts. Here's what I found: First the Ambush Bug. The ambush bug looks a little like a flower and hides on the side of a plant or on top of a flower and grabs his prey with his huge forearms.
Then next was the Jumping Spider. If you look closely you can see a reflection of my macro lens in each of his four front eyes.
Then came this imposter: The Camouflage Looper Inch Worm. He is a regular inchworm except that he bites off the flowers he is eating and using his spit, he glues the flowers onto his body to act as camouflage to his predators.
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| Bunny in the Front Yard |
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| Fawn in the High Grass |
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| Baby Slug in the Morning |
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| Bluebirds Before the Babies Arrive |
Tom and I arrived in Slovenia a few days ago and we are exploring this beautiful little jewel of a country in the Balkans. Here we are at Josip Tito's summer house overlooking Lake Bled. See far in the distance is Bled Castle. More to come.
It was a spectacular day for the warblers return to Valley Forge. Here are a few photos from today.
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
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| Yellow Rumped Warbler |
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| White Eyed Vireo |
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| Northern Perula |
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| Northern Perula |
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| Northern Perula |
