Tag: Photo on Flickr

Some butterflies spotted the other day while hiking.

Some #butterflies spotted the other day while hiking. A gulf fritillary (orange), some kind of blue, possibly a marine blue (tiny with brown wings and a blue body), and possibly a cloudless sulphur (yellow).

The blues are always hard to spot because they’re so small, and the sulphurs just don’t want to pause most of the time. But the fritillaries are more willing to stop, and there were SO MANY of them at the gardens on Monday.

#nature #photo #butterfly

A yellow butterfly with a few dark spots perched on a small red flower with its wings closed.

A bright orange butterfly with narrow black stripes and a few white spots outlined in black, perched on wide green leaves with its wings open.

A very small butterfly with brown wings and blue body perched on a plant with crinkly green leaves.

On Photog.Social

Maybe a cloudless sulphur? Whatever it is, these yellow ones hardly ever pause long enough for me to take a picture.

Sulphur? on iNaturalist

There were so. many. fritillaries.

Fritillary on iNaturalist (tighter crop)

Blue on iNaturalist (tighter crop)

Hungry Squirrel / Guard Duty

I went to the same park again today. I spotted a Fox Squirrel eating a pine cone in a tree elsewhere in the park, and a California Ground Squirrel standing guard outside the enclosure’s chain link fence.

Seriously, it. did. not. move. for several minutes while another ground squirrel ran inside the fence and waited, and I moved to a better angle for photos, until it abruptly turned around and ran through or under the fence.

#squirrel #photo #nature

A brownish squirrel with a bushy tail perched on a pine tree branch and eating a cone.

A light gray squirrel with a mottled coat standing up in the grass in front of a fence, looking into the distance.

On Photog.Social
Fox squirrel on iNaturalist
Ground Squirrel on iNaturalist
Another Ground Squirrel on iNaturalist

California ground squirrels looking out from their burrows and climbing around on the tree stumps.

A week later, all the weeds in the enclosure where I saw the hawk have been cleared out and the feral palm trees cut down.

That’s probably why I was able to get a clear view of some of the ground squirrels, looking out from their burrows and climbing around on the tree stumps.

#squirrel #nature #photo

A California Ground Squirrel, light brown and gray, poking its head out of a burrow surrounded by dried grass.

Two ground squirrels, light brown and gray, with mottled patterns on their backs and narrow tails, sitting on a palm tree stump.

On Photog.Social

At the same park where I spotted a Cooper’s Hawk and a ground squirrel a week or two ago, in a fenced-off area around a pair of electric transmission towers. Since then, all the weeds and feral palm trees have been cleared out, leaving nearly bare ground, but the squirrels are still there, climbing around on the stumps and burrowing.

Single squrirel on iNaturalist
Pair of squirrels on iNaturalist

Cooper’s Hawk on a Fence

I startled a ground squirrel while looking for something that was chirping in a fenced-off area of a park with a pair of transmission towers.

The squirrel hid, but this hawk – which I suspect was looking for the squirrel – flew out and perched on the fence for a few minutes before flying up to one of the lower struts on the nearer tower.

A brown and white hawk with a yellow hooked beak and hellow talons perched on a narrow beam against a blue sky.

A brown and white hawk perched on a chain link fence, seen roughly on a level, with blurry trees and telephone poles in the background.

#photo #birds #nature #hawk #CoopersHawk

On Photog.Social

I heard repeated chirping from a fenced-off area of a park with a pair of transmission towers. As I got closer, I couldn’t spot a bird doing the chirping, but I did see a ground squirrel hiding under a small palm tree. I took a photo from a distance, then moved closer, at which point I startled the squirrel, which ran into one of the holes, and also a hawk, which flew from who knows where inside the fenced area to the edge of the fence. I was able to walk around and get some nice clear shots of the hawk, both as it sat on the fence and after it flew up onto one of the lower struts of the nearer tower.

On iNaturalist

Some butterflies from an exhibit, including a banded orange, a postman, an two morphos…

Some #butterflies from an exhibit, including a banded orange, a postman, an two morphos (they had SO many morphos)…

one of which decided to land on my leg and stay there. They had made it clear that we were not to touch the butterflies so as not to damage the wings with skin oils, so when it still hadn’t left after a couple of minutes, I asked a staff member to remove it, and they coaxed it away with a sponge brush soaked in gatorade.

#photo #nature

On Photog.Social

We have a flock – or more likely several flocks – of feral parakeets in town. I saw these two going after the sunflowers in someone’s front yard.

Mostly green - two green birds perched on the back of a mature sunflower stalk with broad leaves, leaning over to get at the seeds.

A bright green bird seen from below against a blue sky, perched on a cable, grooming its wing.

We have a flock – or more likely several flocks – of feral parakeets in town. I saw these two going after the sunflowers in someone's front yard. #birds

On PixelFed.Social
On iNaturalist (1)

On iNaturalist (2)

Some florespondence from last weekend’s walk at the botanic gardens.

Some #florespondence from last weekend’s walk at the botanic gardens.

I didn’t write down what the yellow flower is, but iNat suggests it’s Senna didymobotrya, a cassia native to Africa.

The magnolia was a popular nectar spot: every single flower that I could see had multiple bees crawling around in it.

#flowers #plants #nature #photo

Stalk with bright yellow flowers against a blurry background of green shrubs with red flowers, trees and sky.

Closeup of a large white bowl-like flower with at least three bees in it, and broad green leaves.

On Photog.Social