Cottontail and Squirrel (SCBG Driveway)

As I was driving away after the hike, I stopped to avoid hitting a rabbit in the driveway. I waited, and it moved, and then I grabbed the camera. Then I noticed a squirrel a few feet away from where it had hopped to. Once I’d taken a couple of photos, I carefully drove around them and out onto the main road.

Desert Cottontail on iNaturalist
Fox Squirrel on iNaturalist

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. …

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. Most of them were too busy flying around to stop anywhere I could catch them on camera, but there were a few that paused long enough.

#butterflies #nature #photo #MonarchButterfly

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. ...

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. ...

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I’ve been spotting monarchs lately, but haven’t caught any photos until today!

I’ve been spotting monarchs lately, but haven’t caught any photos until today!

The first #MonarchButterfly paused up in a tree. I was surprised I could get a clear shot.

The second monarch is injured. I couldn’t see that its wing was torn, but I could tell it was hurt by the way it was flapping its wings on the ground, trying and failing to fly. It did eventually take off, but it landed again soon after.

Bonus: a #MourningCloak from farther down the trail.

#butterflies #photography #nature

An orange and black butterfly perched on a twig.

An orange and black butterfly on the ground, with a torn wing.

A black or dark-brown butterfly with a white edge on its wings, perched on a leaf.

On Photog.Social
Perching Monarch on iNaturalist
Injured Monarch on iNaturalist
Mourning Cloak on iNaturalist

I managed to get out to the local botanical gardens again for a mild hike …

I managed to get out to the local botanical gardens again for a mild hike / photo walk. Large parts of the grounds are designed to look wild, though the plants are all grouped by category and labeled. Other parts are obviously manicured. I also have photos of a snail hidden in a rosemary bush and a lizard that…wasn’t very hidden!

Flickr Album: South Coast Botanic Garden

#Photography #nature #flowers #garden #lizard #snail #trees #spring

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This shot looks OK at small sizes, but at larger sizes it just looks wrong …

This shot looks OK at small sizes, but at larger sizes it just looks wrong to me. I was going for a view with the daffodils in focus and the coral tree behind them blurry, but unfortunately it’s not blurry enough to look intentional.

I took a shot with my film camera too, but I haven’t finished the roll yet, so I won’t know for a while whether that one came out better.

#fotofails #photography #garden

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