Insects

29Apr/120

Emerging praying mantises

Justine doing field surveys

Today we were tromping through the SCCCMA fields, doing a bird survey through the mixed agricultural fields, weedy areas and woods. While walking through some of the game commission fields, Justine happened upon a ootheca and called us over when she noticed that the praying mantises were emerging. I have never seen praying mantises quite as fresh as this batch, usually finding them when they are a day or two old and not quite as green and squishy looking.

Emerging praying mantises

Filed under: bugs, Insects, non-bird, Photography No Comments

18Jul/115

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens) – Photo Study

written by Alex Lamoreaux

In addition to birds, I am also very interested in butterflies and dragonflies. The southwestern United States, where I happen to be working right now, is a great location to see many species of dragonfly and I have added many 'lifer' dragonflies to my list, while I am out doing cuckoo surveys. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to get close to a Wandering Glider and take some up-close shots of it as it patrolled it territory. This species is not only a fairly common dragonfly throughout the United States, but is considered to be the most widespread species on the entire planet, which is why it is sometimes called the 'Globe Skimmer'! This is a somewhat large, species and is usually about 4.5cm long, with roughly an 8cm wingspan.

Wandering Glider

Wandering Glider

Wandering Glider

Wandering Glider

Filed under: General Info, Insects, Photography 5 Comments

5Apr/111

Crowned Hornbill: Moth-catching Menace

written by Alex Lamoreaux

Crowned Hornbill

A bird species I saw daily while in South Africa was the beautiful Crowned Hornbill. This hornbill species is not very secretive and it's loud, hawk-like call makes you very aware of it's presence even if you cant always see it. The Crowned Hornbill is a large bird that frequently moves around the forest canopy in groups searching for insects, reptiles, rodents, seeds, and fruits. I most often saw them hawking moths out of the sky. One day, I was able to cature this hunting method with my camera, and thought I would share it with you......

Crowned Hornbill with a moth in its sights

Closing in....

Showing off its catch to me

Crowned Hornbill with its mothy meal!

Filed under: bird sightings, Insects, South Africa 1 Comment

10Jan/110

Florida Winter Butterflies

written by Alex Lamoreaux

Most people are living in an icy winter wonderland, where no butterflies would dare to fly. But down in Florida, it stays warm enough that quite a few species are able to survive the winter. When I was down in Florida for the past 12 days I was able to find quite a few species. Most people know I love birds, but I also really enjoy finding and photographing butterflies. The following are a few species I saw during my trip.

Zebra Longwing - Florida's State Butterfly; I have seen this species on other trips to Florida, but this trip was my first chance to actually photograph it.