July 4th Photo Safari

This summer included a long trip up north but stories and photos from that trip will be added later.  Instead this blog post is devoted to our Overland Park Arboretum visit on July 4th.  We've been members of the arboretum since moving to OP three years back and have made many visits in search of birds in winter and summer, insects, have given the girls photo challenges in the past, and even had them write about their experiences there. During this visit the girls wanted cameras and chose their own direction; Christine and I were left to watch and enjoy their creative spirits.

Turtles caught their eyes first.

 

(Top L to R) False Map Turtle, Red-Eared Slider, and Ouachita Map Turtle
(Bottom L to R) Red-Eared Slider and Spiny Softshell Turtle
  

The four different species of turtles were sunning and near the boardwalk, where the girls joined others in looking at turtles and fish in the water.

 

Danielle decided it was a good idea to get up close, while Michaela laid out to shoot an Eastern Amberwing.

Here are Danielle's videos below. 

Butterflies were out as well!

We all took photos of butterflies, which were spread throughout the Arboretum. 

 

(Top L to R) Silver-spotted Skipper and Sleepy Orange
(Bottom L to R) Horace's Duskywing, Clouded Sulfer, and Monarch
  

Fairy Houses are there also!!

Christine and the girls have created fairy houses the past couple of years as admission to the Renaissance Festival, we walked through the Enchanted Forest to get ideas.  As fate would have it we started the girl's versions this weekend when the neighbors trimmed some trees.

 

Pictures to use as ideas and inspiration.
 

Photo ops!!!

It is fun to take pictures of the girls, but somehow their smiles show up so much easier when they are taking photos as well.

 

They are getting big!

Powell Gardens

Last weekend Grandpa Mike and Grandma Cindy visited and helped us settle into the new rental unit and work on a few projects. We were quite successful with the projects; the girls love their new play table downstairs, the house is quite cooler, we love having correct wiring so the ceiling fan works properly, and we upgraded the TV as a result. Between projects we played games and attended the Festival of Butterflies, our first visit to Powell Gardens.

 

The Lego exhibits throughout the gardens were AWESOME!!

The gardens were wonderful and the special attraction was the butterflies. Informative and entertaining exhibits were throughout the gardens and the girls enjoyed taking photos of as many butterflies as they could.

  

 

Blue Morpho, Queen, Giant Swallowtail, Monarch and Pipevine Swallowtail (Left to Right, Top then Bottom rows)

The Monarch Watch tent allowed the girls to touch caterpillars and they watched a Monarch Butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. The girls also played with arts and crafts, finding the air conditioned inside a relief from the outside heat.

  

  

I love how these pictures seemingly reveal their "natural" smiles.

Arboretum Photos Part 3

During the past six years as a birder, my interests in butterflies, dragonflies, and other animals have grown. This seems to be common among conservationists, as an interest in one area often sparks interests in others. I love birds personally! Insects, especially butterflies, are a growing interest however. Guides, books, and hobbyists all seem to gear toward this overlap.

Similar to my past with birds, I am learning how to identify species by taking pictures and studying them at home. Below are select insect photos I've taken over this past month at the Overland Park Arboretum. You can click on each of them to see larger, more detailed versions. The Arboretum is fairly close and has become a common photo destination for me individually and with the family. 

Skippers are currently my favorite family of butterflies. They exhibit quick, darting flight are usually fairly small and orange or brown in color. Some species prefer to rest with their wings shut while others rest with wings perfectly flat or partially spread.

   
The Fiery skipper (left) and Tawny-edged skipper (right) often rest with wings together.
    

The Delaware skipper (left) and Horace's Duskywing (right) hold their wings differently at rest.

Unlike most bird species, many insects are well-behaved photography subjects and remain fairly still. They also tend to stick around in the same general area rather than flying away. Having stationary objects allows me to practice photography techniques in addition to studying the species. One technique I attempt to increase sharpness and appearance of digital photos is focal stacking, where multiple images are merged together.  Essentially it takes the good portions of each photo to make one master composite that is better than each of the individual pieces. This technique is particularly useful with macro photography where a small subject is close to the camera. This technique allows for great detail by overcoming the limits of normal lenses. The Eastern-tailed Blue photo below is an example where I used focal stacking as one frame did not have the tip of the flower, tip of the antenna, wings, tail, eye, or flower pedal all in focus. Instead I used 10 different photos and put them together in the digital darkroom. 

Brush footed Butterflies are a diverse family of butterflies named for the adult butterfly's front pair of legs that are modified into two small "brushes". This family is one that often draws my attention with their color and size.

   

The Great Spangled Fritillary (left) and Question Mark (right) are species within this family.

This Painted Lady was seen on Sunday of this past weekend after watching a juvenile Green Heron. The other butterfly photo from that excursion was the above Fiery skipper.

In my search for butterflies, other species and families often appear. The Snowberry Clearwing is a member of the sphinx moth family with big and sometimes colorful relatives. The girls often think they are bees at first based on color and size. Sphinx moths appear to dart in and out of flowers like hummingbirds as well, and are a joy to watch. Capturing a sharp photo of anything in flight remains elusive and seems to be a challenge requiring more time.  

Someday I'll expand my quests outside of Lepidoptera (Moths and Butterflies), but so far I have limited experience and photographs. Dang spiders seem cool!

This Green Stink Bug walked to the edge of the leaf and paused before taking flight.

While butterflies receive much attention due to color, other families receive much less.
This Jumping Spider may be Phidippus clarus.

Arboretum Photos Part 1

A 3rd Nikon DSLR for us, photo from last month!!

It is somewhat crazy how one's own decision making easily changes. Take for instance this weekend. 

I often intend to spend time in nature aware of my surroundings, studying my surroundings, and opening my senses to the experiences around me. Other times I chase a reported bird sighting, where it may be the first time I've seen that species or one I've seen before but am interested in seeing again. Less often I target specific bird species by searching appropriate habitat, or lastly I grab a camera with hopes of catching a good photo or two.  Many of those reasons disappear partially or completely when the girls are with. 

This Labor Day weekend I asked the girls to complete a rainbow challenge. The intent was to have the take a photo of an animal of each color of the rainbow. We returned to the Overland Park Arboretum in search of the birds, insects, reptiles, arachnids, and amphibians variety we had seen earlier this summer. Before we left the car however, the girls had decided it would be too tough to find anything purple or blue, and instead modified their challenge to find five different colors. They were great sports and spent the better part of an hour in their search.

I'm not sure what she was taking a picture of here.

Below are Danielle's photos.

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Painted Lady, species from my two favorite classes of animals.

    

Three Skipper sp. butterfly photos.

A Cricket Frog and Grasshopper sp. from the sidewalk.

  

A Fly (Villa Sp) and Arachnid (Harvestman sp perhaps Leiobunum vittatum)

Christine pointed out this hiding Five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) to Danielle. 

Below are Michaela's photos.

  

The Goldenrod Soldier Beetles (Chauliognathus Pennsylvanicus) were everywhere, as were ants.

    

A Black-legged Meadow Katydid and two Skipper Butterfly species.

  

A Cabbage White Butterfly and another visitor to the Hummingbird feeder.

It is fun to watch the girls notice things, slow down to take pictures, and to look through them on the computer afterwards.  Their perspective is quite different than mine. I did not get many photos on this day, beyond the one below. I did not quite get my fill of the surroundings either, but I can always go back again for myself.