Silver-spotted Skipper - Hespérie à taches argentées
I spent some time this past summer trying to learn how better to secure images of pollinators of all kinds. That project was motivated by my sunrise walks down an abandoned road southeast of Ottawa, where overgrown wildflowers grew in thick and deep bunches on the sides of the road, and where butterflies and moths and bees and wasps spent the first light re-energizing for the new day.
The subjects of the photographs had a lot more freedom to drift away from the road to the wild meadows than I had - old fences and thick vegetation kept me pretty hemmed in. That meant having to get creative in most cases, which was part of learning how to manage the situation. I really liked this image, shot through a wall of vegetation to find the Skipper - not an especially exotic one for people who know these creatures - who was drinking from the wildflower.
This activity and the many early mornings it entailed was a response to the impact of the pandemic on birding and bird photography. Most of my usual places had not adjusted particularly well to the changed circumstances, and so the solitary mornings were just what the public health officials ordered.
I really hope everyone is safe and has a great holiday break. I now know people (healthcare workers) who are scheduled to be vaccinated shortly in Ottawa so things are slowly moving forward - please take care.
And many sincere thanks to the people who look at, like and/or comment on my images. I really appreciate the connection. I spend a lot of my free time looking at and learning from others, but this is an amazing community, and it offers a lot to me in different ways - especially with the superb images people are posting. So: many thanks, and stay safe.
Silver-spotted Skipper - Hespérie à taches argentées
I spent some time this past summer trying to learn how better to secure images of pollinators of all kinds. That project was motivated by my sunrise walks down an abandoned road southeast of Ottawa, where overgrown wildflowers grew in thick and deep bunches on the sides of the road, and where butterflies and moths and bees and wasps spent the first light re-energizing for the new day.
The subjects of the photographs had a lot more freedom to drift away from the road to the wild meadows than I had - old fences and thick vegetation kept me pretty hemmed in. That meant having to get creative in most cases, which was part of learning how to manage the situation. I really liked this image, shot through a wall of vegetation to find the Skipper - not an especially exotic one for people who know these creatures - who was drinking from the wildflower.
This activity and the many early mornings it entailed was a response to the impact of the pandemic on birding and bird photography. Most of my usual places had not adjusted particularly well to the changed circumstances, and so the solitary mornings were just what the public health officials ordered.
I really hope everyone is safe and has a great holiday break. I now know people (healthcare workers) who are scheduled to be vaccinated shortly in Ottawa so things are slowly moving forward - please take care.
And many sincere thanks to the people who look at, like and/or comment on my images. I really appreciate the connection. I spend a lot of my free time looking at and learning from others, but this is an amazing community, and it offers a lot to me in different ways - especially with the superb images people are posting. So: many thanks, and stay safe.