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Mating Display
Yellow-crowned Night Heron in display mode at Ocean City, New Jersey
2018_05_09_EOS 7D_6690_V1
You might remember this loving California Condor pair as they were truly my favorites of my Spring 2024 visit. For me, this heartwarming image completely matches their heartwarming story. L4 is the female of this mated pair. She was hatched in the wild, and she's now about 13 years old. Her partner K6 came from the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey. He's about a year older. A lady from the Peregrine Fund just happened to be in town and told me both had been treated independently for lead poisoning a few weeks apart. They were both released and happily reunited. Aren't they the sweetest with those head/neck feathers fluffed, and her loving gaze?
Great Blue Herons captured during a mating dance in a southern marsh. Painted using ProCreate’s watercolor brushes
Mating Ritual.
Buckeye Butterflies involved in a complicated flying and wing fluttering courting display
2019_08_30_EOS 7D_2383-Edit_V2
She usually will stretch after coming out of her den. Sometimes, (not very often) she rolls and slides across the snow.
Was out with her this morning.
I don't think she has mated again this year.
I see no sign of her being pregnant.
I was really hoping she would have some pups this spring.
She just seems to chase the males away.
It was a balmy 23 degrees.
Nice calm, quiet, mild morning.
She gave me lots of "good stuff"!
But, she is starting to shed. Not to bad, but, doing a lot of scratching.
At this time of year it won't be to long before she starts loosing her winter coat.
I am already finding little clumps of fur around her den.
Do get some interesting shots of her sitting pretty, while scratching an itch.
Camera Settings: f/6.3 - 1/200 - 451mm - ISO 800
La terra è la nostra eterna madre e donna, e come ogni donna fa, anch’essa dona qualcosa alla nostra ricchezza.
Ernst Jünger
The swan-necked head lay on the white cushions, silver fence, and a gentle smile hovered in his eyes, the cheeks still smooth, the mouth serene. Not even a sigh or a moan revealed the long ordeal of a lifetime: the little hand was looking for my head in a silent caress of blessing. "Why - he asked me - is your face pale?" » Surprised, I remained silent. But he didn't insist. And the warm breath of his sweet affection even of every pain it soothed the torment. Now I search for the scant words, but in vain, my lost Mother, the light caresses and, deep down in the secret of my soul, the clear light of your blind eyes.
Poetry by
Lea Luzzati Segre Sorrowful Mother
Even organized by: Ombre D'Arte, Associazione Culturale
Location: Villa Molin
Model: Lucretia Von Denaly
All right reserved - Marco Rossi ©
Do not use or repost it without my permission
This hard working chap was performing what I thought was a mating dance - however it could have been a terrirtorial dispute ?
At Cromwell Bottom local nature reserve, Brighouse
The female damselfly is laying her eggs. Mating season for the Damselflies in our pond has begun. Just last week the nymphs emerged from the pond water to shed their skin and become colorless damselflies. As the young damselfly matures it will gain a beautiful color. The adult damselfly only lives one to three months; its main job is to find a mate and continue the life cycle.
See the photo below of the damselflies mating. It starts with the male damselfly grasping the female with his abdominal claspers. The same species of damselfly with fit like a lock and key.
Copulation can take from several minutes to several hours depending on the species. The male damselfly stays in tandem with the female while she lays her eggs. I watched as the red damselfly gently carried his bride to an inviting lily-pad.
This dedicated female damselfly, pictured above, was moving her abdomen every which way to try and find the water.
If the female damselfly could not find water to lay her eggs she would straighten her abdomen as if to signal lift off to her partner. The male Damselfly would gently lift her to another location.
Female damselflies normally use a bladelike ovipositor to place eggs inside plant tissue. From previous years I have seen the larva of the damselflies underneath the lily pads. When you turn the lily pad over you will see lines and markings with the damselfly eggs.
After about three weeks the young damselfly nymphs emerge and live underwater, insatiably feeding on small aquatic animals like tadpoles, mosquito larvae and just about anything it can get a hold of.
The damselfly and dragonfly nymphs are completely predatory, and not vegetarians at all.
As the female damselfly lays her eggs she is also supplying a healthy meal for our fish. We have three large goldfish, some say Koi, that will feast on the nymphs all year. During this mating season I do not have to add any fish food to the pond.
Many successive molts take place over a period of eleven months before the final nymphal stage is reached. The mature dragonfly nymph crawls out of the water onto a rock or plant stem during the night or early morning hours.
The nymphal skin splits dorsally and the winged damselfly adult pulls itself out to become fully expanded. It will take several days before it reaches top flight capacity.
Damselflies have been used as indicator species for assessing habitat and water quality in a variety of wetlands, natural water in forests, and lakeshore habitats around the world. Studies indicate they are one of our most beneficial insects.
I uploaded a different shot of this pair this summer. For most of the time I watched them, their antennae were laid against their backs, but here a bee buzzed by (cropped out, but just visible at upper left) and they raised them momentarily. If anything the raised antennae make them more "spiky" than usual. (To finish out 2019 I spent a day making collage photos, and I needed this shot since I cropped the other one extra horizontal. I could have gone to the original of the other shot, but chose instead to upload this new one.)
I have disabled the comments... because I post too much... but thank everyone that came to take a look!!
Enjoy the day and new month!!!
This was a first for me, mating leopard slugs hanging from the back of our summer house. There was a lot of slime involved and long blue genitalia (entwined at the bottom of my photo).
Explored September 1st, 2020
Taken with a Huawei mate 10 lite
Sorry for my absence. Will be back Saturday the 1 of June.
Going to Copenhagen Thursday
Meadow Hawks, in the wheel, Upstate NY. This is an interesting late season dragonfly, which is still busy into the fall, while the Darners are swarming and heading for migration. One of the coolest sights is to see hundreds or perhaps more of these in mating/egg laying swarms in a prime location on a sudden warm day in the season. The mating methods of dragonflies are very extreme and well worth a read up. The mating parts of the male is used to first scoop out a competitors sperm which is why they spend so much time attached or guarding partners close by.
Mable was waiting for food. I opened the front door, and when I raised the camera, she looked into the lens like this. ("Where is my breakfast? Or shall I eat your cam?!")
"Insects in the subfamily Phymatinae are commonly called ambush bugs after their habit of lying in wait for prey, relying on their superb camouflage. Armed with raptorial forelegs, ambush bugs routinely capture prey ten or more times their own size. They form a subgroup within the assassin bugs." Wikipedia
Mating Wheel bugs (Reduviidae -- Arilus cristatus). Mt. Pleasant, Howard County Conservancy, Maryland.
I can't resist trying to capture a mating pair and these Common Blue Damsel Flies posed for a while.
House finches are monogamous, meaning they form pairs for breeding. Male finches actively seek mates by performing courtship displays, including singing and performing a "butterfly flight". Females tend to be drawn to males with bright red coloration, which indicates good health and foraging ability.
Males also feed the female (courtship feeding) and guard her from other males. Females also assess other factors, such as the male's courtship displays and singing abilities. Once a pair is established, the female builds a nest, usually made of grasses, hair, or other available fibers.
Click on the photo for best view or L + F11
In summer, the male looks very similar to the female, only during the mating season (winter to spring) the male puts on his greenish shimmering plumage.
When mating, the female is grabbed by the tuft and pushed under water
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