Photos under the Sun

Southwest Florida Pet and Wildlife Photography

Tag Archives: Wildlife

Odd Duck Day (Two)

Thursday, August 12, 2010 Posted in Wildlife

Shhhhh! Getting close to butterflies is difficult and it is even more difficult to photograph them. Over time, I’ve learned that I have to approach very quietly if a butterfly lands on a flower, like this one here:

Luckily, this one (a Swallowtail) hung around and sniffed the flowers for quite a while. I was able to get quite a few shots with several wing poses. That way, I could admire the beautiful colors on his immense wings:

If you want to capture butterflies in flight, you’ll need a fast lens. In the past, I’ve managed to capture some with a shutter speed of 1,000 and a decent range in my depth of field. Today’s cameras offer high ISOs with little or no noise so, it’s much easier to capture these dancing sprites. I’m dreaming of the day when I’ll have such a camera with a 3,000mm lens that weighs an ounce!!!! Yeah, laugh all you want!! I CAN dream, can’t I? Meanwhile, take a look at these lovelies that were shot at a shutter speed of 400–hence the blur:

Look at this little one here–its antennas (sorry, cannot remember the correct term :{-) are so cute:

Butterflies love Lantana and Porterweed, so if you can, grow some in a pot or in the ground and they’ll come! Monarchs are very drawn to Tropical Milkweed, too. As I write this, I can see 4 or 5 wafting around my butterfly garden. I try to capture them backlit if the moment arises, like this one here:

So, everyone, I hope you have a lovely weekend and manage to see some butterflies along the way! Here’s a little music to inspire you

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I’m Back in the Land of Blogging!

Saturday, July 24, 2010 Posted in Music, Wildlife

Yes, I know—it has been a while. My last post was Friday, June 25^th and it featured the first episode of Neptune the Osprey Becomes a Daddy. Photographing the last pictures of that post coincided with the discovery of Blurb—a self-publishing company. I made a deadline for myself to get a book done which involved following the progression of the Osprey chicks over a period of 5 weeks. Doing this and laying out the book took up most of my free time. So, please click on the link below to take a look at it. It’s best to view the book in full screen mode. And, please leave a comment.

And We Wait…

By Patricia Downey

Book Preview

You can preview the book by clicking here.

As far as this blog is concerned, I’m going to introduce a few additions. With few exceptions, the posts up to now have been comprised of stories and while these will continue (there are a few in the works), I’ll be adding a regular feature and some random shots throughout the week. It takes time to produce a theme and photos that fit into the particular story so that it doesn’t always get done within a 7-day time-frame. Here’s an outline of what you’ll be seeing on a regular basis:

1) Gulf Watch

It has taken me a long time to put this topic up. I’ve made allusions to it but it’s been a difficult road. So many people are on this train–most of them decent people who care deeply about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They are reporting and/or working endlessly to alleviate the terrible impact the oil spill has had on the people, wildlife, ecology, way of life, and daily bread of several states. However, there has been so much coverage on the oil spill, I didn’t want to add to the clamor. But I can’t not speak about it because I live in southwest Florida near the Gulf. For the past three years, I’ve done my photography almost exclusively on the Gulf’s wildlife so, I’m duty-bound to talk about it. Gulf Watch will include images and musings on what I see around the Gulf of Mexico.

2) Odd Duck Day

Sometimes images don’t fit a particular theme or story but I’d still like to share them. Here’s a wildlife example:

[caption id="attachment_2106" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=" The day was going swimmingly well for Maury the Roseate Spoonbill when, all of a sudden, he had the urgent thought: 'What if I'd been born in Paris instead of Southwest Florida?'""]

[/caption]

So, come back soon and often and enjoy. Here’s a little music. Yeah, I know—I’ve posted the same one before but honestly, can you EVER get enough of this? ;D

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Everything Deserves a Second Chance

Friday, June 11, 2010 Posted in Music, Wildlife

While I was searching through some of my files I came across a series of images that I thought I should delete. Technically, they left much to be desired but going through them, they cheered me up immensely. I’m sure you all know by now that I’m daft about wildlife and I can spend HOURS poring through images that are, well, a bit on the goofy side.

In the following series two juvenile Great Blue Herons are entertained by the goings-on of two Great Egrets:

[caption id="attachment_2035" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? Wha'? "]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2038" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? Wha' the? "]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2039" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? Wha' the heck? ""]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2040" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Hola, y'all!""]

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The feathers started puffing and swirling; the squawking reached a billion decibels; and one curious little Juvie Great Blue Heron got caught in the middle of the melee and could not believe his eyes:

[caption id="attachment_2042" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""I want my Mommy!!!""]

[/caption]

When the hustle and bustle was over, the two juvies had moved farther down the bush and vowed to steer clear of the amorous Great Egrets forevermore:

[caption id="attachment_2043" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption=""Whoa, Never want to see THAT again!!!!!!""]

[/caption]

But it was only a matter of a few minutes before they were back in their own neighborhood:

[caption id="attachment_2044" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="'Pssstttttt! What are they doin' now???""]

[/caption]

Never a dull moment at the rookery!! And now for some music: here is Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler with the Everly Brothers with WHY WORRY. And here is the Dire Straits’ rendition. Enjoy

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Days Like This Are…

Thursday, May 13, 2010 Posted in Music, Wildlife

…bliss. Not for the Peacock below, but for me. Today, I had the pleasure of seeing some of my favourite birds–doing what birds do: eating, fishing, having fun, eating, bleating, flying, taking care of business, building, eating, having fun. What more could one want if you love birds? Best of all, the early light was great and I got in a good morning of photography. Now, the Peacock, on the other hand (more below):

This poor guy saw his reflection in a glass door and decided it was THE ENEMY. The feathers fanned out, the beak was “en garde” and he carried out the pugilist’s dance to the amazement of a group of fans who stopped to admire him. He turned around and gave us a little bow once his venting was done. Of course, I took a picture–against my better judgment–hence the noise from low light shade! Oh well, there WILL be days like this and I had a BALL ;D

Here’s Van Morrison with–what else–DAYS LIKE THIS Enjoy and come back soon for the continuation of the sagas from Maya the Great Egret and me, Ms. P