Critters Big and Small Vol. 10

Assassin bug?

Monarch. We have raised many of these from eggs and watch the changes.

That's it for now, but we are constantly taking pictures, so I'll be back with more. I had a great one with Asa and a beautiful 4 1/2' Milk Snake, but I can't find it on my computer.

DWMike, thanks for starting a new thread, love your Flycatcher shot with it's meal, very nice.
Native, thanks for posting sure an interesting variety of critters. You have taught your son well. I believe, kids should learn to respect and appreciate nature at a young age. It make them more aware of the world around them.

I have a fledgling that landed in my flower box. A young baby Robin.

Lily, your damselfly was very cute with the yellow flowers.

Mike do you know this one?

A Skipper on clover.

Hi Native! I am from Newport, and kin to all the Huffmans in Craig Co.!
Love your photos... my kids are the same way!

Saw some critters while on vacation last week...

Hare is a doe crossing a marsh at sunset...

Muskrat foraging the grasses...

Big beaver...

Dragonfly in blue... (no I did not adjust colors)
Slaty Skimmer

A Cedar Waxwing...

Ebony Jewelwing...

A moth I could not ID... but very pretty! Love the "sword" on it's wings!

WR, wonderful wildlife photos. Your beautiful moth is: Leconte's Haploa Moth (Haploa lecontei) http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/2250/
And thanks for posting the Ebony Jewelwing. I've posted one on the last thread and didn't have a name for it.
Thanks for the Identity of the Mayfly guys.

I saw quite a few deers today, but this one was priceless. It just stayed by the side of the road, while I took her picture. It was just a few feet away.

No cropping done on either.

I don't have time to get here very often but tonight I can.

Wonderful shots. I actually have a couple.

Fledgling Cedar Waxwing. I actually got to hold it as it couldn't fly real good yet.

Frozen in place?

Can't see me now!

What's a nice a variety of wildlife everyone. ves522, cute! How sweet and wonderful to see Cedar Waxwing fledgling in your area.

The first one I have ever seen. Plus I saw the parent. Have lived here 37 years. So was quite excited about it yesterday.

Living at the same place for 30 something years? Wow, it's all the more the for the excitement finding a fledgling for the 1st time! I love those mysterious looking birds! They only passing through during migration. Thank you, for sharing pics.

Not sure what I've got here, but these little ones love to congergate on my milkweed's seedpods when young.

My pleasure. Just wish I had more time to check out different things.

Lily not sure what you have there either. Bugs not my cup of tea! LOL

Thanks ves522 for looking. Ain't mine cup either. lol I hope this pic. is better than the last? I need to use my monopod more often when I walk around and snap pictures of things in the garden. Grasshoper on my plumeria flower stalk.

Okay, okay, no one is particularly thrilled with grasshoppers! A reason I can fully appreciate. lol

How about this fella? I get to hold this little creature in my hand while it recovered from a collision to a reflecting glass window. I heard a big "thung"! As if a bird a size of a duck has flown into the window. I yelled Oh No ! And found him dazed, and remained so for at least 8 mins. before he regained his equilibrium and flew off to freedom. Ah, btw, it was a similar incident years ago when I witnessed such incident that prompted me paying more attention and became interested in birds watching.

What is he? Well besides a bird. LOL

LOL, ves522 One can easily tell. I haven't recovered from the excitement of the event. I forgot to tell. It's a Belted Kingfisher, unsure if it's a male or a female. It has a crest that stands up like that of a Northern Cardinal often seen when it's fishing by the waterfront. The crest was raised when he came-to and noticed the funny human with the camera on one hand, and... and the other hand was serving as a perch. lol

wow, I didn't know kingfishers got close to houses!

Dragonflies are numerous right now… loved this green one.

I took this photo last week about 7:45 p.m. in the evening, so the lighting was getting a little poor. We have a small park about 3 miles from my house that I visit periodically. I only had a 105mm lens on my camera but it sure was a lot better than not having a camera at all. I haven't seen three buck together in a long time

Here are the two bigger ones, an 8-pointer and a 4-pointer ........

And, this Doe has been in my backyard recently on several occasions. I've seen her in my daylilies and also saw the tops of my Sedum plants were cut off.

Mrs-Ed, hey, great green one.
Lily, that's one way of getting a closeup of a Kingfisher. ;) Tried so many times to get a good close shot of one, and didn't succeed yet. Glad he made it.
Good little creature to have around, Ves. He'll keep your yard, under control of pest.
Great Buck shots, Linth.

The Caterpillar of a Polyphemus Moth, that I'm raising (Silk Moth)

The Polyphemus Moth.

Burn, congrats on the eclosure of the Poly. Moth. What's a find! Nice job on raising the caterpillar. Wow. Wanna a close up look of the B. Kingfisher?

Caught this guy while in Fredericksburg over the weekend. A little camera shy!

Lily... what an encounter with the Kingfisher!

Charlie... great shots of those bucks!

Burn... love your Polyphemus Moth. I raised some of those a few years ago. I had better luck with the Lunas though.

Yesterday evening, I was at my "secret pond" location. My Green Heron kids had already fledged, and I wasn't getting any shots of them around the pond. I was taking pics of dragonflies, and had walked back one last time to the GH nesting tree to see if they would return there to roost. I saw a bird in the tree, and was trying to get a closer look when something flew in from my left and hit the bird on the limb! There was a splash, and I was thinking that two GHs just hit the water. I moved a few feet to my right to get a better look... and this guy landed on the bank at my feet, not more than eight feet away! He was stunned... I was stunned! I managed to get this one shot before he flew off (full frame). I did manage to see that the bird he had in his talons was too small to be a Greenie. A few minutes later, I spotted an Eastern Kingbird calling and calling in distress from the top of a tree nearby. I think she lost her mate, or an offspring in the encounter. I've ID'd it as a Cooper's Hawk.