Insects – Page 3 – Circadianreflections Blog

Insects of Point Reyes National Seashore

July 15, 2016Posted in Beetles, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Butterflies, Insects, Photography, USA National ParksTagged Banded Birds, Beetles, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Point Reyes National Seashore, Skippers, US National Parks, White-crowned Sparrow29 Comments

I had pretty good luck spotting insects while hiking in Point Reyes National Seashore last week-end. I saw Butterflies, Beetles, and Grubs. Here’s a sampler. 🙂

I’m pretty sure this is a Skipper, but I can’t find anything that looks exactly like it in my books, or online so, don’t know what it is. I found it in Point Reyes National Seashore last week-end; July 9,2016. Anyone know what it is and what it is called?

Unknown Skipper or Butterfly?

Other insects I found while exploring different areas of the park were:

A ladybug, one of several I saw…

a green and black beetle called a Spotted Cucumber Beetle,

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

who was pretty hungry,

Spotted Cumcumber Bettle

…a Common Buckeye Butterfly

Common Buckeye Butterfly

…and a grub or grasshopper served a la carte to a White Crown Sparrow that is banded. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a banded sparrow.

Banded White Crown Sparrow

Nikon Df w/28-105mm lens and Delkin Digital Film, and Lumix FZ200 w/ Lexar Digital Film- Hand-held

More to come…

P52 39/52 Banded Garden Spider

September 22, 2015Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Northern California USA, Photography, Project 52, SpidersTagged Banded Garden Spider, Insects, Macro photography, Northern California, Project 52, Spiders9 Comments

Banded Garden Spider I can’t say positively this is a Banded Garden Spider since I didn’t see its top side. It’s web was huge! I found this spider on the side of the house when I went over there to turn the wagon around for #1 Grandson. The Spider was in the middle of its orb shaped web which spanned from one side of the fence to the house wall on the the other side; over 4 ft! The spider itself was about 2 inches long. Its head pointed down.

#1 Grandson was fascinated with this spider so he kept going back to see it all afternoon. Later we tried to identify it, and learn about them. By the size and position of this spider I’d say it’s a female. I didn’t notice a male anywhere.

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 macro lens| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| CS6

More to come…

The Harvesters

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015Posted in Fruits, Insects, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, PlantsTagged Ants, Grapes, Insects, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro photography6 Comments

On the trail I take to get to the Steep Hill are a few grape vines growing along a fence. Only the birds, and ants are harvesting the grapes this season.

Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer Pro w/Soft Focus Optic and Macro Converters

More to come…

P52 26/52: Honey Bee

June 27, 2015July 3, 2015Posted in Flowers, Honey Bees, Macro Photography, Non-Native Plants, Plants, Project 52, Santa Cruz ArboretumTagged Bees, Insects, Macro photography, Non-Native Plants, Project 52, Santa Cruz Arboretum24 Comments

I’ve reached the half-way point of my Project 52. YEAH!!!

“Grevillea Superb” Non-Native

I have been wanting to get a Macro Rail for quite sometime so, I bought one. It wasn’t very expensive at all…(read dirt cheap),but it has good reviews so I thought I’d try it.
I bought the NeewerPro 4-Way Marco Rail. I was so excited to try out the Macro Rail I contacted a friend I hadn’t shot with in about a year to tell him I finally got a Focusing Rail. On our last outing we were shooting Macro Flowers, and he had a Focusing Rail; I watched him set up his shots, and I asked him a zillion questions.

He suggested we get together to shoot macro images and try out my new macro rail. We met this morning at Santa Cruz University’s Arboretum, and photographed flowers for over 3 hours. The morning flew by!

Using the Macro Rail I found it was much easier to get, and keep my subject in focus. The rig is pretty big, and heavier than I thought it would be, and I made it heavier by attaching a Universal Quick Release Plate to the bottom of the Rail for easy attaching, and removing from my ball-head. I couldn’t find my Quick Release Clamp to attach to the top base for easy camera mounting and dismounting so, this morning I had to screw the camera right into the base. It’s ~~a pain in the #$!~~ tricky! The screw is under the tension screw of the top rail.

When I got home this evening I looked more thoroughly for my gorilla pod which is where I have been using the clamp, et Voila! I found it. Now it’s going to be a piece of cake mounting my camera to the Macro Rail base.

It’s early days…I’ve only had the Rail a few days, and have only used it for 3+ hours, but so far I’m happy.

I’ve added the links below for the Macro Rail, Quick Release Plate, and Quick Release Clamp in case you’re wondering what it all looks like. I am not an affiliate with any of these vendors, and I don’t get any money if you click the links. I’ve only provided them so you can see what I’m using and to share the information.

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer%C2%AE-Focusing-Close-up-Shooting-Standard/dp/B009SJ7UWU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435450065&sr=8-1&keywords=neewer+macro+rail&pebp=1435450069580&perid=0WRW1VYZVMJCYRRZYT4A

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/329092-REG/Acratech_2128_Universal_Quick_Release_Plate.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/611828-REG/Jobu_Design_QRR_138_QRR_138_Quick_Release_Clamp.htmlQuick Release Clamp

More to come…

P52 13/52: Grass Spider

March 26, 2015March 26, 2015Posted in Arachnid, Grass Spider, Insects, Macro Photography, Project 52 (2015), SpidersTagged Arachnid, Geranium Stalk, Grass Spider, Insects, Macro photography, negative space, Project 52 (2015), Spiders9 Comments

On the move…
Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 micro lens| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Film| Hand-held

More to come…

P52 44/52 Gulf Fritillary

October 29, 2014Posted in Butterflies, Close-up photography, InsectsTagged Butterflies, Gulf Fritillary, Insects, Nature Photography, Photography8 Comments

Week 44! Can you believe there are only 8.5 weeks of 2014 left! The year has flown by.

This Gulf Fritillary was fearless! It came to my Lantana while #1 Grandson was out in the yard playing. I had my camera nearby so grabbed it and captured quite a few images of it. I made this image yesterday afternoon.

I wish more critters, and insects were as brave as this one.

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/1.4x TC = 420mm| Hand-held

More to come…

P52 40/52 Praying Mantis

September 30, 2014Posted in Bugs, Insects, Project 52-2014, San Jose California Nature PhotographerTagged Close up Photography, Insects, Praying Mantis, Project 521 Comment

I haven’t seen a Praying Mantis in a couple of years so I was really stoked to see one near my front door yesterday.

This is a smart bug. He wasn’t too far from the light…hoping for moths I bet. 🙂

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/18g| Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…

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