10/01/24

 It's October already today and autumn is on the way.  I have a Hummingbird feeder hanging off the deck but lately the Hummingbird has also been visiting the flowers I have in pots on the deck.  It was actually raining a bit last weekend and I was finally able to capture the hummer visiting the Lantana.  It looks a bit frazzled due to the rain.  I am pretty sure this is a female Ruby Throat.

11/13/23

 Happy Monday and happy New Week!  I am starting off the week with a butterfly, actually 2 butterflies.  These are a couple of Painted Lady butterflies that were enjoying my Lantana in a pot on my deck this autumn before the big frost days came.  I am trying to over winter the Lantana.  I have done it before but it's not really happy about it.  We shall see how it goes.

9/21/23

 How about a lovely butterfly for today.  A beautiful Giant Swallowtail that was visiting my Lantana flowers one day this summer.

11/21/22

 Happy Monday of a holiday week!  We have had some really cold weather so all the outdoor flowers have gone now.  During the summer I usually have these outside but brought them in to overwinter and then plant again outside.  This is Lantana, a different color than I had tried before.  I love the pastel colors.  It is doing better inside than it did out, not sure if the yellow one it was planted with overpowered it.  Lantana is a butterfly and Hummingbird magnet usually.  

8/6/21

 Happy Friday!  TGIF!  One evening last week I was able to capture a Hummingbird enjoying the flowers on my deck.  A lot of my shots were of it's back but I was able to get this image of it from the side at my Lantana flowers.  Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious, the lovely bokeh is created by the tree in the distance.

3/4/21

 We are having quite the different week than a couple of weeks ago when it was bitterly cold, it is not hitting close to 70s F!  Crazy weather!  Anyway, it won't be long till I hopefully see sights like this once again.  This is a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly on my Lantana flowers from this past summer.

1/29/21

 This is another image of one of the cool Clearwing Moths I saw at my Lantana flowers this summer.  They feed on flowers just like tiny Hummingbirds the way they hover around them.  They are very difficult to catch, you need a fast shutter speed.  And, of course, due to the lovely bokeh made by the flowers in the background I chose this photo for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

9/1/20

 Happy September!  My image to start off the month is of a gorgeous Giant Swallowtail butterfly that came to visit my Lantana flowers that I have growing in a large pot on the deck.  I was able to get this shot through the storm door of it enjoying the blooms.  It was lovely to see it up close like that.

6/18/20

I was able to capture this Sphinx Moth at the Lantana flowers on my deck one evening a few weeks ago.  They are quite difficult to capture because they come when the light is low and they can move rather quickly.  I was lucky to get this one relatively in focus.

2/7/19

Last night we had some freaky weather.  It was only 18 degrees out but it was thundering and lightening and sleeting.  It was kind of cool but very weird.  Today is bitterly cold out, only about 12 F degrees with a high predicted of 16 F.
Today is a milestone here on my Blog as well.  This is my 2000 post since starting it up here on Blogger.  That's almost 5 1/2 years.  A lot of days and a lot of photos.  Hope you have enjoyed viewing them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them.  I thought I would share one of my favorite subjects to mark the day.  This is a Common Variegated Fritillary Butterfly on a Lantana bloom.

9/7/18

Another kind of dreary day for the most part.  These are some Lantana flowers to brighten things up.  I shot these a couple weeks back when they were blooming quite profusely in the heat.  They have slowed down some now that it is cooler and rainy.  I liked the bokeh behind them and the stair step look too.

11/6/17

I captured this young Praying Mantis on the Lantana just about 2 weeks ago.  It was found on a piece of metal and I took a couple of shots of it there and then I moved it to a more photogenic location.  It was OK with me moving it and wouldn't even get off my hand at first.  It finally did and then posed for me very nicely so I was able to get 4 images of it to stack together to bring out the focus of it's body better.

5/17/14

This is a macro of a Lantana Bloom that I had been keeping alive over the winter.  I took this shot while it sat in the window at work.  Right now it's back outside and hopefully will be OK with the cold weather we have had the last 2 nights.