Monday in Nature POTW Aug.5, 2013

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<p >Basic Guidelines: Nature based subject matter. Please, declare captive subjects. Keep your image at/under 700 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing and try to keep file size under 300kb. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. <em >In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Let common sense be your guide and we'll work out the details as we go forward.</em> Do you have a series of great shots to compliment your post? Please, tell us where they are so we can see them.<em > <strong >Let's make this a true POTW and only post 1 image per week.</strong></em></p>

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<p>Good Morning Nature Lovers,</p>

<p>We gave a mushroom talk/walk last weekend up at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. We were almost rained out, but had the luck and were able to walk in cool wet conditions. It's always fun to take folks into the woods and introduce them to new ideas about nature. We're lucky here on Monday because all of you bring your views and we're all inspired by them. Thank-you to all of you, whether you've been here since the beginning, are new to the thread this week, or somewhere in between.</p>

<p>Currently in abundance at HMS is this Myxomycete (slime mold) in the plasmodia stage. Here, it's in a transition from ropey slime to spore bearing structures. I'll get an ID when the sporangia form. It's easy to see this orange goo mass in the woods as the patches have been about 6-10 sq. in. (15-30 sq. cm). This one grows on forest floor, so no worry about sitting on it, but look out for the shoes.</p>

<p>It's Monday, so what's up in your natural neighborhood?</p><div></div>

<p>Hidden.</p><div></div>

<p>Greetings from the depths of northern Ontario.<br>

Hope you are all enjoying a holiday today.<br>

White-faced wasp (hornet).</p><div></div>

<p>Mark - Excellent exposure in some tricky lighting. That Dusty Miller is hard not to blow out.<br>

My offering is a leaf base on a grass showing its hairs.</p><div></div>

<p>American White Pelican landing on White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas. </p><div></div>

<p>Good morning all. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I am really enjoying this cool-for-August weather we are experiencing here in PA. Great shots so far. Here's a green heron I caught last week.</p><div></div>

<p>Osprey coming in.<br>

Taking at Flamingo, FL<br>

D300 w 300/4 and tc-14e<br>

<img src="http://www.slopoki1.com/Nature/Hawks-Ospreys-Eagles-Kites/i-fdVc2tm/0/XL/D30_3188ccrn-XL.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="637" /></p>

<p>Mine is not a good shot from a technical point of view, but I liked the way the lines parallel and cross in the reeds, and the focus-free dragonfly in the back mimicking the Four-Spotted Pennant in the foreground.</p><div></div>

<p>great shots so far......cool color contrast in that grasshopper shot Mark</p>

<p>mine is a mother and kid after raiding my bird feeder a couple mornings ago</p><div></div>

<p>Lady bug plus a couple of smaller insects in a sunflower. Taken yesterday morning while walking the dog. Taken with a Pentax WG-1, 25mm, f:5.5, 1/250 s. I used this camera rather than my DSLR since it fits in my pocket and I can take photos with one hand while holding the dog lease in the other.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Red-tailed Chipmunk</strong></p>

<p><a title="Red-tailed Chipmunk by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9431505460_2fdbdf86ec_z.jpg" alt="Red-tailed Chipmunk" width="640" height="427" /></a><br>

Click on the image to see it in a decent size, or even full-screen.</p>

<p>Forster's tern with caught fish, Radio Road, Redwood Shores, California.<br />Nikon D7100 with 400mm lens @ f5.6.</p><div></div>

<p>Some excellent shots so far. Here's a reddish egret hunting for breakfast at Ding Darling on Sanibel, FL.</p><div></div>

<center><img src="http://cetan.org/images/20130801210928_img_0492-lightroom-flickr-sm.jpg" alt="" /></center><center>Stargazer Lily bloom. </center><center>Been waiting all summer for these. Sadly, since this photo was taken,</center><center>I've lost the battle with the rabbits. They have gotten past my barriers and chewed through all the stems.</center>

<p>Immature or female Black-chinned Hummingbird in Sacramento County California:<br>

<img src="http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/bchumm04.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="433" /></p>

<p>This is a damselfly, either a Northern Bluet or a Boreal Bluet. I’m not good enough to tell the difference. Saw this guy (it’s a male) in Wisconsin. It likes mosquitos and I hope it was eating some, cuz there were a lot of them there.</p><div></div>

<p>Laura - you somehow made slime mold look beautiful! <br>

Here is a picture of a bee on a chive flower. I wish I had a macro lens on at that moment, but I still had fun trying to capture this happy guy and his family - they loved the chives. <br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17486449-md.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>As usual a lot of great images have been posted before I get around to. I really like David's chipmunk in particular. And Douglas, I'm always confounded by the great hummingbird images that some people manage to get. They are way to skittish around these parts to get close.<br>

Thought I'd post something a bit different this week. Lightning Storms are some of the most impressive displays in nature. Here's a composite of several minutes worth of lightning strikes.<br>

<a href="/photo/17485913&size=md"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17485913-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="451" /></a><br>

Click on the image to go to it's gallery page.</p>

<p>Oh my goodness! What a great start to the day. Laura,with the exception of the color, it reminds me of cauliflower florets :) Mark, excellent shot and exposure. John Roswell, wow! You even got the stinger ! Rick B, what wonderful light and detail.<br>

So many more to comment on, will get back later.<br>

Still far to hot for me to wander far. So, my garden is the hunting grounds. <br>

Hope you enjoy this juvenile Ruby Throat. I think it is a male.</p>

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<p>Continuing Cara's pollinator theme - here's a bee that's new to me, slightly smaller than honeybees but with really long antennae. I've only noticed these on <em>Caesalpinia</em> flowers during the hottest part of the afternoon. They move around real fast and almost always position themselves upside down on the narrower top petal, then slide their tongue "down the gutter"... which perhaps means they don't pollinate at all since they don't come anywhere near those way-out-there anthers?</p><div></div>

<p>All these flowers are making me sneeze! ;-)</p>

<p>Laura, Remember driving up Sunrise Highway from Pine Valley, and passing those concrete water tanks on the right with "MOO" spray painted on them? This meadow is just to the east (right) when you get past the tanks...</p><div></div>

<p>Lunch on the beach, Marco Island, Fl.</p><div></div>

<p>Nice images this week. I was out photographing a neat chapel, standing underneath a gazebo, when I spotted this insect. I was using my Nikon D300 with my 24-70 f2.8 lens. Had to crop a lot.</p><div></div>

<p>Tree swallow. There were lots of these flying around the dunes at the beach but this is the only decent picture I got.<br>

<img src="http://akgosdenphotos.smugmug.com/Vacation/Avalon-2013-Scenic/i-6MbZ49p/0/700x700/Avalon2013-0513-700x700.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<strong>XSi, Tamron 70-300 vc @ 300, f/8, 1/1000 s</strong></p>

<p>Some great Monday shots, as always. This is a male speckled bush cricket (<em>Leptophyes punctatissima</em>):</p>

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