Laura Weishaupt Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <blockquote> <p><strong>Basic Guidelines</strong>: 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. Feel free to link your image to a larger version. <strong><em>In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Please refrain from images with obvious buildings or large man made structures like roads, fences, walls. Try to minimize man made features and keep the focus on nature. </em></strong><br /> <br /> <strong><em>Are you new to this thread? We post one image per week. For more <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY" rel="nofollow">details on guidelines</a> please read this helpful information. </em></strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Monday Morning Salutations,<br> Everything in nature changes in some way. Caterpillars become butterflies, acorns become mighty trees, small drips in a cave become fantastic formations. Some are easy to see and others not so.</p> <p>I'd like to invite you on a bit of a journey into one of natures small changes. Last year I found some white stuff on a log. It got my attention, but I only made mental note of it as too many other items went into my collection basket. Originally I didn't think it was fungal. Then I really took a hard look at it. I was surprised that these milky white blisters on a rotted log were slippery and hard. Maybe they were fungal after all. I finally dug some off the log and took it home, but it was low on the priority list, and the sample sat, unattended. Maybe a month or more passed and I returned to the sample. It was dried, of course, but the white stuff was no longer and in it's place was some black stuff. I wondered if I had an anamorph. Hmmmmmmmm.</p> <p>So, I decided to start over and waited till this year when the white stuff surfaced on rotted logs in the only place where I've seen it. I now have a pet of white stuff on some well decayed wood that does a wonderful reappearing act with water. It has lovely structures and it's clearly fungal. A better camera for the microscope has been quite helpful. (photos temporarily unavailable due to technical difficulties) While it doesn't have the status of the household felines, it will be treated well. Maybe I'll figure out what it is.</p> <p>One thing that doesn't change is the great nature photography to enjoy on Monday in Nature. Anyone else have any strange pets from nature?</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegeiss Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Sorry, Laura, no pets from me. My image does depict change, though. The image of these yellow coneflowers comes from a coastal preserve which was all cornfield just a few years ago. The meadows look pretty good already, though the adjacent coastal woodland still has a long, long way to go.</p><div></div> Christoph Geiss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill J Boyd Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Hummingbird...</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Bortnick Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Leaf edge, 3 images stacked</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfarrar Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Like Christoph's, this image is of a local success. There is little deciduous woodland left in Wales, and what there is, is mainly private, or overgrazed, or both. So this little gem of a place, just a couple of km from the sea so moist and warm, and managed for regrowth and wildlife, is rather special.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawsonPointers Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Hi Laura:<br /> He is not considered a pet; but, George, the green frog <em>Rana clamitans, </em>returns Harry's barks when we feed the fish in the pond. Harry's task is to call the fish (Koi, they do respond) and George is now in on the game. On the other hand, Hattie is quite content to observe without participating (Harry and Hattie are 4yr old Corgis).</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stemked Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>If this one were to be a pet, it would be a predator worse than the most fierce tiger, but it's size is less than that of your fingernail. William Blake said it best.<br> "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright <br /> In the forests of the night, <br /> What immortal hand or eye <br /> Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"<br> <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18056832-lg.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="646" /><br> Robber Fly, Hoosier National Forest. Pentax K3, Pentax A* 200mm macro f4.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin carron Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Superb stuff as ever! No pets from me either, but a bee (not sure which kind) coming into land on a bramble flower.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallymack Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Not exactly a pet but another picture of the extremophile algae <em>Haloarchaea</em> from the Cullinan Ranch wetlands restoration site in northern California --Sally</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_parkhouse1 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Another non-pet, although I do feel a little proprietorial when these delightful creatures come into the garden, as this one did a couple of days ago. <em>Aeshna cyanea</em>, the Southern Hawker.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Barkdoll Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Love the bee shot, Colin</p> Test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Barkdoll Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Tiny mushroom (cap size ~ 2mm) in bog. 8 Stacked images?</p><div></div> Test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_6502147 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Good Morn all. Found this near a mountain of ants....and was v. careful to avoid it :>).</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stemked Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Sally,</p> <p>Wow, I don't see microbes often on this page, especially Archaea. I did a postdoc with Methanosarcina so I really appreciate your contribution.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Doo Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Douglas, love your robber fly. Colin, think it is a brown-belted bumble bee.</p> <p>I haven't noticed a strange pet, but I caught these two Great Spangled fritillaries hovering on the beebalm. Reading further about them taught me that the invasive violets I had been chucking out are host plants for the fritillaries, and their caterpillars feed on them exclusively. Now I'd better enjoy these violet "weeds". :)</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Weishaupt Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Edwin, you have yourself a species of Physarum, a myxomycete, or slime mold. The "cap" in this genus is known for lime deposits that give a crusty white appearance. That's about as big as they get. Very nice stack.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bing_huey1 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>A pair of the hemipteran, Cosmopepla conspicillaris</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Monarch from one of their stop off locations, Pacific Grove, CA.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallymack Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Thanks, Douglas. Private e-mail follows. --Sally</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Barkdoll Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Laura, go figure. I would not have guessed a slime mold. Thanks for the id. Test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcelRomviel Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Great images this week.<br> Mine is not of a sort of pet, last time I was stung by a ancestor of the subject, my hand became twice as thick.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpalmer57 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>This Butterfly Weed attracted an insect, just the wrong kind.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_2019667 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Daisies in Black & White.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickDB Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>Great nature pics, as usual! Edwin, the beauty of some (Laura would say all) slime molds can take you by surprise.<br> Swallow-tailed kites regularly skim the surface of the lake for a drink on the fly - it's almost like having pets as I can count on them being there in the late afternoon.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthea50 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 <p>No pets for me either, just a shot from one of my favourite places to explore, along my back fence. There is a grape vine there, which, depending on the weather and season can change quite dramatically. In the year we have been living there, I have seen it bare and seemingly without life, I have seen it gradually come to life and produce grapes, then die off again. A few months ago, after days and days of rain, it was covered in moss, and to me quite beautiful. Here's a shot of what I found there recently.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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