Monday in Nature Weekly Photo July 28, 2014

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<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.<br>

<strong><em>In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Please refrain from images with obvious buildings or large structures. A bird on the fence or bug on your finger is fine. Try to minimize man made features, keep the focus on nature, and let common sense be your guide. Let's post 1 image per week. </em></strong><em>More details please check <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY">here</a>.</em></p>

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<p>Monday Morning Greetings,<br>

Lazy thunderstorms rolling through outside make for the perfect atmosphere to open this week. More rain, more of a little of everything growing and flowing out there. I hope you've had a great week and have been able to get out and enjoy nature, near or far. This is a simple but elegant mushroom, <em>Tremellodendron pallidum</em>. It's usually more flattened, but this one is stately in stature and almost crown like.</p>

<p>It's time to get the week started. What better way to do that than to share some good times and images here in Monday in Nature.</p><div></div>

<p>Fumaroles and snow - Jökulgíl, Iceland.</p><div></div>

<p>Sometimes the critters are more photogenic than the flora. A crab spider, <em>Misumena</em> I believe.</p><div></div>

<p>A nice redhead</p>

<p><img src="http://wolfeye.smugmug.com/Photography/PnetSh/i-KPb7cjR/0/O/xh9c0014.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="700" /></p>

<p>A view from my patio. </p><div></div>

<p>Not a fungus, not even living (though there'll be lots of small life within the frame). Langstrath Beck.</p><div></div>

<p>Pink</p><div></div>

<p>Just back from Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17818732-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="451" /></p>

<p>Forester (Eastern Grey) Kangaroos, Narawtapu National Park, Tasmania. Pentax K3 Sigma APO macro 400mm </p>

<p>Douglas, welcome back. Good to see you again.<br>

Louis, that's gorgeous.</p>

<p>Windswept gannet.</p><div></div>

<p>BF feeding on sweetpea blooms</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Western Kingbird With Red Berry</strong></p>

<p><a title="Kingly Treat by David Stephens, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3850/14750399385_180838b779_c.jpg" alt="Kingly Treat" width="800" height="534" /></a></p>

<p>fresh bark for breakfast</p><div></div>

<p>A little ant that isn't!</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Having been raised on Wild Kingdom and other exciting nature shows, sometimes a walk along a Central Texas stream just doesn't seem to be all that amazing. But then I remind myself that there is just as much drama in the seemingly mundane small hunts as in the large and exotic. As I was walking along the bank, the grasshopper flew up from the grass to escape, only to fall into the creek. I watched as several different fish took their turns, bursting from under the water, only to lose their prey. This Longear Sunfish was the ultimate winner. Here he stalks his prey, leaving his underwater nesting site he had been guarding a few moments before. I was working on a triptych showing the stalking, strike, and the empty ripples, but in the 700 wider version, it just doesn't show the drama I was looking for.</p><div></div>

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17822680-lg.jpg" alt="60D_150macro 917" width="502" height="700" border="0" /></center>

<p>Jumping spider on Mexican sunflower</p><div></div>

<p>A friend called me over to photograph this box turtle that she found in her garden.</p><div></div>

<p>Christoph - I really like the fumarole shot; it's one of those 'quiet' images that grows on you and repays repeated viewing.<br>

Colin - love the winking gannet. </p>

<p>Snapped this in central CT.</p><div></div>

<p>Canon VI-T and 90mm Elmar; Portra @ EI 400.</p>

<p><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/14766678771_80ae619331_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="530" /></p>

<p>Out side my parents home:</p><div></div>

<p>A Juvenile Common Tern having trouble with it's meal of a Pipe Fish.</p><div></div>

<p>A bumble bee working a sea holly</p><div></div>

<p>It started a just a shot of a leaf on a rock but then I got carried away playing with it!</p><div></div>