Monday in Nature Weekly Photo July 6, 2015

[Laura Weishaupt]

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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. <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>

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<strong><em>Are you new to this thread? We post one image per week. For more<a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY"> details on guidelines</a> please read this helpful information. </em></strong><br>

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<p>Greetings,<br>

<em>"Ya give 'em books and give 'em books and all they do is look at the pictures....."</em><br>

I don't recall just who made that comment, but the voice and words ring from childhood. When the National Geographic arrived in the mail I always looked at the photos first, then read the articles. I still do. We learn about nature in our own ways and we find what works for us. We make the connections between field guides and the birds, insects, lichens, and rock formations........all the subjects of interest in nature that we see, and lock onto. Sometimes the field guide is another person who knows more than we do, but often it's a book, with illustrations and/or photos. Remember the books with black and white photos or line drawings only?</p>

<p>Buying a field guide seems like crossing some kind of line, but at the same time a step in a natural progression. We see something and think it's cool. Then, we see it again and think it's so cool that we want to know what it is. It goes on from there. We want to know enough about something that we'll make an investment, confident that it will pay off. There's always another book to add to the shelf of guides. I spend hours on snowy winter days looking at the photos (and reading) in the newer fungi books as part of my own learning process. Ascomycete Fungi of North America by Beug and Bessette, is one such book. It is dedicated to a woman named Kit Barnhart, a mycologist and important photographer of fungi.</p>

<p>At mushroom workshops we're often asked "what's the best book to get?". I tell folks the best book is the one they'll actually use and learn from. When I looked down a steep slope and saw this cluster of <em>Microstoma floccosum</em> for the first time coming up through spent fern fronds, they took me to a page in a book with a photograph and plenty of reading. That investment pays many time throughout the year. There's so much to learn in nature. We can't learn it all, but one species, one item at a time, one page of understanding in a book gets us further down the road.</p>

<p>Monday in Nature is always an adventure in learning and your great photography makes the lessons even more enjoyable.</p><div></div>

[johnfarrar]

<p>Laura, that's a lovely image. Sadly I have no idea what this spider hanging from its web is, because I have no spider book....</p><div></div>

[Rick Bortnick]

<p>Dangling anthers of Turks Cap Lily.</p><div></div>

[colin carron]

<p>Gullfoss, Iceland.</p><div></div>

[gduffy]

<p>Candy Stripe Spider with Bumble Bee and a passenger.</p><div></div>

[cegeiss]

<p>With a dozen or so gently used nature guides on my bookshelf I must confess they rarely make it outside. They stayed at home again this weekend when we went on a short hike in a nearby state forest. My kids rarely ask for a guide book, but they sure insist on a few apples and a chocolate bar. What we would have needed this week: a good insect guide - the woods were full with little brown, non-descript moths. Too lively to identify or even photograph - especially with tons of blackberries under our feet. :-)</p><div></div>

[Bill J Boyd]

<p>Found this <strong>Hummingbird</strong> at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. BTW, the Elves informed me that this will be PN's photo-of-the-day for tomorrow, July 7th. </p><div></div>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>Another Candy Stripe (<em>Enoplognatha ovata</em>). Must be the season. I think this one has passengers too. The black dots on the back looked like mites (unless I need stronger glasses). </p><div></div>

[stemked]

<p>I likely have 40 or so guides, that's part of a double-whammy, being a bibliophile and a naturalist who travels widely.<br>

So this one is Dedicated to "The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide" by James Scott. It doesn't use pretty photos and it's hardly a field guide as it is so large, but it has made it possible for me to accurately identify all my butterflies (not that I didn't know the name of the easy one below).<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18050109-md.jpg" alt="" width="587" height="679" /><br>

Baltimore Checkerspot on Swamp Milkweed, Michigan. Pentax K3, Pentax macro 100 DA WR.</p>

[Edwin Barkdoll]

<p>Rosy Maple moth</p><div></div>

[sallymack]

<p>Many of the spring irises have a short season. </p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Pelicans in flight</p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Edwin that's a lovely moth, judging from your image it should be known as the Candy Floss Moth instead of Rosy Maple!</p>

<p>As a card-carrying soil biology instructor & researcher I buy & read lots of technical books for work, so for leisure reading my book shopping and reading follows decidedly vicarious and reverse logic. I browse the nature & photography sections in used bookstores and get the ones that look interesting, then keep my eyes open for any encounters that might make it worthwhile actually reading (parts of) my catch.</p>

<p>For example, 25 years ago I stumbled upon a well-used copy of the Smithsonian's "Bee Flies of the World" in a bookstore back in Belgium. NW Europe has few beefly species and the hefty tome has no color pictures, so it served no other purpose than as a bookshelf brick, until 10 years ago = well after I moved to Southern California and eventually realised I had landed in beefly heaven.</p>

<p>No beefly photo this week, but I promise there'll be one next Monday. Instead, here's a bees-eye view of a busy metropolis of Globe Mallow Bees in Grand Staircase NP (Utah). See <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/globe_mallow_bee.shtml">here</a> for more info... and yes, to identify these I googled rather than leafed through paper pages...!</p><div></div>

[Jon Eckman]

<p>It's a pleasure to scroll through this forum every Monday.<br>

Found this in bright sunlight in my side yard yesterday and couldn't find it in any of the online guides that I looked through - any ideas?<br>

Has anyone read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan? There's an account of a mushroom foraging adventure that the author went on that was fascinating. </p><div></div>

[dcstep]

<p><strong>Moon At Pink-cloud Sunrise</strong></p>

<p><a title="Moon With Pink Sunrise Clouds by David Stephens, on Flickr" href=" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/460/19198342409_cf7bd51a71_c.jpg" alt="Moon With Pink Sunrise Clouds" width="800" height="534" /></a></p>

[Mary Doo]

<p>Laura and Paul, what beautiful finds!<br /><br /> I just found this guy in my garden. I don't know what it is. Do you?</p>

<p>PS Oh it's an adult green stink bug. A pest! :(</p><div></div>

[Edwin Barkdoll]

Great shots this week.

 

Paul, those "turrets" are fascinating. Do you know if the tunnels have a single opening or more?

 

Jon, I've not read the book however we regularly collect edible mushrooms. So far my favorites are black trumpets

(Craterellus cornucopioides), chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) and lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces

lactifluorum). Choice spots are closely guarded by mushroom hunters.

[johnfarrar]

<p>Jon, Edwin - the Pollan book is excellent, everyone who eats should read it! Well written, too.</p>

 

[Gup]

<p>Well, my extensive Google 'images' search has left me empty and in mild shock. I was just looking for lichens and mosses but somehow was steered to very graphic images of various fungal disorders affecting unfortunate fellow humans. I'll probably lose some sleep and I'll definitely stop whining to the Queen about that little brown freckle thing that didn't used to be on the back of my hand.<br>

So, who can tell me what I'm looking at here? Hint- the individual sprouts are quite tiny, it's very soft and spongy, especially after a rain, and nothing feels better between your toes :) It grows profusely here in my part of Ontario near Georgian Bay, like nature's shag carpeting and it only comes in green (my favourite).</p><div></div>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>Hi Gup. It it a pincushion moss?</p>

 

[katsone]

<p>I frequently refer to my Golden Field Guides - Birds of North America to identify many Birds and Fowl that I photograph all year long. Sometimes my images are only barely good enough to use as an ID, but I know what to look for next time. I've also purchased guide books on Trees when out of my local area. This is a Common Tern and Chick from a nearby Shore Bird colony on LI.</p><div></div>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Jon,<br /> There aren't a lot of black mushrooms, but there are many that turn black. You may have a species of Hygrocybe there that does turn black. Check <a href="http://www.mushroomdiary.co.uk/2011/11/blackening-waxcap/">this web page</a> out. I can't say for certain, but your image is showing some details that make me think this is a good possibility.<br /> I write all this while enjoying a plate full of one of my favorite mushrooms,<em> Lactarius volemus</em>. This year they are out in large numbers for this area, and are accompanied by a few <em>Gyroporus castaneus</em>, and a few <em>Cantharellus lateritius</em> for good measure. MMMmmmmmm, yummy. I haven't read the Pollan book. Every time I'm in the woods with fungi it's an adventure.</p>

[Gup]

<p>Hi John, that does seem to be a popular choice but I'm also seeing very similar shots called Polytricum commune, haircap moss. Perhaps haircap moss falls in the pincushion moss category? Either way, it does feel nice underfoot :)</p>

[paul_de_ley]

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<p>Paul, those "turrets" are fascinating. Do you know if the tunnels have a single opening or more?</p>

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<p>Edwin I preferred not to upset the busy bees over investigating how their tunnels were arranged belowground, but the forest service writeup in the link above suggests that each opening leads to a single larva with its own nectar+pollen larder. In real estate terms I guess that means the tunnels are bee condos rather than shared dorms or 10-bedroom bee villas :)</p>

[thadley]

<p><img src="/photo/18047221" alt="" />Taken by the riverside in Laprairie Quebec ,where I was laying on my stomach trying to get as low as possible to get this shot. I was concerned about what creepy crawlies might penetrate and attack me.<br>

Great shots as usual.</p><div></div>