My run of luck with butterflies continues! This time it was a painted lady, spotted on the shore of Folsom Lake near Mormon Island. I’ve seen these colorful butterflies before, including last spring when I tried and failed to get a proper photograph of the wings. This time, I did much better — and I’m so grateful that I had […]
Common fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia), is a California native.
If you’re fond of ladybugs, then this episode of California’s Gold should be a real treat. Ladybugs have become popular as a way to control garden pests without using chemical pesticides; and I remember an incident in my childhood when my sister and I decided to trap a bunch of ladybugs in a coffee can and release them onto our […]
On spring-like days I see plenty of colorful butterflies flitting around — but very rarely do I get a chance to capture them with my camera. So I felt pretty lucky when I spotted the beauty above landing on the trail right in front of me! I started creeping forward very slowly, snapping pictures as I went; I didn’t expect […]
Here are a few more wildflowers I’ve seen on my recent outings.
One nice thing about a grey, cloudy day with the threat of rain is that it’s even easier to notice and appreciate the bits of color nature has to offer in the spring. I had already walked past a lot of other flowers, including some really beautiful Itherial’s spear, when I noticed the bright red and black of a ladybug […]
If I’m hiking near Lake Natoma or Folsom Lake in the springtime, there’s just no way I’m going to pass by the gorgeous wildflowers without making a photograph. Some of these flowers I’ve come to know by name, but others remain a mystery to me. I consider it a bonus if I can identify them online and find out that […]
A few days ago, I went out to the American River in nearby Fair Oaks with the Big Guy; I wandered around with my camera while he was busy fishing. It wasn’t until I decided to join him on the river bank that I noticed the nearby bushes were absolutely covered in small dark blue beetles. They were so tightly […]
This was a different sort of photo challenge: all I wanted was a photo of his brightly colored coleoptera. But this guy decided he wanted nothing to do with my camera. No matter which direction I tried, he kept scuttling sideways around the stem, so that all I managed to shoot was his underside and his legs. In this battle […]