Flittering Giant Swallowtail butterfly adds lift to birthday party

This flitter was fluttering around at a birthday party for three of our grandchildren yesterday. Because of her size she made quite an impression -- She appears to be a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes).

Dragonfly defends his territory, but puts up with photographer

This dragonfly and I had a long visit, as I tried to photograph him with a short lens.  As I moved closer, he had a certain distance of comfort.  If I came into that space, he (she?) would take a short flight to assess the danger.  But in a few minutes he would be back on his perch. I suppose this stick gave him the best vantage point to watch over his neck of the ditch.  

There was another dragonfly (that had the same color markings) nearby.  But this guy made sure he stayed a couple yards away.

I suppose his little area was a prime one for hunting.  The stem was about a foot and half off the water of the ditch.  But the water was very high from recent rains.  I wonder if he will move when the water goes back down.

Grasshopper get going when the door opens

This new best friend, and me got a real good close look at each other when I opened the garage this morning.  As much as he appreciated our new friendship, I am sure that spending the night in the garage was not what this grasshopper considers luxury.   He quickly made his exit with hardly a word.

Moths also share the bees' secret meal

This moth was siphoning the nectar from a flower that just appeared this week in our front yard.   He has his proboscis firmly in the center of the flower, and our moth buddy was show no concern for my looking on to his sweet-tooth meal.

Bees buzz through palm trees flowering bonnet.

This is the palm tree in our neighbor's yard.  The flowering tree attracted a couple hives worth of bees into its bonnet of flowers.   Our palm trees' flowering is covered under branches and never attracts much of a bee following, but the buzzing bonnet bouquet bumblers swarmed, putting on a flower power show.  Must be some pretty good nectar.

Mosquito Hawk --- a mosquito's worse enemy.

This Mosquito Hawk landed right in front of me.  After all the rains if this week, I was glad to see him on duty, preying on mosquitos.

Thistle is bugged

This must be a bug's dream: slightly shaded from the wind and sun, and entangled enough to ward off lizards and birds that might pass by. Still, it seems a strange place to find rest, but what do I know -- I am not a bug.

Bits and bites in the bee world

From this summer, this photo shows there are some awful sloppy eaters out there in the bee family.   Actually, I guess they should more properly be called hunter-gatherers.

Giant Swallowtail floats by

This amazing Giant Swallowtail Butterfly graced our garden the other day.  His wings were about 4 inches or more across and he floated through the air so gracefully.  His interest at this moment was my wife's Mandarin  Orange tree.

Unflying dragon

A dragon-fly takes a rest at the tip of leaf, before he resumes his wandering search for food.

Sunflower guest

I wasn't the only one admiring my wife's sunflowers last summer.  This guy was a regular petal walker.

Flies in the backfield, two by tow

Just a supposition here, but, I'm thinking these flies are practicing for their big game this weekend against the reigning champion fleas.  It seems to me to involve too many in the backfield -- it must be some kind of flea-flicker play.  

The water-lily in the nearby pond gives them a feel for playing in a dome, I suspect.  Notice how big their front line is.  How would you like to be a flea and face those heavyweight hovers?

Barbs, blooms and bugs along the byways

Another along-the-road-to-Austin shot.  it Spring and this Cactus is taking full advantage of the opportunity. It you can see it, there is a spider web strung like a bridge across the top buds-- no spot on earth is too remote or dangerous for these industrious insects

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Life's cruel

We have quite a few lizards hanging around outside the house.   I mean literally hanging.  This reptilian villain was up in the cover of a solar light waiting until the moth came along.  Despite the fact that the moth was bigger than the lizard, the scaly one seemed to have the upper hand  (maybe that should be "the upper teeth") .  All of the flapping and shaking that the prey could muster was doing him no good. He did get away for a few seconds though.  My dog came by to see what I was shooting pictures of and the lizard decided he liked his skin better -- he dropped down into the garden to hide.

Lizard, moth, survival

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Hang in there, babe, bee

A bee hangs from a flower as it gets it's first sip of morning nectar. Notice the water drop of dew hanging just over his head.
--steve buser

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly survivor

This Tiger Swallowtail looks to have had a close call fending off a hungry predator, perhaps a bird.  His beautiful tail is tatters.  Nonetheless lives on in his flower-hopping life. It's a cruel world out there, and it's a beautiful, happy world.  Juxtaposed.
--steve buser

Bee busy

When your job is to drink nectar all day, how bad can life bee?
Bees do this to me a lot.  I was taking a picture of the flower, but the bee decided that he couldn't wait. These azaleas are a tough task for the bee.  He has to climb down inside the flower to get his meal -- it makes all that pollen shake all over him.
--steve buser

Dragon flew

We had a staring contest, this dragon fly and me. I just couldn't seem to get a good focus.

Apparently, he was in no hurry to go anywhere. He waited around until I was satisfied I had fooled with all the settings as much as I could to get a good focus. Then, I watched this resting dragon fly away.

Considering how short their lifespan is, I was thankful he gave me that much time.

--steve buser

Dragonfly, Texas

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No where to go

We were near the very end of the TenMile Canal in the Big Thicket National Preserve when we ran upon this guy floating on a leaf. Not knowing much about spiders, it was hard for me to tell if he was just resting or trapped on a desert island. He had a couple of legs dangled on top of the water. On the other side, just out of this picture, the leaf was losing its battle as a flotation device. So much for the "in case of a water landing, use your leaf for a flotation device" rule.

--steve buser

Spiders, Big Thicket National Preserve, Vidor, Texas, Beaumont

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Web of activity

This is going to take some concentration, so focus please.

Follow the petal of this spider lilly that goes to your left --about half way out you will see just a trace of spider web. To the other side follow the petals that go up to the right -- where they split, if you look real closely you will see a small grasshopper.

Lot of activity on this spindly little flower ain't there. Seems with a close look, there is always more than meets the eye.

The flower was on one of the "canals" off of the Neches River, above the I-10 (part of the Big Thicket Nature Preserve. I was out this weekend with Dr. Richard Bothel with the Environmental Learning Center. Beautiful stuff out there.

--steve buser

Neches River, Spider Lilly
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