With the Macro Lens

 

In that same batch of photos from 2012 that I posted yesterday, I found several photos taken with the macro lens.  I can't believe I carried all that equipment to the garden back then.  My shoulders and arms must have been a lot stronger then.

That macro lens was the last lens I bought for that Sony DSLR and I loved using it.  I took a lot of great close-up shots with it.  

Flame Skimmer

 

I came across this photo of a dragonfly when I was searching through the old Desert Botanical Garden photos.  Google says it's a flame skimmer dragonfly.  Don't you love that name?  It's a real beauty so I thought I should share it. 

Here's that same dragonfly from a different vantage point.  It's brilliant orange color stands out wether with a blue background or a green one.  

More Butterflies

 

There were more butterflies in the Desert Botanical Gardens butterfly pavilion besides all the malachites I posted yesterday.  There were quite a few white peacock butterflies playing among the greenery.

I only saw this one great southern white butterfly.

I did see only this one monarch butterfly in there too.  That was a bit of a surprise because we usually don't see any monarchs in the pavilion until the fall series.  

Malachite Heaven

 

Our recent weather predictions have things heating up this coming weekend so I decided to make an afternoon visit to the Desert Botanical Garden before our heat starts to limit outdoor adventures. I hadn't visited the butterfly pavilion this spring and it's going to close next week so I made sure to go.  I was rewarded with an abundance of one of my favorite butterflies, the malachite.  

In the past, I'd be lucky to see one malachite butterfly but on this occasion, they were the predominate beauties flying around the pavilion.

Not only were they abundant but, they were also cooperative.  They landed frequently and posed with their pretty wings wide open so I could get a number of photos.

Let's just say that for a few minutes, I was in a bit of malachite heaven!

Harvesting the Archives

 

The Photo application on my Macbook allows me to mark certain photos as favorites and files them in a "Favorites" folder.  A few days ago, I was wondering what all I had placed in the folder so I decided to have a look.  I found some real beauties that never made it on to the blog.  This one was taken in February of 2015 at the Desert Botanical Garden.

This one is also from the Desert Botanical Garden and it was taken in May of 2015.  A monarch butterfly enjoying a pretty purple flower.

This photo was also at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Obviously I get a lot of my "favorites" from the garden.  This spider lily plant grows out of fountain and I've only caught it in bloom two times.  This photo was taken in September of 2017.

Most of the photos in the favorites album have been posted before but these three never made it onto my blog before.  

Busy Bees

 

When I was at the garden last Sunday, I was headed toward the hilltop viewing spot when I passed this huge toothpick cactus and noticed it had several blooms on it.  I decided to take a few photos of the blooms.

This was right before sunrise so the colors in these photos are quite muted.

When I zoomed in on the blooms I noticed that each one of them had lots of bees buzzing around.  Not just lots but literally hundreds of bees enjoying the flowers.

Obviously there is some very tasty pollen produced by these pretty blooms.  

Butterfly Sightings

 

I captured photos of two butterflies the last time I was at the Desert Botanical Garden for a walk.  I missed the spring butterfly exhibit this year.  I was never there at the right time to enter the pavilion.  However, there are plenty of wild butterflies dancing about.  This queen butterfly was enjoying a bloom on the butterfly mist plant.

And this one was taking a look at a Mexican Hat bloom.  There are several patches of these flowers scattered around the Wildflower Trail at the garden.  That trail is good one for seeing both butterflies and hummingbirds.

Theme Day: Very Small

 

The City Daily Photo bloggers theme for May 1st is "very small" and this photo came to mind when I started to think about what to post.  The photograph dates back to November of 2012 when I saw this "very small" butterfly perched on the top of one of the nopales of a prickly pear cactus.  I had never seen such a tiny little butterfly and I've never seen one since.  Its name is Hemiargus Ceraunus or a Ceraunus Blue.  The species does live in desert areas but it appears from what I've read that they are more prominent from Texas to Florida. It's such a pretty little thing.  I'd love to find another like it.

To see other "Very Small" themed posts, click here.

The Beauty of Spring

 

I over-indulged in reading the news yesterday so when I was getting ready to post something for today, I decided I needed something pretty and uplifting.  I found this photo taken on this day exactly 10 years ago.  Here we have a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly who is thoroughly enjoying a yellow Columbine bloom.  The photo archives always come in handy when I'm in need of a little inspiration. A nice dose of natural beauty is just what the doctor ordered.  

Some Favorite Photos from the California Trip

 Here are four of my favorite photos from the trip last week to Laguna Beach California.  This first one was taken at the Sherman Library & Garden.  I spotted this Gulf Fritillary butterfly resting perfectly atop a collection of colorful blooms. 

This one was taken along the walkway above the rocky shoreline at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach.  Heisler Park is a long park that runs along the shore with spectacular views along the way.

I saw this seagull standing atop a big rock on the beach at Crystal Cove on my first full day in California.  I zoomed in with the telephoto lens to capture him.  He had is eye on the waves as they crashed to the shore.

This last one isn't what you would call a great photo but I still liked the ray of sunlight beaming down toward me.  I know that shooting into the sun is a photographic no-no but sometimes I do it anyway and sometimes I like what I see.

Sweet Sixteen

 

The Phoenix Daily Photo Blog turns sixteen today!  Imagine that!  I've been photo-blogging for sixteen years now.  However, I've been photographing for a lot longer than that.  I think I've been taking  photos since I was sixteen.  Never mind how long ago that was.  

I had a hard time deciding on a photo to use for this momentous post and I finally settled on this monarch butterfly that was photographed back in March.  Butterflies have been one of my many favorite subjects so it seems to fit.

At the Butterfly Bush

 

The Desert Botanical Garden has a plant they call a butterfly bush located at one spot in the garden.  It always draws in the butterflies.  This bush must be especially sweet because the butterflies really do love it.

I can always find butterflies fluttering around this bush.  On this day, they were all queen butterflies.  In fact, we have a lot of queen butterflies in the Phoenix area.  They are the dominate species around here.

Busy Bees

 

On my way out of the Desert Botanical Garden, I was drawn to this large Texas Mountain Laurel plant near the entrance.  It was full of blooms and the bees were loving it.  

It seemed like every single bloom had one or two bees happily buzzing around it.  

I love the pretty purple blooms on this plant and it seems the bees love them too.  

The Butterflies are Back

 

I made my way to the Butterfly Pavilion at the Desert Botanical Garden.  The pavilion had just opened last week and I wanted to enjoy some time with the pretty butterflies fluttering about.  I was lucky to spot this malachite butterfly right away.  They tend to be rarer than the painted ladies also pictured in this shot.

In fact, there were quite a lot of Painted Lady butterflies on this trip to the pavilion.  They seemed to be the dominate species on display.  

The pavilion is full of flowers for all the butterflies to feast on.  In this particular case, I was trying to photograph a pretty white butterfly sitting on this bloom.  It few away just as I clicked the shutter.  All I was left with was the flower.  It turned to to be a rather nice flower photo so I've kept it in the mix.  

Theme Day: Photo of the Year

 

Happy New Year to All!!

It is tradition of City Daily Photo Bloggers to post their favorite photo from the previous year on January 1st.  I chose this on that was posted back in October.  It was taken in a little garden called Elm Court at Middle Temple in London.  

It was one of my many photos that totally surprised me because it was taken with my iPhone.  The quality of photos that come out of today's cell phones is simply incredible.  

To see other photos of the year, click here.

Short Walk, Quick Focus

 

I went for a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden and it turned out to be a very short walk.  The garden was simply too busy.  I did manage to get two wildlife photos which I assure you was not easy.  The wildlife seem to stay well hidden when there are so many people about.  I spotted this rabbit some distance away and used the telephoto to zoom in on him.  I clicked off three shots when a woman behind me yelled loudly "oh look over here, a rabbit".  The rabbit immediately turned an ran.  I am always surprised when I encounter people who don't seem to realize that watching animals in the wild requires silence and patience.  

The cascalote tree that shades a spot where I like to sit is in full bloom right now.  I snapped a couple of photos of the blooms when I saw the tiny little verdin feeding on flowers.  Verdin are so quick, I rarely get a decent photo.  This one isn't too bad even though the bird is facing away.

Here is another shot of the blooms.  I didn't know I captured a bee in this shot until it was downloaded.  Do bees count as wildlife?  If so, then maybe I got three wildlife shots.

Enjoying Nature

 

I've got three photos from that walk I took at the Desert Botanical Garden a week ago.  This first one is of a tiny, little hummingbird taking a rest on a twig.  He was buzzing around a flowering bush and I tried to get a shot of him in action but he was too quick for me.  He finally took a little breather and I was able to get the shot.  

I had no hope of catching this bee buzzing around the bee blossom but I pointed the camera anyway.  I got lucky.  It turned out pretty good.

I took this last shot because I just couldn't resist to symmetrical patterns the branches of this agave plant make.  It is one of nature's perfect plants.

A Walk in the Rain

 

We had another break in the weather with a crazy storm that hit Thursday night.  Lot's of lightening, thunder and crazy winds.  It managed to bring the temperatures down once again so I took another garden walk on Friday afternoon.  It was sprinkling rain most of the time but not enough to get anyone wet.

I found a desert rose to photograph along with these tall cacti with the stormy skies above them.

It wasn't raining enough to deter the butterflies or the bees.  They were still making a showing.

Getting an Up-Close Look

 

Yesterday I had telephoto images, today I have some macro images.  I snapped this photo of a tiny little belleza gaura flower.  The petals on this flower are about the size of my thumb.  

I got even closer to see an even tinier little insect sitting on one of the petals.  I'm not sure what kind of bug it is but I was able to get a closer look.  It's fun to find these tiny little creatures hanging out at the garden.