~Socrates
Compass Plant
Wildflower colors are on full display at Pheasant Branch Conservancy's prairie. I've been photographing like a fiend, but haven't taken much time to write. I'm a lazy blogger. Photography comes natural to me, but writing a supportive narrative requires more effort. It's especially true this time of year when I'm doing other outdoor activities. July is the month that best represents summer. It may seem like a slow time for birding, but there is plenty going on as can be witnessed from these photographs.
I continue to be impressed by the number of Dickcissels and Sedge Wrens present each time I visit Pheasant Branch Conservancy this summer. However, I'm a little concerned I didn't find any Clay-colored Sparrows during my last two outings. They abandoned the same areas last summer around this time, but I assumed that was due to drought because the Dickcissels did the same thing. It's a mystery.
I'm enjoying exploring the boundaries of my macro lens by taking super close-up photographs of wildflowers. Butterfly Milkweed takes on an entirely different feel from this perspective. To get any kind of focal depth at this magnification, I have to crank up the f-stop, which often leaves me with challenging shutter speeds for a hand-held camera. Like anything else worth doing, practice is key.
While searching for insects, I was pleased find over a dozen Dogbane Leaf Beetles foraging on Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum). As beetles go, they're very docile little insects. Others will drop down to the ground, scamper away, fly off, etc., but not these guys. They remain stoically positioned on leaves almost as if to show off their striking iridescence.
Wildflowers galore!
Purple Coneflower
Chicory
Dickcissel
Butterfly Milkweed
Common Milkweed
Red Milkweed Beetle
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat (female)
Hoary Vervain
Dogbane Leaf Beetle
Pheasant Branch, Dane, US-WI
Jul 4, 2013 6:30 AM - 9:30 AM
45 species
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
All images © 2013 Mike McDowell