Gone fishing

Six-spotted Fishing Spiders (Dolomedes triton) are a particularly fascinating kind of spiders and I was really excited to see one yesterday at my local marsh.

Fishing spiders don’t build a web, but use the surface of the water in the same way that other spiders use a web. They extend some of their legs onto the surface of the water and when they feel the vibrations of a prey, they run across the surface of the water to snatch it. According to Wikipedia, the very sensitive hairs on their legs and feet help them to interpret the vibrations they sense and determine distance and direction. Their eyes play a secondary role in hunting, particularly because they do much of their hunting at night.

This spider was a couple of feet below the level of the boardwalk and several feet away and I was able to use my tripod to help steady the shot. In fact, the spider was cooperative enough that I made attempts with my 135-400mm zoom, my 55-250mm zoom, and my 100mm macro lens. Of the images that I am posting, the first image was shot with the longer zoom and the second with the macro lens. The macro lens let me hang over the edge of the boardwalk a little, which let me get a little closer, but made it tough to brace myself.

If you want to see a few more images of these interesting spiders, check out my previous postings Fishing spider waiting for prey and Fishing in the swamp.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

Green frog

I love taking photos of frogs (I can blame the Muppets and Kermit the Frog) and captured this image of a Northern Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota) this morning at my local marshland park. I am not sure what was floating on the surface of the water, but it provides a nice contrast to the color of the frog.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

Really close

I captured this close-up image of a Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) as it rested on a perch a short distance from the location of its nest, underneath a raised portion of the boardwalk at my local marshland park.

I have posted a number of close-up shots of Barn Swallows in the last few weeks (including one that I entitled Too Close), but this one is distinctive for a couple of reasons. The swallow is in the midst of working on its nest, and the mud and twigs in its bill show clearly its primary building materials. Most of my other photos have showed a swallow posing as it took a break from chasing insects.

The other notable feature of this image that I really like is its narrow depth of field. Although I included the sparrow’s entire body in the shot, only a small part of it is in sharp focus, essentially the forward half of its head, including the one visible eye. I think that the limited area of sharp focus really helps to draw attention to the eye and to the muddy bill.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

First harvestman of the spring

It was raining a little yesterday when I encountered my first harvestman (order Opiliones) of the spring, which explains the drops of water that you may notice on some on its legs.

Growing up, I was accustomed to calling them daddy longlegs and thought they were a kind of spider. Last year, I learned that harvestman in fact are not spiders, even though they do belong to the class of arachnids—harvestmen are in the order Opiliones and spiders are in the order Araneae.

I shot this image with my 55-250mm telephoto zoom, which meant that I couldn’t get in super close to the harvestman. However, I did manage to get at least part of all of his legs in the shot, which was not the case last year when I photographed one with my macro lens—there is an unavoidable tendency to want to get close whenever I put the macro lens on my camera.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

Flicker in the brush

I observed this female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) for quite some time yesterday, but had a difficult time getting a clear shot as she dug about in the undergrowth.

The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology notes that this type of woodpecker is unusual in that it spends a lot of its time on the ground, digging in the dirt for ants and beetles. I love the coloration of the Northern Flicker and you can tell that this one is a female, because she is lacking the mustache stripe under her eye.

I didn’t manage to capture her entire body in the shot, but I like the way that she seems to emerge from the colorful underbrush.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

Red poppy

Despite the intermittent rain yesterday afternoon, I went with my camera in one hand and my umbrella in the other to a local garden and captured this image of a beautiful red poppy. I am not very good with flower identifications, but I think that it is a kind of oriental poppy.  I really like the combinations of shapes, colors, and textures that make up this flower and the visible raindrops on the petals was a bonus.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

Tree Swallow home

Although I never saw the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) enter the nesting box, she poked her head inside of it and was checking it out as a prospective home.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved