The Nature Photography Thread

[kibakiba]

That's a beautiful butterfly! I'd be amazed if I saw one in real life. I've had a monarch land on my hand before when I was a kid.

[Mommy2many]

When I was a kid, around 11 or 12, we raised Monarchs one summer. There were so many o fthem then, I believe ( with no exageration) that we raised and released a couple hundred that summer. It is extremely difficult to find them now. I would love to show that process to my kids. I am just amazed at the color of the chrysallis, a beautiful jade color with the gold dots on top.

[infernalis]

[guidofatherof5]

Wonderful photos Wayne.
Looks like the white, fluffy, cold stuff will be happening before you know it.

[kibakiba]

Beautiful area! Sometimes it looks nice like that around my area too but not quite as lovely.

[CelestiHel]

Ha! I was looking at your foliage pictures and thinking it looked an awful lot like here...and then I remembered we're in neighboring states ;P

[ConcinusMan]

Why did the mantis cross the road? Especially on foot when it's perfectly capable of flight.

Found this awesome Mantis religiosa in NW Oregon last Saturday. It flew off about 100 feet away when it finally got tired of posing for pictures. I think this one is a male. The females around here usually have underdeveloped wings and are too heavy to fly once fully grown like this one is. Of course, they are found with bright green coloring as well.





It's funny, these weren't even found this far north 20 years ago (they just invaded my area en masse one year back in the early 90's) but we had tons of grasshoppers. Now grasshoppers are scarce but these are common. Coincidence? I think not.

[guidofatherof5]

Awesome insects. I love finding them around my place.
Haven't seen a single one this year.

[gregmonsta]

Lovely beasts

[kibakiba]

That's a cool looking little dude I think I'd be scared if I saw one in real life, but most bugs tend to scare me. My boyfriend owned one once, I think he said it lived for a year or two before dying. He said it'd nibble softly on his fingers and hang onto him if he tried taking his hand out of the tank it was in.