Winter is the time when ladybugs congregate around the house. Found a pile of them on the porch — each with a unique pattern of spots and shade of orange.
Morning meditation
Bluebird seems to staring out over the south valley from the branch of a bare hickory tree.
Hummingbird moth
I love seeing these clearwing, or hummingbird moths, partly because they don’t come around that often and because of their relatively large-bodied fuzziness. Caught this one on a dark overcast day in the office garden. (Sorry about the too-hot flash.)
Memphis curves
This week’s photo challenge is all about curves. There’s rarely a bad angle when trying to grab a picture of the “M” bridge that carries Interstate 40 over the Mississippi to connect Arkansas and Tennessee. The image below is in downtown Memphis looking west.
Birds of a feather
Two bluebirds among a flock feeding on sumac growing around the house.
Living color
Tonight’s sunset was quite a contrast to last week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which had “monochromatic” as its theme.
Grounded
This red-spotted purple probably escaped a predator at the cost of a wing and the ability to escape again. Though grounded, he continued to spread his wings in the sunshine.
Jelly fungus
Climbing a ridge off the beaten path, I was struck by the glow as the noontime sun backlit an orange jelly fungus growing through a slit in the bark of a dead tree. Seems that no matter how many times we traipse the ancient woods, there is always something new.
Jelly fungus oozes from the bark of a dead tree.
Like some orange quartz crystal jutting from a stone, this jelly fungus bursts from a slit in the tree bark.
In this image, you can see where the fungus is emerging from a slit in the bark.
Birdland
Been a while since we posted. We had a couple rounds of heavy winter weather and being trapped away from home for days at a time. Nice to be back home. Between bouts of wintry mix, the birds came out and did what birds do.
One of several bluebirds availing themselves of sumac seeds.
Red-tailed hawk takes flight over the office parking lot.
Tufted titmouse in tree with open hickory nut. He flew the half-nut into the tree and spent a few minutes brunching on it before knocking it to the ground and flying away.
Sparrow on his takeoff roll.
Yellow shafted Flicker in the sumac.
