Lightning - Guadalupe Mountains National Park

This has truly been a trip of firsts. Last evening, shortly after dinner, our campsite darkened quickly with ominous storm clouds billowing over the mountain. Luckily, before the rain poured and the winds blew fierce, I had a short opportunity to try and capture the beauty of some the nearby lightning strikes with my camera. I had no special equipment. I couldn't even use a tripod with the blustering wind. To put it simply, I got lucky. I managed to catch four or five strikes out of hundreds of shutter releases. Still, I am pleased to be able to add these images to EduPic. Incidentally, it turned out to be quite a long night with our tent constantly buffeted by the wind, shaken by thunder and rain, and flashed by nearby lightning. It was interesting to note on our hike the next morning the numerous lightning charred trees along the trail!

Gulf Fritillary

Yesterday, I stopped from my road trip for a rest and lunch in the Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. The gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) is a species that I've long wanted to photograph and one that doesn't often make it to my area. I was lucky enough to spot two individuals while there. I got so focused on following the one pictured here that I found myself standing in a fire ant mound. Needless to say that it wasn't very long before I discovered my misstep.

North Twin Arch - Big South Fork NR&R

Wow! I never knew we had sandstone arches to rival, in size and quantity, those found in the West right here in our own backyard. They are all the more awesome in the way they surprise the hiker. You round a bend on the trail in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and towering above you is North Twin Arch (pictured here.) And even more amazing is that in just another minute on the trail and you're standing beneath the equally impressive South Twin Arch. In fact, this region within the Cumberland Plateau, which includes the recreation area, national and state forests, and state parks, contains hundreds of such arches.

Just a note: In hopes that there are folks out there actually reading this blog, and thank you if you are. I want the reader to know that I'm travelling for the next few weeks and will not be adding posts as regularly as I would like.

Dance of the Palamedes

On a hike in False Cape State Park, I spied this male Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes) patrolling along the jeep trail in search of a female. Curious, I followed him for a few minutes. He located a female and they began a mating "dance", fluttering and flirting in small loops of flight around each other. The habitat of the palamedes is the forests, savannas, and swamps of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal regions. Sadly, this male was rejected and they both flew off in different directions.

I used some of my photographs to made a short movie of the mating dance that can be found here.

"Cow Killer" Velvet Ant

In False Cape State Park, Virginia, this female velvet ant (actually a type of flightless wasp) was seen frantically scurrying about the sandy ground in search of bumble bee burrows. This species, Dasymutilla occidentalis, is called the"cow killer" because her sting is very potent and painful. She deposits her eggs in the brood chamber of the bee which when it hatches then feeds on the bee larva.

Cottonmouth

Today, hiking down an old jeep path in Curritick National Wildlife Refuge, I crossed paths with this cautious cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorous) commonly called a "water moccasin." It clearly showed me how it gets its name by opening wide, exposing the white lining of its mouth, to let me know not to approach to closely. This snake is highly venomous and is the only semi-aquatic pit viper in the world. It showed very little aggression, just due warning, and when I gave it a clear path it bounded, alternately coiling and springing forward, towards and into a nearby drainage canal.

Dragonfly Oviposition

I watched and photographed a pair of dragonflies mating (see inset) at the edge of a lake in Pocahontas State Park in Virginia. What surprised me, was that immediately after mating the female began dipping her abdomen in to the water's surface. This was done with an almost violent motion, each time rippling the water with the force of the small stone tossed by child. At that time, as a witness of this process, I could not imagine that this agitated action was in anyway related to reproduction. It was only through later research that I learned that this dragonfly lays each egg in this manner letting them drop to the lake floor.