During the last dozen days of August, I photographed a number of creatures that fly — birds, butterflies, and moths. I believe only one species was a first for me, a beautiful Eastern Giant Swallowtail. I did not set out to photograph any of them. All were discovered while doing other things.
As I sat reading after lunch a family of Pine Warblers come by. Three youngsters sat together above my head …
… while a parent watched nearby.
A loon chick that I had watched grow the first week of its life, was now about the same size as its parents. I saw it gradually loosing it baby feathers over the course of a week.
After buying vegetables at our favorite farm stand, I wandered the ground and spotted four crows, but the one that flew into the woods looked more like a hawk. I slowly walked toward where it might have landed and found it with its back to me. So I was able to get quite close to this juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk.
Near the farm stand were many beautiful flowers that are very attractive to butterflies and moths. I have seen more Monarch Butterflies this year than I have in many years. Thankfully, their numbers are recovering.
There were also some Painted Ladies.
A long Eastern Giant Swallowtail was hard at work on the zinnias. I managed to photograph it in flight several times.
Earlier I posted a blog of photos of two species of hummingbird moths. Here are more photos of a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth.
As the too-short summer starts winding down, I’m looking forward to migration and foliage.
All the photos in this blog were taken with a Sony RX10 IV, a great camera to have at hand when conditions or timing do not call for a DSLR with big lens.