This afternoon I took a bit of time to try out my new lens. I have owned it for a more than a week and used it a few times, but that was mostly for documentation purposes. Today was fairly overcast and I noticed quite a bit of activity with the butterflies, so I dragged the lens out into the field.
Some of the first butterflies I noticed were some skippers low in the sedges of the tallgrass prairie. Here is a Least:
 |
| Least Skipper - Windsor, Ontario |
and presumably, a Little Glassywing.
 |
| Little Glassywing - Windsor, ON |
This was the only American Lady seen -it was frequenting a patch of Ironweed.
 |
| American Lady - Windsor, Ontario |
It didn't take me long before I decided to chase after some of the swallowtails, working a bunch of Ironweed and Dense Blazingstar. I was happy to get close to a pair of Giant Swallowtails and grab my first shots of this species.
 |
| Giant Swallowtail - Windsor, Ontario |
This Black Swallowtail was an easy photo subject. The clouds had lifted at this point, making the light slightly harsher.
 |
| Black Swallowtail - Windsor, Ontario |
 |
| Black Swallowtail - Windsor, Ontario |
Also observed were Eastern Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails. It was easy to miss a lot of the skippers with the big, gaudy species vying for attention. I did snap a few photos.
Silver-spotted Skippers were seen from far away as they patrolled many of the flowering plants.
 |
| Silver-spotted Skipper - Windsor, Ontario |
|
| There were a few small, whitish butterflies down low in the grasses. I managed to get a good look at an Acadian Hairstreak as well as photograph Eastern Tailed-Blue and Summer Azure. |
 |
| Eastern Tailed-Blue - Windsor, Ontario |
 |
| Summer Azure - Windsor, Ontario |
A few Hummingbird Clearwings were see and I was happy to get a photo I was quite happy with, even though I didn't freeze the wings.
 |
| Hummingbird Clearwing - Windsor, ON |
 |
| Monarch - Windsor, ON |
5 comments:
Great shots. I can't say I've every seen/heard about a Hummingbird Clearwing. Thanks for sharing. Nice lens btw. Can I ask what lens it is?
I'm thinking it is a Crossline that you have labeled as Black Dash?
Is the "Broad-winged" possibly a Leonard's? Leonard's should be out now. I'm just not seeing Broad-winged, but what do I know? Broad-winged would be exclusively in sedges--very weak flyer that is not seen far from sedges.
Dwayne,
The lens is a Nikon 300mm f/4 Af -s. Its minimum focusing distance is 5 feet, making it a pretty good butterfly lens.
Thanks for the ID's Blake. They seem about right!
Josh, Could the Viceroy on Dense Blazingstar be a Monarch? It lacks the telltale fieldmark of the black line crossing the veins on the hindwing. A gentle correction and I might be mistaken. Brilliant photos!
Whoops, I did label it wrong. That's what I get for rushing the post!
Post a Comment