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I was able to move around to the side and get a portrait shot. Junior never looked in my direction. That complete focus is good for catching a meal. Not so good for situational awareness. A predator could easily sneak up. It's a young bird, hopefully it will learn how to split its attention.
Juvenile Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
So focused that I was able to sneak up close behind. Looking for breakfast.
Juvenile Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Bumble bee on the right with cucumber beetle on the left. Didn't see the little guy until later. Lots of pollinators to be found in a patch of pickerelweed.
American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus)
Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
This one was larger then the tiny green sweat bee I'd seen earlier. And it has stripes on the abdomen. What is it with sweat bees and yellow flowers? I'd previously seen them on large sunflowers. This one is a female. The males have yellow and black abdomens.
Female Striped Sweat Bee (Subgenus Agapostemon sp.)
Floating Primrose-willow (Ludwigia peploides)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
If you look at the base of her butt, you can see a little white spot, there is a 2nd one on the other side. Hence the name.
Female Two-spotted Longhorn Bee (Melissodes bimaculatus)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
These are beautiful sparkly native bees. Always catch my eye when the sun hits them. They seem to really like yellow flowers which go well with their iridescent green. Tiny jewels.
Female Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorella sp.)
Floating Primrose-willow (Ludwigia peploides)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
The males have much longer antennae (horns) pretty eyes and lots of golden bristles. They also have a white patch on their forehead. I don't see them near as often as the females.
Male Two-spotted Longhorn Bee (Melissodes bimaculatus)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
This time I found several longhorn bees on the pickerelweed flowers.
Male Two-spotted Longhorn Bee (Melissodes bimaculatus)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland Texas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
I just love these guys and green is my favorite color. Pickerelweed patches are a good place to look for them.
Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
These guys are so hard to spot. You know they are there as you look but takes a bit of luck cause they never twitch a muscle. This one was hiding behind a pickerelweed stalk.
Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
It seemed like she was showing off her catch to me. This is not exactly the way I wanted to get a katydid lifer, all squished in a bird's beak. Really amazed the katydid experts in bugguide were able to identify it but they did. She has her tail feathers spread for balance.
Female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Female Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid (Neoconocephalus triops)
Male Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid Nymph (Neoconocephalus triops)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
This is the shot where I realized she had 2 bugs in her beak if you look closely. The long pointy ovipositor on the adult katydid lets you know she is female. I am not sure how the top katydid expert knows the nymph is a male with it at that stage but that is why he is the expert.
Female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Female Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid (Neoconocephalus triops)
Male Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid Nymph (Neoconocephalus triops)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
She landed in front of me with the baby food she had been gathering. I didn't realize it until processing, but she has both an adult and a nymph katydid in her beak. The adult is a large female of what turned out to be a new species of katydid for me.
Female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Female Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid (Neoconocephalus triops)
Male Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid Nymph (Neoconocephalus triops)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
This brought back childhood memories when we had a martin house in our backyard. The birds liked to sit outside their nests and watch us play below. These were watching me stand below and take photos of them.
Purple Martins (Progne subis)
Garland, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Something certainly has their attention but I was not aware of that at the time. I was just trying to get a shot before they noticed me. In a lush field of grass and wildflowers.
Mallard Family (Anas platyrhynchos)
Turkey Tangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
I moved from the flooded crawdad meadow to another field and spotted this guy sitting on a disc golf basket. Guess it was a good vantage point to scan for flying insects.
Male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
While the egrets & herons were hunting for crawdads, the mallard family was napping in the soft grass.
Mallard Duckling (Anas platyrhynchos)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
A little blue heron was also out hunting crawdads in the flooded meadow.
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Finally, I saw one of the hunters come up with a crawdad. Got only one shot before it disappeared down the hatch. On to the next snack.
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Those colors go well with the dry grass it was resting on. I love how buckeyes will perch and stay in one place with their wings open. Easy to get nice photos.
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve, Garland
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com