ladybird_sunbathing's Favorites

Erythemis simplicicollis (accompanied by a robber fly and a praying mantis)

This is an old slide scan--I think I had just got extension tubes and was playing around. I was on the ground inches away from them but they were preoccupied sharing a meal.

I wasn't there to see who acquired the meal but neither one of these guys seem like they would be sharers to me. Just curious how they ended up together. I probably should have stayed to see if the mantis took the robber fly afterward.

What caught my attention is that huge pair of eyes staring at me like an Owl.!!

They were restless, flying from one plant to another...

I witnessed this scene for at least 5 mins before they flew into a thicket...
I was lucky to get this shot.

Guess Whoooooo?

On December 2, 2016 my sons put up this owl house for me in my backyard pecan tree. I had such high hopes. The neighborhood has large trees, lots of birds and hawks, why not owls. Although I'd never seen or heard one. Still, it could happen.
On Jan 5, 2017, a month later, I thought I saw eyes looking out and got very excited. Got my camera and discovered it was not an owl. Just a squirrel looking for some warmth on a very wet, cold day. Well shoot, I figured the squirrels would nest in the house and there went my hope for owls. However as the months went by, only occasionally did I see a squirrel check it out, they preferred their big messy leaf nests to the house.

On August 28, 2017 I noticed what I thought was honey bees going in and out of the owl house. Got my camera and discovered it was paper wasps that had taken it over. After consulting with experienced bird house folks it was determined I would need to wait until a freeze killed or made the wasps go dormant to clean them out of the house and soap the sides and roof of the house so it does not happen again. By that time I figured I would have to wait another year to hope for owls, I would miss the best time for them to move in.

Then a miracle happened on November 14, 2017. I was on my deck taking crushed soda cans to the recycling bin & just happened to look up. Could not believe my eyes. We have not even been close to freezing yet so figured there was still a wasp nest in there. Maybe so but there was also a beautiful little screech owl looking at me. Ran back in for my camera. It does not seem to mind me talking to it or taking photos. This is a lifer for me, have not seen one in person before.
He/She looks very content. I hope it chooses to stay and finds a mate. My dream is to watch a pair raise a family here. This is a great start. Eastern screech owls come in two morphs, gray and red. This is the gray version. We get red here too so fingers crossed it takes a mate and that one is red. So excited. The journey begins.

caught the king cobra (top) attacking a copperhead racer (observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215607) in a storm drain at Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre, Shek Kong, Yuen Long, Hong Kong.

The cobra was about 2.2m long; didn't get to see how big the racer was, but probably a similar size or slightly bigger.

Didn't get too close - this was taken with a 180mm setting telephoto.

scanned in from a print

caught the king cobra (left, iNat observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215608) attacking a copperhead racer in a storm drain at Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre, Shek Kong, Yuen Long, Hong Kong.

Didn't get too close - this was taken with a 180mm setting telephoto.

scanned in from a print

Female Brachythemis contaminata having a zygopteran snack on a bamboo pole

You can see the male here:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3078461
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3073108

The common name can be misleading, as this animal is not an Ant, but the wingless female of a species of solitary parasitic Wasp. Its behaviour is unusual for Tiphiid, as it exclusively hunts Mole Crickets, as opposed to Beetle larvae.

Dia 82, un individuo.

Day 82, one individual.

Relacionado con // Related to:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2667158
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2667199
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2667420