ants

It's amazing how strong ants are. I know that's not an original observation but when you see an ant haul around objects two, three, even four times their size--it's impressive.

In the picture above you can see the setting--one of my bird seed feeders that the ants are taking advantage of. I suspect it's as much for water content as for food. We're in the midst of a very long drought. The picture below illustrates the daunting journey that faces the ants before they get back to the ground and their home.

structural pads

I think I've put up pictures last year or the year before of these plants from the Koi Pond at Sarah Duke. Each year I'm amazed again at how they look. I don't know what type of plant they are, but I'd never seen anything like them before.

Each plant has 5 leaves and the smallest one has all those extra "ribs", as you can see better in the picture below. Weird. There's also flowers in the center but I've never been there when one was in full bloom so I don't know what they look like.

Tree Branch

Of the pictures I took Sunday at Sarah Duke this one is my favorite. I'm not sure why. Just something about the composition, I guess. Click on it to see it big and see if you think so too.

water flower

Same day as the last picture, same koi pond too. This lillypad bloom was just a few yards from the one that the dragonfly was on in yesterday's pic. Both these subjects were pretty far out in the pond so I had to use the macro at 12X zoom. Most of the pictures were too blurred to use but these two pics came out fairly steady.

Dragonfly

I wandered around Sarah Duke Garden today for a while in the midday heat. It was around 92 and the sun was beating down on me hard but it was worth it 'cause I got lucky with a number of photos. I'll probably be uploading shots from today for the next week at least. Here's one of a dragonfly at the koi pond. He's just sitting there looking pretty.

butterfly at Duke Forest

I took these pictures of a butterfly in Duke Forest, about a mile above the Concrete Bridge Road, next to the river. When I crept closer the fellow flew off but not before I snapped a picture of him leaving.

I like how the sun lights up the wings of the flittery thing.

the wall

My afternoon assignment for the day was to pick up a post-doc at the airport. Due to a little weirdness in the bus schedule, I got out there nearly an hour early so I just moved down the road a bit to Umstead State Park where I found this lovely little wall by a river. That was a far better way to spend an hour than sitting in an airport lobby.

hoppity, hop

Here's a slight change of pace. Amphibian instead of insect. I chased this little fellow half across salvation before he decided he was safe behind these old leaves.

A Preoccupied Bee

Here's some Bee Butt.

The fellow seems quite occupied with his task of gathering nectar and seems to be quite unaware of all the pollen smeared on his butt.

Should we tap his shoulder --thorax?-- and let him know about the mess he's making?

another bug pic

This picture turned out better than I thought it would. To me, the tops of the flowers look like a raised path above the world, suggesting that the two bees shown here are moving towards a goal. It's all very transcendental! Eastern mysticism and all that...

A game of Tag

The antennae on the moth in back looks almost like the fellow is tagging the moth in front. I can't decide if it's a game of Tag or if there's a baton race thing going there...

more bugs

It's been over 3 weeks since I've posted a picture. I guess I've just not been very inspired--and the excessive heat plus lack of rain here has really kept me from hiking so I've not taken many pictures this Summer.


I'm calling this picture "Face Off" due to the large bee appearing to be staring down the smaller bug. While it would seem to be an unequal contest, in reality of course they're not paying any attention to one another. Just picking up some nectar--and maybe a bit of pollen too.