Marvelous Munchies

With the advent of spring we are getting some warmer days tossed in with some pretty chilly ones. On the warmer evenings the moths are starting to show up at our porch light. Moths are an extremely significant food source in spring for bats, owls and many, many birds. The bats, owls and birds feed upon the adult moths and in later spring the caterpillars from the moths make a up a major portion of many a baby birds diet. What many people think of as a pest is a very important link in our environment. Here is one I found just outside our front door this morning. It was very easy to photograph as it was pretty chilly out and it wasn't wanting to fly anywhere. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris Image created with a Canon 7D MkII and a 100mm macro lens. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 16.0 at 1/40th of a sec.#TeamCanon

Oh It's Just a Dumb Old Moth

This morning I was out in the backyard clearing some branches away from one of our apple trees. While heading back indoors I noticed this poor beaten up moth lying on our patio. For some reason it got me to thinking about how important moths really are. They are the often overlooked ugly cousin to the butterfly and they occupy an important part of our environment. Their primary role is that they are food for most everything else. They are eaten by other insects, spiders,bears,frogs, toads, lizards, shrews, hedgehogs, bats and birds. Caterpillars are one of the most important things that moths offer in the ecosystem. In springtime returning migrating bats rely on moths as one of their sole food supplies. Roughly ninety five percent of baby birds are provided a diet of insects by their parents and a significant part of that is in the form of caterpillars from moths. So moths play a critical role in the lives of many species. By the way I don't think they are ugly. Moths come in an amazing amount of sizes patterns and colors. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris both images were created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens on a tripod.

Turn on the Light and They Wiill Come

One of the interesting things about living in a forest is the amount of moths that are found here. From mid spring to fall if I leave an outside light on at my house by morning there will be an amazing amount of moths gathered around it. Though not as colorful as butterflies they come in a stunning array of patterns and beautiful earth tone colors. While not always the gardeners friend they are extremely important. Moths are a cornerstone species in that they provide food at a critical time for migrating bats and the protein in the form of caterpillars and larvae for baby birds. It helps illustrate how important a role the simple moth can play in the grand scheme of things. For without them entire populations of birds and bats can suffer. Here are a few images of moths from my backyard after leaving the light on. God's precious love to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F16.0-F22.0 , shutter speed varied.

Last Flight Before Winter

Yesterday a large moth landed on the window outside of our living room. Annika pointed it out."Dad look at that unusual moth". It was rather different. For one thing it was rather large almost and inch and a half in length and the other odd thing about it was that almost all of the scales on its wings were worn away. Here was a survivor making some of the last flights of its life before it died. I photographed it this morning and then set it free onto the outside of the house. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Moths of the Morning

Last week Annika looked out the back door and exlaimed."Look at all the moths!" Sure enough there was a snow storm of moths flying crazily around the back door porch light.I'm not sure of the numbers involved but it had to be between one and two hundred of them. They were everywhere on the window, the walls and doors adjacent to the porch light.Last night there didn't seem to be as quite as many but there were quite a few still left on the side of the house this morning. With a little finesse I was able to tranfer a few of them one at time onto a rock to be photographed. Their intricate wing patterns are just amazing. You can tell that they are moths and not butterflies due to the fact that their antennae don't have a little ball on the end. In fancier terms Most butterflies have thin filament-like antennae that are club-shaped at the end. One the other hand, moths often have comb-like or feathery antennae.Close up some of them resemble a comb or a feather. I had some fun photographing them this morning. An enjoyable and interesting way to start my day. God's love to all, chris

Moth or Butterfly?

Today it is raining outside. I was going to go photograph birds out at the ranch but I was undecided.I ended up at home just hanging out. This morning I photographed a moth on our back window. How did I know it was a moth? Some of you already know the answer to this. The majority of moths have unclubbed antenna. Moth's antenna tend to be feathered and unclubbed.Moths tend to be more drab in color whereas butterflys are more colorful. Butterflys fly mostly during the day and moths typically at night. As always there are a few exceptions to the rule and this is just an overall general statement. Here is a Painted Lady Butterfly so you can see the difference in the antennae. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Bluebird Day

Yesterday evening I went out to Burris Ranch to restock my bird feeders. While I was there I noticed a flurry of activity around the Bluebird's nest box. From all the comings and goings I figured out that the babies must have hatched. This morning I set up a photoblind close by and watched the parents come and go. They were bringing their babies all sorts of delicious foods like spiders, moths, caterpillars and grubs. MMMMnnn good don't you think? I hope you all had a good breakfast this morning.

God bless, chris