The number of American Lotus that are blooming each day has started to decrease. They still blanket the impoundments. The open water is difficult to see. Much of the wildlife that is in them are difficult to see. For example, this Canada Goose was landing. In the next frame, it disappered for view.
An almost perfectly formed lotus blossom
The refuge was crawling with Goldfinches. They just weren't feeding on the Evening Primrose. There was a lot of flying and calling, but not many photographic opportunities. All was not lost. This Goldfinch did settle down for a few moments, in an area with a pleasing background.
Lately I've been frustrated some beautiful photography opportunities that were missed because the subject was inside the minimum focusing distance of my lens. Unfortunately, the surroundings prevented me from backing up to get the shot. The solution for that problem is, off course, more equipment, namely extension tubes. Mine arrived by UPS yesterday, so I was interested in giving them a try.
They day was hot and humid. There wasn't a lot of activity so my choices were shooting bees or dragonflies. Since I was going to be carrying this heavy long lens with me, I figured I would test out shooting dragonflies with the extension tubes. The results were often frame filling images, with beautiful backgrounds. So I expect taht I'll have to lug the tubes around the refuge in the future.
Slender Bluet
Common Whitetail
Female Common Pondhawk
Male Common Pondhawk
Common Green Darner
I have noticed that the flowers that are starting to bloom now fade oh so quickly. During the late spring and early summer they seemed to last forever. One flower that seems to be an exception to this is the Swamp Rose Mallow. These large pretty flowers have been blooming for a couple of weeks.
In photography you often have happy accidents. I was shooting these flower and did not notice the tiny bee that arrived until I got home and uploaded my photos. It makes what would otherwise be a boring photo.
