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Black oil blister beetle eating spring whitlow grass.  Kelowna, early April. Our daughter was visiting us, and it seemed like a good idea to walk along the trails in the upper section of Mission Creek Park in Kelowna.  It was a banner day, both for enjoying the outdoors and finding insects that emerge early in the spring.  I photographed a half dozen of these 6-legged invertebrates, and the oddest of the bunch was the black oil blister beetle. It was hard to miss; the beetle's enormous abdomen was comical in proportion to the rest of its body.  Our youngest thought it must be a gravid queen ant.  I thought about picking it up, but there was a good chance it may have contained  Cantharidin, that nasty chemical that blister beetles possess.  I have caught a good many beetles in my time, and my beetle senses (similar to spider senses, but less fun) proved me right.  It was, in fact, a blister beetle. Part of the reason for my daughter's pronouncement...

I photographed this irridescent butterfly yesterday in Kelowna near Mission Creek Park. Elfin butterflies include a number of species; the brown elfin is common throughout most of North America, found in coniferous forests.  The adults are active in the spring and lay eggs individually in undeveloped flower buds of heath, salal, blueberry and huckleberry.  The egg hatches and the young caterpillar immediately begins feeding on the host plant, consuming bud, flower, and fruit.   In the fall, the caterpillar falls from the plant, undergoes metamorphosis, and forms a chrysalis.  It overwinters as such and emerges from its winter chamber in the spring to repeat the life cycle. This is the first elfin butterfly I have ever photographed.  I was enthralled by the iridescent colour play of the wings.  I had to follow a number of individuals until one landed long enough to be photographed.  I managed to get a few good shots off of this one; it posed perfec...

Red tailed hawk, Kelowna At first, I thought it might be a Cooper's hawk.  The reddish-brown chest and light ventral tail feathers were misleading at distance without magnification, but when I brought my camera to bear, the identification became clear.  What impressed me, once again, was the variation in feathering of these magnificent birds. Below is a comparison of different red tailed hawks I have photographed; three photos from the past compared to the one I photographed yesterday.  Of the three, the above photo most closely corresponds to the medium phase, although I think its head is more like the dark variation. Three different phase variations of red tailed hawks that I have photographed. The one on the left is often called Krider's red tailed hawk, it is more common on the plains, although I photographed this one in Kelowna a few years ago.  Notice that all the hawks have one feature in common - the belly band - which is a distinguishing attribute for the sp...

Photographed April 4 at Carney Pond in Kelowna.  First time I have seen this species. One of the nice things about using bird field guides is that you get to peruse all kinds of birds, not just the one species you are interested in.  This has the advantage of allowing yourself to become familiar with a variety of species, not just one in particular.  Although I have never seen a cinnamon teal before, I knew immediately that it was one because I have seen many images of it when scouring through my bird identification guides. The male duck's colour is somewhat unique in that the shade of brown it sports is almost orange.  Calling it an orange duck wouldn't really work, though, because there is a particular dinner dish with that name (although it is worded in French).  And the name "brown duck" does it such a disservice, although the female could be equipped with that moniker.  I have a photo of the pair below. Male and female cinnamon teal ducks Cinnamon teal...

One of many hundreds of mining bees exploring the paths at the park.  They rarely landed. It was a sunny, bright spring day in Kelowna.  My daughter was visiting and walking the dog sounded like a fine idea.  We quite like the park on Dilworth Mountain.  It provides some excellent views of the city an Okanagan Lake.  While we were following the paths, one couldn't help notice the hurried buzzing of insects mere millimetres above the gravelled walkways.  Hundreds of them.  Flying pell-mell in every direction, and always atop the sunlit grains. The only reason I could photograph them was because I had my birding equipment.  My 500 mm lens's minimum focus distance isn't meant for insects, but it does in a pinch.  It also allows me to photograph from a distance; my macro equipment would be better, but I would never get close enough. The mining bees, so called because the females dig burrows up to a foot deep, like to nest in bare or patchy soil....

Up to 40,000 western thatching ants make up a single colony, and they build quite the ant hill. Formica obscuripes, the western thatching ant, has a red head and black thorax and body.  While a red and black ant is nothing new, the fact that this species' head is the only red part makes it somewhat unique, certainly in this part of the world anyway.  If that wasn't enough, you can always look for what it calls home, a large, dome-shaped mound made of organic material.  I usually see them made of coniferous needles.  If you want to see a good example of one, click here .  Mounds may be up to a meter high, although the ones I have witnessed have been under a foot high. Ants, like most of their species, are foragers, heading out of their nests to collect food or building material.  The building material depends largely upon what is available in the area.  Soil, from the burrows, and plant debris are placed around the colony entrance.  A secondary nes...