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If you see a large orange butterfly with numerous black markings on its wings (and it's not a monarch), it's probably a fritillary.  Determining species can be a challenge; many of them look similar and can only be properly identified upon close examination.  It helps a great deal to see both surfaces of the wings.  I photographed this one yesterday morning while it was basking on a sunlit log.  Unfortunately, I never got to see its underwings. There are 14 species of greater fritillary butterflies.  The one I photographed is quite possibly a great-spangled fritillary, although identification remains uncertain.  Regardless of specifics, I find it to be an amazing insect and love how it filled the frame of my camera and telephoto lens.  So often the butterflies I photograph are small and the images require significant cropping. Fritillary caterpillars feed on violets.  The female deposits an egg on a dead violet plant, its blooms long since fallen.  The egg hatches and the larva

Killdeer chick (left) and adult (right).  Photographed in Didsbury, Alberta. I have enjoyed photography now for about 45 years and have taken hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of photographs.  Most are worthy of the dustbin, but some are good and a few are exceptional.  And then there are those that are "cute".   Babies, of all sorts, it seems, are one of the things that tug at a person's heartstrings.  They elicit an emotional response that is centered in our very core.  With big eyes and head attached to a small and relatively helpless body, it only takes a glimpse for us to turn all mushy and utter the inevitable, "Awwwww."  The species doesn't matter much, although most of us would admit to not finding much endearment in a tadpole or caterpillar.  No, the ticket is a smaller version of an adult form we are familiar with.  Especially when it comes to anything fuzzy. Hair or feathers, it doesn't matter.  We want to pick up the puppy, cuddle the c

Late spring and early summer, the season we are currently in, is a favourite of mine for butterfly photography.  I found a beautiful checkerspot butterfly on the side of the road; it had been killed due to an impact with a car.  Of the five or six species shown above, two of them (the cresent and the admiral) were not in my insect and butterfly field guides.  However, I knew approximately what genus they were and used the internet to narrow identification. I do not have my usual macro equipment with me and so have been shooting insects with my somewhat limited equipment.  Most of the above photos were taken with my 500mm PF Nikon lens and D500 camera, the equipment I use for photographing birds and other wildlife.  Although I love the combination for that particular purpose, it is somewhat limited when shooting insects as the closest I can get is about five feet away.  That in itself is a mixed blessing as it usually means I don't scare my intended subject away before getting a pho

The common snipe is actually reasonably abundant and is listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN species red list category.  However, I have rarely seen them; they are very shy and tend to hide in ground vegetation in or near marshy areas.  I saw my first snipe two years ago.  I was only four feet or so from it and could just make out its form and colouration through the grasses it was hiding behind. Given their shy nature, I was surprised to find one sitting bold-as-you-please on a fence post while walking a trail near the town of Didsbury, Alberta.  With people frequently coming and going, the local bird population has acclimated to humans and even their dogs.  It was such a pleasure to finally get to see one up close without only hearing it or seeing it through cover. They have an interesting behaviour where they produce a sound canned winnowing.  It is not a vocalization, rather it is created by the vibration of tail feathers as they dive during a courtship dance.  If you w

Dell, Tim, and Peter.  Taken Nov 18, 2007. Dell had more than his fair share of challenges.  Although he had a "bombastic" personality, he often had to push through low points in his life to find the peace and joy that was otherwise available to him.  One way that he would get through those difficult moments was by being around others he cared about.  Another way was just through sheer will. He found purpose in achieving goals that many would find difficult.  Although concrete was his life, his passion was being around friends and family.  He was always at his best when combining goals with companionship.  Whether it was in the playing of cards, hiking the Chilcoot, or working a garage pad, he found great joy and purpose when doing it with those he loved. It was when Dell was alone that his demons haunted him.  He hit a low point after his divorce and found the very act of breathing difficult.  Yet, he was determined to rise above the darkness that plagued his mind.  He got a

Eric before Ozempic (left) and after Ozempic (right). It has been about 8 weeks now that I have been on Ozempic.  It took me 5 weeks at the 0.25ml dose before I felt that I could endure the 0.5ml amount.  My plan is to stay at the 0.5ml injection and see where it goes.  I am interested in results, and if I achieve my goals without increasing the dose then I will. I have lost 20-25 pounds so far.  I am 5' 9" (on a good day) and weighed in at about 185 last year.  My weight this morning was 165.  I haven't been at that weight since I was first married, over 30 years ago now.  I am snoring less and both of us are sleeping better.   The best news though is that my A1c numbers have been on the decline.  A year ago it was around 9.5.  A stricter diet and Jardiance brought it down to 8.6.  My last test, a week ago, came up at 7.6.  Given the fact that I have been on Ozempic only for 8 weeks and it takes ~90 days for all the red blood cells in the body to be replaced through natur

Western tiger (left) and pale (right) swallowtail butterflies. While setting up and packing up our kayaks yesterday on Okanagan Lake near Kelowna I noticed a small group of butterflies taking moisture and minerals from a wet sandy area on the boat launch.  There were two different species, western tiger swallowtails and pale swallowtails.  I have seen both species on a single day before, but not together or gathered in such numbers. BC has eight species of swallowtail butterflies.  You can see from the image below seven of the eight species.  You can click here to go to the link for more information. Taken from E-fauna BC website - adjusted to fit. I photographed the top image using my cellphone as I had no other camera equipment with me.  Although I find cell phone cameras convenient, I find their ability to capture detailed images with the accuracy and speed of DSLRs limits their usefulness, certainly in my world.  Rod had a butterfly land on him and, by the time I got the camera rea

I photographed a small enclave of American goldfinches going about their business and later, in post, noticed that one of them had strange off-colour patterns. "Leucism, hermaphrodite, birth defect?", I wondered.  Then I noticed that others shared the same trait, although with less emphasis.  It was then that I learned of something called prealternate molting. When a bird molts, it doesn't necessarily lose and replace every feather it possesses.  Many birds only go through a partial molt where body plumage is replaced but the major feathers in the wings and tail are not.  This is called a prealternate molt and tends to happen just prior to breeding.   The prebasic molt often occurs after breeding and involves birds the shedding and replacement of all feathers.  I was involved in goose banding and egg addling one summer; this was done after the geese had lost their primary flight feathers and could no longer fly.  Given the fact that Canadian geese do not show sexual dimor