Vivid Dancer Dragonfly Eating A Spider | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Vivid Dancer Dragonfly Eating A Spider | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet the Vivid Dancer Dragonfly! I captured this one eating what I think is a spider!?





Dragonflies are great helpers when it comes to controlling insects! I think I see wings there, so perhaps that is not a spider?





This happening was not captured here at the house, but in a area I like to go to here in our town! This area was near a water holding pond, there was plenty of activity going on! Of course you have to stop and look around to notice all the activity!





The Vivid Dancer Dragonfly is a common Dragonfly here. They are the smaller species of Dragonflies stalking and feeding on the smaller insects.





I get a kick out of the Dragonflies for the Dragonflies are our friends. Anything that helps control the insects is ok in my book!









I think that is a spider this Vivid Dancer Dragonfly is feeding on, however I thought I seen wings? Thought it looks like the cotton wood tree's cotton is on the insect so?? We do have the cottonwood tree here and I can honestly say I do not care for that tree haha! I just think it is cool to see the Vivid Dancer Dragonfly helping out as it is doing!

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photographs of this happening!

Mud Dauber Wasp in The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Mud Dauber Wasp in The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet the Mud Dauber Wasp that we have at our pond getting what else? Mud!





At this stage of the game these Mud Dauber Wasps have never given me any reason to think they are aggressive. They come for the mud provided by this small pond of ours. Never have seen them at the other pond.....





The Mud Dauber Wasps do what they do, then fly off. We are pretty good about checking for nests of any kind here. Never have seen a nest of these! Nor do I want to.





I am a sucker for shadows, I just like them and when I see a shadow like above I have been known to show the photograph! When the Mud Dauber Wasps are busy they do tend to turn their head and the activity away from me. I have noticed this behavior in other species as well.





Since the Mud Dauber Wasp has done nothing to make me think they are a pest, I just let them be. However to my understanding others do consider these Mud Dauber Wasps pests. I do make such things as nest building undesirable here, even though other species can make a nest rather quickly! Surprising the both of us as to how fast and where nest building happens. We do have to destroy some nests due to the stinging behavior of some of these species.

In this shot you can see where the stinger is, perhaps this is why the Mud Dauber Wasp turns it's head away from me? I have no intentions of taking the mud this Mud Dauber Wasp is working on, however the Mud Dauber Wasp does not know this right?





In the above shot, you can see the round ball of mud this Mud Dauber Wasp is working on. Seeing them fly with the mud is quite funny for take off is a tad bit hard. There has to be a thinking process?? These photographs I got right in there due to the Mud Dauber Wasp has never shown any aggression my way. Though I do not think I push the creature either. The Mud Dauber Wasp just does not act as if it wants to sting.

Thank you for coming by and checking out these new photographs I worked on yesterday however took these photographs back some time ago... just never got around to looking at.

Cosmos Flower Blooms in October

Cosmos Flower Blooms in October




Meet the Cosmos Flower blooming in October here in our part of Oregon!





Being one of the last flowers blooming says to us the Cosmos is a hardy flower. Colors as you can see did not seam to make the hardiness of the plants any less it appears.





This post is a extension of Cosmos Flower Blooms in the High Desert



As of March 3 (today), I have cleaned up the old stalks of these Cosmos and they are waiting in a pile. What the birds do not use for their needs, will be put into the chipper and mulched to be put back into the soil.



At this moment I am going to quit talking and let you view my photography of these very pretty Cosmos Blooms. If you are wanting a nice flower for your flower beds and have room for them to grow , some of ours got pretty tall, tall or taller then our six foot dog kennel panels, here you go!























Thank you for coming by and checking out my floral photography!

Marigold Flowers Blooming in Oregon

Marigold Flowers Blooming in Oregon




Meet the Marigold Flower! These photographs were taken on September 3 2014. There are several species of Marigold Flowers in this post.

This photograph above is of a large headed Marigold Flower that the plant itself grows along with the blooms a good three feet high or so. The circumference is somewhat impressive and they do stand out with the big blooms!



These Marigolds are the short plants and smaller blooms. Typically these are the flower folks think of when they think of Marigolds. The frogs will settle themselves into these and wait for dinner to show up!



These above are another type of larger Marigold flowers.

All the Marigold Flower Blooms attract so many small visitors! Good and bad! The smaller Marigold Flowers have a strong scent. A flower bed is just not a flower bed without the Marigold. At least the small variety!

Because of the pollinators they seed real well!! I am speaking with someone in Japan on twitter (@masmish), as I write this haha!



Now the photographs above are two different species of Marigold. First the large headed, tall Marigold. Then we have the smaller , shorter Marigold Flowers.

The smaller species of Marigolds are commonly used as a "partner", flower. Planting Marigolds, shorter variety that have the strong scent next to another type of flower , the philosophy is that the bad bugs will go to the Marigold leaving the other flower alone, or the scent runs off insects. This is a wise tale that has been told for years and years! Does it work? Well, sure dose not hurt!



I recall as a kid stopping to speak to another child we went to school with at his home. Being who I am I am not good at just doing one thing, and his mother had a bed of Marigold Flower so I would top them, take off the dead stuff, spread the seeds around. One day as I was speaking to the son of the house, the mother yelled at me to stop that!! Mind you she just did not know what I was doing and I did as I was told. Some time later she found out what I was doing, and how good her bed of Marigolds were doing haha! She said something to me and I expressed my love of flowers, gardening even at that age I new what made me happy.



Thank you for coming by and checking out the Marigold flower from last September! Keep in mind the hiker chat is going on in twitter today!

Recap of the Seed and Insect Eating Birds

Recap of the Seed and Insect Eating Birds




This post is going to be a little different then what I usually do, why? Just because! This is going to be a recap of the blog posts with photographs of the Birds who are primarily seed and insect eaters. Keep in mind I have been doing this since 2010! In that time I had a host shut down, close their doors, so I took a break from doing this for I was not sure what I was going to do? I have not gotten all the old post at this spot (mrsroadrunner.com).... not sure I will?

Male Red House Finch Feeding Mate

"Up in the apple tree, as snow is on the ground here in the high desert of Oregon, we see this."

Black-headed Grosbeak by Coralie

"The Black-headed Grosbeak is the monarch butterflies worst enemy!"

Young White-Crowned Sparrow Winter Behavior

"This is a young White-Crowned Sparrow. This species of sparrow winter here in our part of the high desert with us."

Yellow-Rumped Warbler Bird

"This Warbler stopped in to check out what was here to eat and to get a drink."

The Tale Of The Bread Thief

"As I was sitting in my spot watching the birds,butterflies,bees just enjoying the nice weather we have here in the High Desert"

Spent Some time with this hummingbird

"Thought I would spend a little time with this hummingbird on this day.

Showing up with his/her click click lets me know this one or the others are around. Typically in the apple tree and coming out during the day. Fortunately for me, they all get hungry about the time I am outside doing my chores then doing my photography!"

Mountain Bluebird Encounter Oregon Bird Watching By Coralie

"We went to a marsh Sunday where I found this Mountain Bluebird.

The bird was acting rather funny, when seeing the Northern Harrier I instantly understood! "

Hummingbird On The Honeysuckle

"Honeysuckle is very popular with the hummingbirds!"

Red-breasted Nuthatch by Coralie

"We had yet another visitor to the garden just the other day!"

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Washing Himself

"Folks who keep up with my photography know home is where the heart is and I spend a lot of my time just watching the visitors show up."

Downy Woodpecker Catching a Meal

"Meet the Downy Woodpecker. The smallest woodpecker in North America."

The Golden-Crowned Sparrow in Need

"This is the Golden-Crowned Sparrow. Biggest sparrow we have here and we have big flocks of them at times here at the house. Beautiful song comes from these song birds!!

The Golden-Crowned Sparrows are also a smart species, like all sparrows I guess? Seen at bird feeders, or gardens looking for that something to eat as the one in the photograph is doing at one of our little ponds. I watch these sparrows quite a lot for they are one of the common birds here at the house."

White Crowned Sparrow Visiting The Garden

"The White Crowned Sparrow can be found for some time here in our gardens and our wild bird area."

hummingbird and the foxglove flower bloom

"Some shots I caught of this hummingbird feeding on the foxglove flowers!"

Female Spotted Towhee in Her Natural Environment

"This is the natural environment for the Spotted Towhee. The species blends in very well to it's environment which is their way to survive."

Northern Shrike High Desert of Oregon

"This Northern Shrike was photographed on one of my walks here in our rural town back in January of 2014, High Desert of Oregon"

Hanging Out With A Ruby-crowned Kinglet

"This is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Very small and quick bird!"

White Crowned Sparrows Wintering in the High Desert

"These are the White Crowned Sparrows that winter with us here in our part of the High Desert of Oregon."

Lewis Woodpecker of The High Desert of Oregon

"This is the Lewis's Woodpecker I photographed here in our part of Oregon perched on a old fencepost."

American Dipper or Water Ouzel by Coralie

"The Dipper is a great bird to find around unpolluted fast moving waters. I happened to catch this one along the Metolius River."

Mountain Chickadee

"Meet the Mountain Chickadee! Unlike the other chickadee bird species this one has white stripes upon its small head."

European Starling of the High Desert

"Meet one of the most hated birds in our area, the European Starling, or just plain old Common Starling."

Harris's Sparrow Bird in The High Desert of Oregon

"I want to introduce you to a new bird, for me as well! Meet the Harris's Sparrow!"

Junco Bird in White

"Meet the Junco Bird who spends time here at the house."

Flying Western Meadowlark

"Meet the Western Meadowlark."

Pheasant At My Garden

"Meet the Pheasant, a common game bird who is found in Oregon as well as many states here in the USA."

Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert

"Meet the Cedar Waxwing! A very pretty bird in my opinion and when a flock of these fruit loving birds show up they have a very distinctive call! They sometimes arrive in good sized flocks of a dozen or more to the fruit trees! The Cedar Waxwings seam to like our honeysuckle we grow here as well."

Robin Bird Fledgeling

"Meet this baby Robin Bird! I have several posts about different Robin bird fledgelings that are waiting for their meal"

Spotted Towhee In The High Desert

"Meet the Spotted Towhee! The Spotted Towhee has been a constant resident here in our garden in winter clear into spring!"

This all for now! I still feel as if I missed some posts.... however as I said I have been doing this for a while (where has the time gone?). Keep in mind, all my posts are my observations and photographs. I am a HUGE believer in thinking for yourself. Researching yourself! I am only human and do make mistakes, really haha!

I am thrilled when folks link to my blog, photographs etc.! Doing this for a while now, I have seen folks come and go... some days coming up with something to write about is a interesting process! I thank you for coming by and checking this out!

Coralie

PS now that I looked this over I know I missed some posts.... oh well hope you enjoyed this recap!