Dragonfly of the High Desert of Oregon

Dragonfly of the High Desert of Oregon




Meet the Dragonfly of our home here in the High Desert of Oregon!

Hope you all had a good weekend? We got some things that needed done , done in the garden. Now it is time to start putting out the seeds for the future flowers and the visitors to our garden! Many of my photographs of 2014 did come from our own garden. These photographs of this Band-winged Meadowhawk is no different!

These photographs came from one of our ponds, and fruit trees that hang over that pond.



I do get really good questions asked of me! The questions that is on my mind this morning was if I just push a button and take many photographs of the subject? Well...... one thing that folks may not understand is, keeping that button pushed results in oh lets just say a lot of photographs!! So unless I want to go through what a thousand, two , five thousand photographs of the same exact subject the answer is no. I do not just keep the button pushed. If that was the case I would have so many photographs to go through!! OMG makes me wince at the thought!

Like many folks who have to have a lot of stimulation, one day I can have many photographs of many different things if that day has been a active day! This of course is out of my hands, wildlife is going to do what wildlife wants to do!

The photograph above is the first of these three photographs I took. I really do not know if the subject is going to stick around? So, first thing to do is get the subject used to the sounds of my camera, and to get whatever used to me per say. Walking slow, everything has to be done with purpose!! Taking a step, you better think about that step!

Adjust the lens, since I do not mess with my camera settings I do not have to worry about that. I do not use a tripod, typically. So I do not have to worry about a tripod scaring whatever wildlife. Take a shot, or a couple shots.



Step closer, depending on how the wild creature is behaving! This Meadowhawk or dragonfly was not showing signs of stress. Adjust the lens, take some photographs.

I personally refuse to put my lens on "auto". This is a lazy, bad habit when dealing with wildlife photography! Some lenses do not even have a auto feature! Get used to "manual", mode. Depend on your own ability to act quickly as well as the ability to read the creatures behavior. You know if a creature is ready to fly away! If you do not, practice, practice when you have practiced, practice some more! I also keep all my lenses on the "stabilizer", feature. If that lens has one?

When you do not use a tripod you have that chance of doing what everyone does, move. When dealing with such things as branch of a tree, and a creature, the branch moves, the leaves move and the creature will move on and on and on. This is just the way it is. You have to deal with this!



Depending on the creatures behavior, step closer. The shot above is the closest I felt I could get! I do not want to run off the creatures that visit our garden! These Band-winged Meadowhawks or dragonflies mate here in our garden. We also get other kinds of dragonflies here who will mate if they can find a mate! This took us years to build however a creature who can come and go as they please will not feel secure if they are constantly being threatened by people.

The background on these photographs is just the garden. Since this was August 1 of 2014 the garden was in full bloom. Seeing the leaves the Band-Winged Meadowhawk is on tells me this was our fruit tree that hangs over one of our small ponds. This tells me that the background on these shots is pointing out of the six foot dog fence, and that flower bed. Blurring out the fence, leaving the green and some other colors that are flowers!

Editing my photographs: These photographs had nothing done to them. I try to not do anything to them. I dont know photoshop and frankly neither does many of the people who think they know photoshop! Shutters at some of the photoshopped photographs I have seen .....

Just had a scare, news from Bend Oregon just said it was snowing! We have the door wide open and some of the windows, does not feel cold enough to snow!! It is not , raining here! We have flowers in bloom already! Others are getting ready to bloom with buds on them, like the lilacs! Last thing we need is snow or that horrible frost!! We even have some birds in nests here at home!!

Thank you for coming by and checking out these photographs of the Band-winged Meadowhawk from August 1, 2014!

Iris Flowers In My Garden

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Iris Flowers In My Garden




Meet the Bearded Iris Flowers. Most of our Bearded Iris Flowers are the "Tall" species. We have had these  Bearded Iris flowers so long we have forgot their names. Yes flowers actually have names the breeders give them ha!



In 2015 we will have a dozen or so more colors of the Bearded Iris blooming, or the new ones look as if they have taken off just fine!



Some of our Bearded Iris's we have more then one of. Since after all they grow and multiply.

This post has many photographs, makes up for some of the other posts where I talk more, photographs less. I thought some color would be good for all of us seeing it is winter.



Why the Bearded Iris you might ask? Well, we have limited space in our garden, every inch counts in such a place!                          



I enjoy floral photography. I practice this everyday that the garden grows (obsessively I might add ha). Like most gardeners I like to show off what we have worked so hard for.





As it is we do not have to much pollinating the Bearded Iris.



The Bearded Iris comes in so many colors! The tall bearded iris are quite impressive to see!



I had thinned out the Bearded Iris patch and Guy planted them in more locations around the gardens. 2015 will be interesting to see where else the Bearded Iris likes to grow!



You can see in the shots above their are columbine flowers growing within the Iris patch! The philosophy of this is, by planting more then one flower that will grow together, the pollinators that are attracting to one of the flowers may also go to the other flowers pollinating them as well!







We also have to have the Bearded Iris grow outside the dogs fence. Why? Our dogs would have everyone of them broke before the blooming stage ha!



























Thank you for coming by and seeing the many (but not all), of my photographs of the lovely Bearded Iris flowers we grow!

Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert

Mrsroadrunner Photography | 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.



The rest of these photographs were taken around our small pond that is under our fruit tree. The chain link fence made for a great perch !



I have a tenancy to be outside most of the days when it is nice outside here on the High Desert when I am feeling good, which means the birds do get used to me doing my gardening or just hanging around.



The shot above was taken before we put in the prefabricated ponds due to the drought conditions we here been experiencing here on the High Desert fearing 2015 will be a worse year for drought conditions.



There are many more photographs in the Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert album if you would like to see more photographs. You can hear the distinctive call of the Cedar Waxwing Bird here . You then can hear why I start looking around in the trees and in our lilac bushes / trees for this pretty bird! In 2014 we had the Cedar Waxwings clear up until the little snow we got started falling! This surprised me and the photographs are still in my archive.

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photographs of the Cedar Waxwings we had visiting our garden in the high desert! Make sure to check out their call so you can see them someday too! They really are pretty birds!

Pheasant At My Garden

Mrsroadrunner Photography | 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.



I believed I made a post about this Pheasant, however guess I just spoke about him in social media not making a blog post about him at all!



This Pheasant was living across the street on a farmers property who I know likes to see wildlife on his property. The Pheasant was coming over here to find things to eat in our garden, walking on our walking path that is one of the ONLY patches of grass we have butting up to the neighbor property.

We used to hear this Pheasant and of course see him over here. A couple factors as to why we no longer see him, hear him anymore? Main factor might be that he did not survive hunting season? If this Pheasant will come around me, he would come around someone with a gun in their hand. Heck, he could have been raised by irresponsible people who set him "free" ? People do such things, ending in death for the creature they raise to set free. If it were part of a state program to introduce more of the birds into the area there would be more Pheasants. Or I would think.....

Another factor might be, one of the coyotes, hawks or other wildlife got a hold of him? Even someones roaming pet?? We do have more activity going on in this town, perhaps with so much people moving about the bird thought it was a good time to move on? Whatever reason I am glad he visited!



I like the Pheasant bird I think they are pretty, always have and I have not seen to many here in the High Desert! Over the mountain I was with someone who hunted them as well as other game animals. The Pheasant nests also got ran over by the tractor. I would feel badly for the birds. We had quite a few over the mountain in the valley where I grew up.

Both Guy and I are bummed we no longer see or hear this Pheasant anymore! Big flashy, colorful birds!

Thank you for coming by!

Coyote Approaching in the High Desert

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Coyote Approaching in the High Desert




Meet the common Coyote ! One thing our area is known for is the Coyote. A wild dog that is not a big dog, though not a small dog either.



When heading off from the house I typically tell the son where I am going, or as my parents taught me to do - leave a note. I say in what direction I am planning to go. Just in case I am not back when dinner time comes around. I may take several cameras with me, or just one? To many variables, in fact with me that is a variables haha!

Coyote's are here in our area this is fact and I have ran into them several times on my outings. This time was as funny as the other times!

Heading to a spot I like to go for some of my photographs this Coyote just was not paying attention! I watched the Coyote approaching and a after thought was to get a photo or two! Sometimes I will take photographs of the Coyotes sometimes I just dont feel like it for we do have them here and they are a common thing to see.

The Coyote was on the other side of this gully when I first noticed the dog. I sometimes run into pet dogs running about, however the Coyote looks and moves a way any typical wild animal looks and moves while out hunting. You just cant miss them!

I stopped to observe the Coyote and perhaps to see how long it would take for the Coyote to notice me watching him ha! I wondered there at first if something did not scare the Coyote and that is why the dog was moving at the pace it was? I also was curious as to how close it would come to where I was standing haha, I'm a curious person ha!

Believe it or not Coyote's scare off the wildlife that I am out here to photograph! Everything goes quiet after those those first warning calls are heard. In other words I have lots of time to watch this Coyote. No hurry for gosh a while. It will take time for the wildlife to calm down anyways!

So I watched this Coyote go down into the gully and come back up, following it's nose is what I feel it was doing. Have dogs who do the same thing waiting for me back home! When I am out and about by myself I dont take any of the dogs with me. Why? I just cant pay attention to the dogs and do what I do. So I leave our dogs at home.

Coyote's for the most part are harmless. Typically, Coyotes have learned that people are not good news. Some people will shoot a Coyote on site for nothing more then being alive. I dont understand this practice myself for like I said I have ran into Coyotes on my own and with Guy and the dogs, Coyotes are just trying to make their way just like everyone else. However, I dont have livestock to worry about these days either.

This Coyote saw me and that is when I had to laugh! It turned around on a dime! Started heading off where it came from haha! That is when I thought well, take some photographs of it haha!

I and we have run into the loan Coyote like this time, and ran into dens with pups. Heck I even asked Guy to stop the truck once for I seen a puppy on the side of the busy road we were on! Come to find out it was a Coyote pup. The adult Coyote grabbed the pup and back into the brush they went.....You know I am more afraid of a pack of pet dogs who went wild then I ever will be of a Coyote......

Thanks for coming by and reading what happened on this day as I was out and about !

Life Of The Gray Hairstreak Butterfly

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Life Of The Gray Hairstreak Butterfly




Meet the Gray Hairstreak Butterfly. If you have not been to my blog, or new to my blog then this butterfly is new to you. If you are a long time visitor to my photography and/or blog then this butterfly you should already know.



The Gray Hairstreak Butterfly showed up here to the house some years ago. Attracted to several of my plants, one being the Hollyhock Flowers and where I took these photographs was one of the Hollyhock Plants.



if you notice the leaves of the Hollyhock there in the photograph above? The holes are from insects. Perhaps the caterpillar of the Gray Hairstreak Butterfly? This is a good trade I think!

Guy says to me why dont you water with the agriculture water we pay every year for? I have spoken to several agencies about this water, it is run off from the farms and ranches. Several times a year chemicals are placed in the pipe lines to kill the algae that grows in the lines. I am told not to put this water into the ponds due to the chemicals.... so why would I want to put that water onto my plants? Would the water not kill off the caterpillar of such creatures as this Gray Hairstreak Butterfly?



This Gray Hairstreak Butterfly is laying eggs. Again if you are new to my blog this is new to you.

The creatures who visit, or even live their life here on our property with us tend to get used to my routine. Along with getting used to my routine, they get used to me. Unless the creature is new here, we have not gotten used to each other. However the new creatures to my garden do not feel comfortable enough to do such things as lay eggs right in front of me.



If you want to get such photographs I recommend getting a lens that can take such shots. Even if you have to get close, you can do it! The lens I like the most, which is always left on one of my camera bodies is a 70-300mm. This lens just works for me and I have two brands of the same lens. I like this lens that much!



Everyone has their own style when it comes to photography. My style is real basic. I shoot in manual, I try and make the shot count. These photographs are uploaded, looked through and the file is named. Uploaded to website. If I crop I will tell you. These photographs are not cropped. Like I said , once the butterflies get used to you. They let you get right into their business.



These photograph to some may seam like the exact same photograph. No, the Gray Hairstreak Butterfly is little!! The reference I give is, look at your thumb nail. That is pretty much the size of this Gray Hairstreak Butterfly, give or take of course for I have small hands.



The blue speices of butterfly I admit they confuse the crud out of me haha! There is quite a few of them, they are all small species of butterfly! Once your eyes see one species of blue..... you are trained to see them all!



As I have said on twitter , I like taking photographs of creatures doing what they are going to do if I am there or not.

No perfumes, I do not wear insect repellant. I also do not like my clothing to stink like perfume (however lets be real here I do not do laundry. I am not much of a domestic goddess ).

Perfumes , insect repellants etc. will not do you as a photography of wildlife any good! You may smell pretty to another person, but to the wildlife you want to photograph you may just stink? Anyhoo you get the point.



You can see the larger photographs, you should by clicking on the photographs. Again being organic has it's good and bad points. This I feel is a good thing, even though my flowers, the leaves or plants themselves take a hit and do not look perfect as another gardener who used chemicals to kill the good bugs, and the bad bugs.

Thank you for coming by my photography, if you read my rambling that you for listening!