So I am walking--suddenly this butterfly lands at my feet. Curious behaivor I thought. I take a shot of it (1st one in series). But the butterfly will not leave & I'm tiring of being its resting place. My restlessness goads the butterfly to move on, but it stays close to me. I sense something odd, and temporarily lose sight of the butterfly---then I hear a light thud, followed by rapid flapping of wings on the ground--I look and see the butterfly wrestling for its life (2nd one in series) with a dragonfly.
After only a few seconds, the dragonfly emerges on top, its mouth in a deathgrip on the butterfly's head, and its thorned, spiny legs spread equidistant over the butterfly's wingspread to limit any further movement. Unexpectedly, the dragonfly manages the herculean strength to lug this butterfly up to the nearest tree: it took many seconds, with the dragonfly's wings at full speed, for the drangonfly to bring this butterfly up to a tree, about 10ft off the ground (3rd pic in series). I follow, stand on my tippy toes, stretching every bit of reach I can out of my 90mm lens to capture the dragonfly dining. The wind is blowing, the light is great diminished in the canopy of the leaves, and I look down to see I am standing in the middle of a poison ivy patch. Nonetheless I patiently stand, waiting for the wind to arrange the leaves and branches just right so I can manage an in-focus shot---(pics 4 & 5 in the series) reflect my best efforts. Pic 5 shows the dragonfly as it somehow manages to begin the inhaling of the butterfly process. Sorry about the lengthy discussion; I don't think the pics would stand so well without the commentary.
Great stuff. My kind of bedtime story. Nature is what nature does and these kinds of pics and narrative beat the heck out of another still shot of something doing nothing. Love it. Look forward to a new story tomorrow.
cupic The jungle that is "Nature"......... nice series
cheers
Thank you Cupic--Nature sometimes seems so cruel and unforgiving, making me more assured that our move to civilization, though not perfect, was the right one.
imtheguy Great stuff. My kind of bedtime story. Nature is what nature does and these kinds of pics and narrative beat the heck out of another still shot of something doing nothing. Love it. Look forward to a new story tomorrow.
Thank you, so much! After all this happened, I could not stop thinking that the butterfly somehow felt I could protect it--I walked away with a certain sadness, though of course we all must respect the ways of nature.
FotoPete Wow great set of macros! Not often do we pause to observe the little things that happen all around us.
Thank you Pete! You are right on the money; all around us this is happening.
Damn Brit First class reporting from the war zone, great work.
LOL, your sense of humor is one of the genuine treats fo this forum!
timbo13 great series and real-life story!
Thank you Timbo!
audiobomber Awesome series. I love the close crop. So sharp.
Thank you, the 14.5 mp of the K20 sure make these crops easy--love this camera.
vmax84 Awesome pics..........really like the 2nd to the last one. Crystal clear!
vmax84
Thank you Vmax! Big crop for the 2nd to last one.
causey Ernest, simply unbelievable series of pictures (and events).
It is great to get these awesome comments, and to have fellow shooters with whom to share! You guys are all Great! Thanks!
super (scary) series..... let's hope the butterfly doesn't have the sense
of fear that we humans do......... this post would be great if it had one
of those 'b' movie horror screams in the backround.......... great post....
dcmSox2004:super (scary) series..... let's hope the butterfly doesn't have the sense
of fear that we humans do......... this post would be great if it had one
of those 'b' movie horror screams in the backround.......... great post....
Thank you--that is a good point you raise about fear. BTW, you can always download an appropriate song and play it with Windows Media Player in the background. LOL
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