photos

Friday Flower – Pink with an Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly

~ laura lecce ~ 6 Comments
Eastern Black Swallowtail – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Ok, so this photo is not so much about a flower as it about the stunning black butterfly perched delicately on these tiny pink flowers. Those large dark wings with golden circles and a powdering of shimmery blue. The signature elongated wing tips of a swallowtale and delicate lines of white dots along the abdomen. This butterfly truly turns heads as it flutters past and really tested my patience as I waited for it to sit still long enough for a photo that was in focus. I will dearly miss the warmer months this year as the weather is already getting too cold for my liking, and we still have so much further to go into the cold abyss of winter. Have a warm weekend everyone!

For more butterflies please click here.

Angry Caracara

~ laura lecce ~ 5 Comments
Angry Caracara
Angry Caracara – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This is an angry looking bird if ever I saw one! It is a caracara, which is a bird of prey belonging to the same family as falcons. Unlike falcons which are fast flying and skilled aerial hunters, these are the slower and lazier cousins which prefer to scavenge for prey that is already injured or dead. I’m pretty sure this is a northern caracara which has a less defined, patchy barring across the chest. The skin on their face ranges from yellow to deep red/pink depending on the age of the bird. This one was photographed in the Washington Slagbaai National Park in Bonaire, and as you can see he was not too happy about the photo.

For other posts on birds please click here.