July 23, 2019
Every time I sling my camera over my shoulder to go on a picture walk, I’m excited by the possibilities of what I might find. In the back of my mind, I’m always hoping that I’ll find something new. More often than not, I find something I’ve already seen before. The joy in that, though, is learning something new every time I watch a creature in its natural environment.
Viceroy and Monarch Butterflies look very similar but the Viceroy has a black line across the hind wings and the Monarch does not. The Viceroy is also a bit smaller than the Monarch. Also, the caterpillars of these two butterflies are significantly different in appearance.
Mallard 
Mallard
I just liked the way these geese looked lined up along the shore with such a clear reflection.
Today, for instance. I was standing on the shoreline of one of the ponds at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery observing dozens of swallows swooping through the air catching bugs. As I was watching, I noticed that some of the birds were taking breaks in a nearby tree—so I zoomed in. To my surprise none of the birds in the tree were swallows! They were cedar waxwings! I had never seen cedar waxwings swooping and diving over a body of water like that—or maybe I had always assumed the birds I was looking at were swallows! It was nearly impossible for me to tell the difference between the swallows and the waxwings as they quickly flew through the air snatching insects.
While I was standing on the shore observing the swallows and waxwings, I noticed a small yellow bird flitting around sporadically in the underbrush below me. My heart skipped a beat! I thought for sure it was a Prothonotary Warbler like the one I had seen in the exact same spot last year. Back then, I had been so excited to find a bird I had never seen before– and then profoundly disappointed to find the battery on my camera was dead! In my naiveté, I thought if I rushed home for a new battery and then rushed back (40 minutes minimum), the bird would still be there. It was a huge long shot for sure, but I had nothing to lose. Surprisingly, though, I made it back in time to get the shot! Today’s bird, however, was not a Prothonotary Warbler, but a Yellow Warbler—equally cute but not particularly rare.
After a million or so pictures of the Yellow Warbler and the Cedar Waxwings, I decided I needed to get a little exercise –it was, after all, a picture walk, and I had been standing in the same place for over an hour! Within 100 yards, though, I had to stop again because I spotted even more swallows swooping over an adjacent pond– with dozens more perched in a nearby tree along the bank. When I zoomed in on them individually, I could identify Bank Swallows, Northern Rough-Winged Swallows, Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows! I didn’t even know they all hung out together!
Swallow Squabble 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 
Bank Swallow
Eastern Kingbird 
Willow Flycatcher
As it turns out, I got very little exercise today, but tons of pictures! To make up for the walking shortfall, Mel and I went for a stroll in our neighborhood later in the day. As part of our itinerary, we stopped at our local Prairie Garden– and immediately spotted two Hummingbird Moths! They are such beautiful insects and I hardly ever see them– so I couldn’t wait to finish our walk and grab my camera! Not only were the two moths still there when I returned almost an hour later, they positioned themselves in just the right spot for pictures—plus they stayed around long enough for me to experiment with different settings so that I could freeze the wing action and get the right exposure. I was quite happy with the results.
In spite of all the pictures I took today, I didn’t find anything new– but I certainly had a great time looking!
