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Dune Tansy Buttons
(Tanacetum bipinnatum) |
I took a walk over to Grandview Park yesterday afternoon while the sun was out and brought my compact camera along despite having little expectation of actually using it.
The nearly constant fog out here on the Westside makes sunshine a novelty, and from my high perch at the park I was struck by the sunlight's beautification of the city below. Closer to hand, though, I also noticed a fair amount of insect activity on some of the plants. Both were surprises that made me glad I'd brought a camera along.
Even though I've been stepping away from the compact camera lately, I can't deny how handy it is to be able to have such a wide zoom range in such a lightweight package. After photographing the insects (and a bird) on the plants, I wanted to bring my full-frame camera to bear on the plants themselves.
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| There were several American lady butterflies tumbling around in the wind, and even though they occasionally landed on the dune tansy, it seemed like it was more of a temporary perch for them than an actual nectar-stop. |
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| While the larger butterflies cavorted above in the strong winds, a tiny gray hairstreak calmly gathered sweet nectar from the golden flowers. |
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| Dune Tansy |
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| I'd never seen this plant bug before. It's apparently a relative of a more common larger plant bug in the Largus genus. |
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| The larger Largus being this orange-bordered bug. Look at that pointy proboscis being stuck into the buckwheat flowers. |
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| Bumblebees were working on the dune tansy, but I only noticed honeybees on the buckwheat. The buckwheat was planted to draw in a rare native butterfly, the green hairstreak, but I have yet to see one around here. |
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Coast Buckwheat
(Eriogonum latifolium) |
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| A white-crowned sparrow popped up and looked around from its perch on swaying stalks of coastal sagewort. |
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| Coastal Sagewort |
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| Artemisia pycnocephala |
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| Afternoon Clarity |
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