The end of an era?

Well ladies and gentlemen, the time has come...I'm officially closing down the blog. If we're honest, it's basically been closed down for a while now.  With so many other ways to share photos these days, it just doesn't make much sense anymore.  Maybe someday, if I ever get my act together to do some actual writing, I'll bring it back to life in one form or another.

Never fear though, as there are still plenty of ways to find me on the interwebs.  Here are some of them:

Website: www.kylehorner.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KyleHornerNature
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KHornerNature
Instagram: www.instagram.com/khornernature/

That'll be all for now.  I leave you with this photo of a dragonfly:

Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis)

New year, new (old) blog?

Hello!

Well it's a full 7 months since I last posted here - in fact I let pretty much all of my social-media-type things go in the latter half of 2014.  Just needed a break I suppose, and a bit of a re-think.  But with the onset of 2015 I'm diving back into the mix, and there are many changes and updates to annouce!

First and foremost, about a month back I published a new website!  The old one was long overdue for an upgrade, and I'm excited to have something new, simple and clean.  You can see it in the same bat-place:

www.kylehorner.com

Secondly, I have taken yet a third reluctant plunge (Facebook and Twitter being long under the belt) into a social medium, and gotten an Instagram account.  Do you Instagram?  If so, you can find me here:

http://instagram.com/khornernature/

Thirdly, I'm excited to be guiding a trip to Florida for Eagle Eye Tours in about a month's time.  If you have some spare cash and nothing to do mid-Feb, you can find the details here:

http://www.eagle-eye.com/florida-birding-tour

And finally, with photography and other activities being slow in the winter, I have been working hard to process as many photos as I can, and finally get my collection up-to-date!  Here's a whole bunch of shiny new edits from the last few months:

Definite Tussock Moth (Orgyia definata)

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Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris)

Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum)

Long-tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)

White-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)


American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)


Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)


Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)

Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus)

Mississippi Green Water Snake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Masked Treefrog (Smilisca phaeota)

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

Fingers crossed for more to come (New Years resolutions being what they will)!

Kyle

More Odes!

Spring seems to finally be springing - what a gorgeous day!  Had my first Killdeer of the year, and my first stoneflies too.  There is hope for the future.

In the meantime, the dragonfly (and damselfly) editing spree continues!  Here are some more:

Cherry-faced or Ruby Meadowhawk (Sympetrum sp.)

Cherry-faced or Ruby Meadowhawk (Sympetrum sp.)

Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta)

Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)

Hopefully we'll be seeing some in-person soon!

Kyle

Playing catchup...as always!

Hello!

Somehow managed to get motivated to edit some photos still in the sort pile from last year today!  Here are some dragonflies and damselflies from the year that was 2013:

Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis)

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)

Four-spotted Skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata)

Frosted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia frigida)

Hagen's Bluet (Enallagma hageni)

Lance-tipped Darner (Aeshna constricta)

Hopefully progress continues!  Won't be long (hopefully) until we're seeing dragonflies for real!

Kyle

Dominican Butterflies and Fall Plans

Hello!

I hope this first day of fall is treating you all well!  I love the changing seasons...and change in general.  I never like to do the same thing for too long!

I haven't been doing much shooting recently, but I have been editing a bit.  I was working back through some old photos from a 2011 trip to the Dominican Republic, and found a folder full of butterflies I'd always intended to identify but never gotten around to.  I managed to nail down most of them, although one remains a mystery (any butterfly aficionados out there fancy a challenge?).  Here they are:

White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

Zebra (Heliconius charithonae)

And now the stumper....ready for it?

Mangrove or Tropical Buckeye (Junonia genoveva or evarete)

I don't feel so badly about being unable to pin this down, as a) the two species look incredibly similar and b) nobody seems to know which one is which!  BugGuide (which I take to be the be-all-and-end-all on all things bug-related) has this to say:

"There has been a lot of confusion due to the switching back and forth of the usage of the names Junonia genoveva and Junonia evarete, and most of the photographs up to date on BugGuide were switched from current usage due to this confusion, and the resultant fact that many field guides have backwards or confused treatments as well. Hopefully the Lamas treatment will be the final word, and things won't keep switching back and forth!"

Unfortunately the Lamas treatment simply assigns the correct name to the correct butterfly, but doesn't help at all in identifying which is which.  And because you can't trust the name-assignment in any other guide/source, it seems pretty much impossible to get this little bugger to species!  The one that got away I suppose...

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Anyway, on to non-butterfly-related things.  Got a few fun plans for the fall, and I'm hoping they'll push me to spend some time camera-in-hand.  First, I'm headed out to Tadoussac, QC next week with my father in search of these:

Then down to the US of A in October on an annual hunt (but not the shooting type) for these:

I'm pretty excited for both, as I've really been jonesin' for an adventure, even a small one!  Finally, on October 7 I will be giving a talk to the Hamilton Naturalists' Club about these:

The talk is open to the public, so come on out!

I think that's all the news for now - get out there and see some cool fall nature!

Kyle

Flower Hunters

When it comes to carnivorous invertebrates, I've always had a soft spot for dragonflies (as regular blog visitors will recognize).  But perhaps coming a close second, at least from a photographer's perspective, is the unrelated group of critters that I'll call flower predators.  These crafty creatures disguise themselves as flower parts and prey upon unsuspecting pollinators, taking cunning advantage of nature's elaborate system for insect attraction.

Last year I posted the photo below of a Goldenrod Crab Spider preying on a European Honey Bee (albeit not on Goldenrod).  These little spiders are favourites of mine, and can actually change their colour from white to yellow in order to match their background.

Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) with European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

A few days ago I had the good luck to stumble upon a completely different flower predator, also munching (or rather sucking) on a meal of bee.  Ambush bugs belong to a group of insects that entomologists confusingly call "True Bugs".  The group is distinguished by its mouthparts, which function as a bi-directional, hypodermic needle.  They impale their prey (which may be animal or plant, depending on the species), inject a digestive enzyme then suck out the resultant goop.

The ambush bugs get their name from their hunting strategy, which as you may now have guessed, involves sitting in wait, camouflaged on a flower.  They then use their raptorial forelimbs to snare their prey, then quickly set about the act of pre-digestion.

I am admittedly poorly-acquainted with our native bees, so while I have some inklings, I will withhold any embarrassing guess at the identity of the unfortunate victim.

Ambush Bug (Phymata sp.) with prey

And another angle on the action:

Keep an eye out for upside-down bees as you smell the flowers - they always point you to something good!

Kyle

Magnificent Moths!

I had the good fortune to join a small crew of lovely folks at the Guelph Arboretum a few nights ago for some spirited mothing.  I was amazed to learn that over 600 moth species have been observed at The Arboretum alone, and when we delved into the identification of them I was instantly hooked by the new challenge!

For the uninitiated, mothing involves the attracting of nocturnal moths using UV lights, moth bait (comprised of rotting fruit and beer) and sometimes, though not on this occasion, pheromones.  Attracting them is easy - figuring out what they are is a whole different story!

Many of the moths we attracted were tiny, but there was a fair number of big ones too (definitely more interesting to a neophyte like me, and easier to photograph too!).  I grabbed a handful of photos - here is a small selection:

The Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix) - moths have great names!

Pale Beauty (Campaea perlata) - a common sight by the porch light.

Pink-spotted Dart (Pseudohermonassa bicarnea) - I think, anyway...

Baltimore Snout (Hypena baltimoralis) - an appropriate moniker.

The Bride (Catocala neogama) - big and beautiful, enjoying some rotted fruit and beer.

In between checking for adult moths, we searched for some young guns:

Beautiful Wood-Nymph (Eudryas grata)

That's all for now!
Kyle

Boring Odes?

I am playing catch-up as usual, but managing to get a few shots edited.  On my recent foray to shield country, I picked up a few photo-lifer odes.  Exciting for me, but I suspect that to many, they are some of the less charismatic dragons and damsels out there.  Nevertheless, I like 'em, so here they are!

If any odonate experts out there see issues with my identifications, let me know!  These freakin' things are hard!!

Ashy Clubtail (Gomphus lividus)

Lancet Clubtail (Gomphus exilis)

Stream Bluet (Enallagma exsulans) - and a lot of mites!

Hagen's Bluet (Enallagma hageni)

They may be the sparrows of the odonate world...

Kyle

Sometimes things just work...

Haven't posted on the blog in forever - it's been a busy summer!  I'm way behind (as usual) in photo editing, but figured I'd better put one up here before Blogger closes my account :).

Here's a recent shot that I was really pleased with...not because it's a fantastic photo, but because of the circumstances surrounding it.  The small, brown, forest butterflies (Wood-Nymph, Eyed Brown, Pearly-Eye, etc) are always challenging subjects.  They are fast and flighty, rarely land (and even more rarely in opportune photographic locations) and tend to hang out in dark places.

When hiking recently in Silent Lake Provincial Park I spotted an Eyed Brown landing on a tree nearby, about 8 feet off the ground.  The canopy was very heavy and the day was overcast, so the conditions were really dark.  Using the flash meant that I would likely only get one shot, as the creature would likely take off in response to the burst of light.  So I took a good guess at the exposure, prepared the flash and crept towards the tree.  I leaned against the trunk, pointed the lens straight up, focused and fired.  Sure enough, the butterfly took off and I was left waiting till I got home to see if it worked.

Turned out not too shabby :).

Eyed Brown (Satyrodes eurydice)

Butterfly Study

Back on the editing train today, and I came across a series of photos much like the dragonfly study from several posts ago - a very cooperative subject, interesting background and good lighting.  So, here is study #2.

I had a great year with Painted Ladies last year, a species that I had not previously had much luck with.  They are one of my favourite Ontario butterflies - they seem to have a particularly bright shade of orange, and their underwing pattern is spectacular.  This individual was photographed in the Guelph Arboretum in mid-August.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Jonesin' to get out and do some shooting - hopefully this weekend!

Kyle