Sunday, August 22, 2010

Small moments

Late summer drones on for me...the girls are back to school, but the bird action (now that I have some time to get out and watch them) is still quiet.  Babies are grown, the fall exodus not yet begun....

I take what I can get, though.  Small moments of magic. 



I found a flower whose stamens are minuscule Pixie Stix.
pixie stix stamens
(Please click on this to see it larger...)


Glowing Morning Glory.
DSC03503



Did not know an inchworm was also noodling his way through the thistle blooms alongside the skipper.
(This skipper was the size of a quarter.)
skipper inchworm and thistle2




A delicate, tiny white flower in the underbrush...
tiny sweet flowers2


So small and fragile-looking, I held my breath as I took its picture.
tiny sweet flowers


Watched water striders' shadows chase them under the water.
strider and shadow


I found water so clear, it held the sky inside.
Fall under the water


Just the right patch of shade gave me a star.
starlight


Stumbled across a bird finally, a solitary sandpiper eating a small fish.
solitary sandpiper eating a fish


A small moment that was huge for me....
I've always wanted to see this.  A damselfly freshly emerged from its nymph skin. 
nymph skin and damsel


Zero defining marks.  Just opalescent translucence.
new damselfly
I've never held a dragonfly or damselfly.  They are too smart, too fast for that.  I've always wanted to, but never had the chance.

And then he climbed onto my fingernail. 
new damselfly on my finger

10 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

You made me smile like a goof with this post Susan. I love your moments and your ability to see the magic in them.

Mary said...

Lovely. I agree with Linne. Did you know there was a bug on the stem of the small delicate white flower? And, what's with that purply glittery polish?

KGMom said...

I think the damselfly liked your nail polish!

Susan Gets Native said...

Lynne: They are important, those little moments, aren't they? I'm kind of glad the bird action was slow...I might have missed all of these.
Mary: I did see that...sharp eyes, Mare! And the glitter polish was the girls' idea. We have blues, greens, purples and all sorts of glittery ones. They experiment with me. That was "grown up" mauve with glitter on top. :)
Donna: He probably thought he had landed in a disco.

Vickie said...

Fun, fun! Look at all you discovered. The purple and the glitter were a nice touch!

dguzman said...

Sooooo cool! That damselfly will probably never stay that still again in his whole little life. And you were there for that moment. Awesome.

Dawn Fine said...

Oh..a great post..with super photos. I adore your purply polish and so does the damselfly!

Luuuuuua said...

superbe fotografii,bravo

Banjo52 said...

As always, excellent photos and information, esp. about hearing and shape of owls' faces. Hope Thirteen finds a hairdresser soon.

amarkonmywall said...

Beautiful photos! If that damselfly is lucky she might take on some of the color of your polish one day soon. Lucky you to have her come sit.

What kind of camera do you use. I'm surveying good photographers about the blog neighborhood because I'm searching for a new camera to take on an upcoming trip. I love my Rebel but just don't want to haul the extra weight and lens overseas. I love Julie Z's photos with her new Canon G11 but it's a tiny tad pricey...