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Last of the Butterflies

Last of the Butterflies
Last of the Butterflies for 2019

This is certainly one if not THE last of the Butterflies for 2019. The next day all these flowers were frozen and most of the insects were pretty much destroyed as well if they hadn’t crawled into a warm spot. These high ridges get harsher, windier, colder, wetter weather than the lower river valleys we have such great views of. It is 12 degrees as I type this at 6AM… there is snow on the ground, hard freezes continue and will do so through the harsh winter I predict to come this year of low sunspot activity. In fact, the winter came early this year to the borderlands of Wyotana. Started October 1…

There will be a few more insect macros trickling in left over from this summer but remember I am reworking most of my older images to current standards and those will be posted as they are finished. 🤘 Those re-worked images will be working their way into my posts all winter. I am literally buried under the crush of images I have to work on this winter. Having said that… Job security is a good thing😀. I have a great deal of trouble identifying bugs, birds and flowers as I’m a paleontologist. Got my fossils all down, flowers bees and bugs….not so much lololol.

This little guy is Boloria eunomia. (Bog Fritillary is it’s common name ?) Their population exceeds 1 million and are a Northern Tier of central states and Canada distribution. Wyoming to Wisconsin then up to Alaska through Canada is common. Anybody see one further south than Wyoming?? Those that know say the population exceeds 1 million, I have maybe 1/2 that up here at times lolol… Their preferred habitat is “alpine tundra” according to the web. That pretty much describes this place most of the year lol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Last of the Butterflies

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Marigold Moth Marathon

Marigold Moth Marathon
Marigold Moth Marathon

Capturing “Marigold Moth Marathon” was challenging. Getting two of these guys lines up and both in focus (mostly) was the result a lot of light and the angle along with a really good macro lens I’m playing with here. I have to get the lens tip about 2 inches away. This has a phenomenal long depth of field at higher f numbers..

Autumn was on a Tuesday This year. It was 75 and sunny warm on our patio for this. As I type this (the next day after the photo was taken) it is 20 degrees and 4 inches of sticky frozen snow on every surface lolol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, (Little Siberia), Wyoming/Montana borderlands. (Wyotana)