Home Forums Explore Media Photography The Shutterbug Pub What’s on my finger – part 2

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  • #989937
    LeZart
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        First, I want to thank Greg for his recent message to me expressing his concern about my absence. It was very thoughtful.

        I have not posted anything in a while because I overdid some recent yard work and have been paying the price of late. It did my soul some good to be productive but my back wanted none of it and has been reminding me of that for the past 10 days. As a result, I have had little inclination to do much of anything. However, things have improved and I think I am over the worst of this episode. Over the years I have gotten much better at judging how much I can do safely and when I can do it but sometimes a misjudgement or misstep can still jump up and bite me – so to speak.

        I thought I would post another installment of ‘What’s on my finger’. I did catch the skinks but everything else willingly crawled or stepped onto my hand/finger.

        Image 1 – this is a young male Broad-headed Skink. The red head is a breeding display. That color intensity will will fade considerably after the breeding season is over. These guys are incredibly strong.

        Image 2 – this is a Carolina Mantid. They are able to turn their head and that is quite unusual for an insect. It is also a bit creepy, lol.

        Image 3 – This is a mature male Common Green Darner dragonfly. These guys seldom perch. I was quite excited about this encounter because it was so unusual.

        Image 4 – I am not sure of the specific species this little Skink. This one was rather calm. He spent a fair amount of time just stretched out on my finger.

        Image 5 – This is a Mabel Orchard Spider. I was amazed the first time I saw one of these. I had no idea spiders could be so colorful.

        Image 6 – these are newly emerged Automeris Io Moths. The bigger of the 2 is a female – the smaller is a male. I had found some unknown eggs and put them into an empty 20 gallon fish tank. The eggs hatched and then I had 17 new caterpillars. I managed to keep them fed and 15 of them wove cocoons which then eventually hatched out 8 females and 7 males. Within a few minutes after I carried these 2 outside, the both flew off. The male disappeared but the female went to the closest shrub and stayed there for several days before I lost track of her. They only live long enough to breed and produce eggs. I have a nice series of images showing all the various stages of their development.

        C&C welcome.

        Lee

        #1168290
        Greggo
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            Red Letter Day, we got John AND Lee back in the same day!

            As always, your photos just make me think you have a special soul. All the critters and creatures seem to trust you.

            No individual comments— all of these are special, and all the camera work is astounding– how you do this one-handed baffles me, you’ll have to have someone do a video clip of this. Bet it would be a YouTube sensation.

            again, glad your back is healing and welcome again

            greg

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            #1168286
            chaffee
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                Glad to see you back, Lee.
                back injuries, even minor ones, have an inherent debilitating quality about them. never fun.

                Great shots, I don’t have ANY of those up this way, ‘cept for maybe the darner…

                Tim

                "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt" William Shakespeare

                #1168289

                I’m so sorry to hear about your back, my hubby’s back was injured during his military service. It’s not fun.

                I think you’re the bug whisperer..no offense to the skinks :D.

                What a great bunch of photographs. Those moths are so beautiful!

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                #1168287

                Lovely shots Lee. The unnamed skink could easily be simply a striped or lined skink..

                #1168292
                blue falcon
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                    beautyful photographs Lee :thumbsup: i have a little question a skink is it family of a lizzard ?

                    #1168291
                    LeZart
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                        My thanks to those who took the time to comment.

                        i have a little question a skink is it family of a lizzard ?

                        Yes, skinks are members of the lizard family.

                        The unnamed skink could easily be simply a striped or lined skink..

                        I suspect that this was a juvenile skink and that makes an ID by me a difficult task. It could easily be a 5-lined skink but there are a couple of other species that are possible as well.

                        how you do this one-handed baffles me

                        The little pocket camera I use for this type of shot is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and only weighs a few ounces. I wrap the wrist strap around the middle two fingers of my right hand until I have a firm grip without even using my fingers, then I pull my elbows into my sides and hold them there for stability while I move one or both arms (from the elbows to the wrists) for focus. BTW – I never use the viewfinder when using this camera. I always use the LCD screen.

                        All the critters and creatures seem to trust you.

                        They have no reason not to, lol. I am not afraid of them nor do I have any intention of causing them distress. I am positive most critters can tune in to this state of mind and thus have no inclination to flee or fight. I seldom even catch them. My usual method is to just place my hand in a position where they will simply crawl onto it as they are moving about.

                        Lee

                        #1168284
                        Bobby D
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                            All these photos are simply mind blowing.
                            I am in complete agreement that all critters can tune into our minds.

                            [FONT="Book Antiqua"]Rob
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                            #1168288
                            Dreamin
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                                Great shots, here! I enjoyed seeing all of these. You may indeed be a bug/skink whisperer. But I don’t think this is going to go too far as a thread if you expect all of us to post to “Let’s see what’s on YOUR fingers!” (joke) LOL! I admire spiders and snakes….but I don’t want them crawling on me. YIKES! I have gotten dragonflies to land on my fingers and butterflies. ( That spider is beautiful! )

                                Natalie

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