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Swallowtail butterflies were everywhere! We saw them frequently. As we were packing up, several of them congregated at a favorable spot in the mud, and obediently posed to have their pictures taken.The new camera has a nice zoom range, 35 to 280mm, as well as macro capability. I tried several manual and "scene" settings until I found something that worked! Whatever the butterflies were after in the mud, it must have been pretty good. They patiently stayed put while I fiddled with the camera, snapped, and flashed till I got a few good shots. |
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Most of the wildlife seemed unafraid and conveniently remained in place, even for a close-up. There's a small cement pond at the nature center near the campground, where we found this photogenic and long-suffering bullfrog. I imagine he was seeing stars by the time I got this shot! |
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A huge snapping turtle seemed unafraid, too. He cruised the waters just outside of the swimming area for about half an hour or more! I decided to keep an eye on him, since most of the swimmers were kids. He was pretty big -- probably more than two feet from nose to tail -- and could have rendered a very nasty bite if somebody had messed with him. Fortunately he was slow-moving and kept to open water. |
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We found these Indian pipes along the nature trail around the lake. They didn't mind my clumsy photography one bit! The dark, moist environment along the trail was perfect for mosses and fungi. Indian pipes are relatively rare, and are one of my favorites. |