Tag: Monarch Butterfly

Four-Years Ago (25-July-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Morning walkabout at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Butterflies, Bull Frog, and Dragon Fly.

Monarch Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 2.0 TC-E III teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 2.0 TC-E III teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Kermit the Frog in the pond. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Kermit the Frog in the pond. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dragonfly. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dragonfly. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Eight-Years Ago (09-September-2007) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

While out looking for butterflies, I came upon a Monarch butterfly feeding on a yellow Tick Weed. A bit later saw another Monarch butterfly that had been captured by a Praying Mantis and was being eaten for breakfast. A Darwin Award for this Monarch butterfly that won’t make it to Mexico this year. Kermit, a very large Bullfrog was waiting in the mud next to the pond. You wonder what he has been eating?


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Monday (08-September-2014) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

I finally tracked down a Monarch Butterfly today. Since I returned from the Semester at Sea voyage, it has been hot in New Jersey and the butterflies have been sparse. It was cloudy and windy today so wasn’t that hopeful. Lots of the yellow wild flowers, a very few thistle blooms – but did see several milkweed pods. Finally, I did see one Monarch Butterfly fly by. I had to pass through a lot of raspberry bushes to get close enough to get some good images.

Monarch Butterfly at the Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014.

Monarch Butterfly at the Sourland Mountain Preserve, (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (08-October-2007) — New Jersey

Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Monarch Butterfly. Five-years ago while driving home from work I saw purple wild flowers on the side of the road at an abandoned golf course in Hillsborough. I pulled over to see if there was a picture. The purple wildflowers attracted dozens of Monarch butterflies providing more colors.  I took this image with my favorite 80-400 mm telephoto zoom lens. The hard part was working at the minimum focus distance for the lens (~ 7 feet). I needed to keep stepping back to get the image in focus. One more reason I always have a camera with me.

Monarch Butterfly. Late Fall Nature in Central New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly. Late Fall Nature in Central New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Friday (05-October-2012) — New Jersey

Fall Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.

The sky finally cleared. I was wondering if the rain in Spain (which fell on more than the plains) followed me back home. I went to Sourland Mountain Preserve to see what changed since I left for the voyage in mid-August. September is usually the time to see the Monarch butterflies as they prepare for their trip to Mexico. The first thing I saw when I got out of the car was a Great White Heron working a pond. I watched it for a while, and managed to get some “grab” shots as it captured a frog for breakfast. I hiked up the gas pipeline trail and only saw one thistle plant still in bloom. All of the other thistle plants had already gone to seed. When I returned down the trail, I waited at the thistle in bloom and was rewarded by two late season Monarch butterflies. Then when I was going back to my car, I saw this Green Heron fishing in the pond. All in all a great day at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Natural Selection. This Frog Will Not Be Reproducing. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E 20 III teleconverter. (ISO 280, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Natural Selection. This Frog Will Not Be Reproducing. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E 20 III teleconverter. (ISO 280, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Monarch Butterfly on a Thistle Bloom. Fall Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens. (ISO 110, 300 mm, f.2.8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Monarch Butterfly on a Thistle Bloom. Fall Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens. (ISO 110, 300 mm, f.2.8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Green Heron Gone Fishing at a Pond in the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR len + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Green Heron Gone Fishing at a Pond in the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR len + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)