Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Male American Goldfinch on a Thistle. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 250, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). I got almost an identical picture yesterday at the same location. The Goldfinch really like when the Thistle goes to seed.
American Goldfinch on a Thistle. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 250, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Monarch butterfly feasting on a thistle flower at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens with a 2.0 TC-E teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec).
This year, I have only seen three Monarch butterflies and only been able to get a picture of one. None of them were feeding. In the past they favored Thistle flowers and Joe Pye Weed flowers. I saw many Monarch butterflies on this day six years ago.
Monarch Butterfly Feasting on a Thistle Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens with a 2.0 TC-E teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Late Afternoon Walkabout at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Six images of a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth working a Thistle flower. Images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.
Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Black Swallowtail Butterfly Feeding on a Thistle Flower, and Small Bugs on a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower both at the Images taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens.
Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)Insect in a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D700 + 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)