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Posts Tagged ‘Hibiscus moscheutos’

Heron and hibiscus

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 5, 2015| 5 Comments »

The blooming Swamp Rose Mallows (Hibiscus moscheutos) at Huntley Meadows Park helped provide a beautiful backdrop for this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted there last Saturday.

Great Blue Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Munching on mallow

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 29, 2013| 7 Comments »

Looking into a Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), I immediately noticed the distinctive colors of a Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), feeding on the center stalk of the flower.

The katydid did not move from its position and merely cocked its head a little to the side and glanced up at me with its striking blue eyes. It seemed to be a little irritated to be disturbed, though I must confess that it’s really hard to gauge the emotions of an insect from its expressions.

The Handsome Meadow Katydid is one of my favorite insects and, in my humble opinion, truly deserves its name. In addition to its rainbow coloration and distinctive eyes, it has the cutest little feet and toes.

katy_mallow1_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Marsh dawn

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on July 22, 2013| 6 Comments »

In an effort to avoid the unbearable summer heat, this past Friday I went out to my local marsh just as the sun was rising and watched as the sun slowly illuminated the flowers and vegetation and burned off the mist that lingered above the fields.

marsh_dawn_blog

I don’t have a lot of experience shooting landscapes, but am relatively content with the composition I chose. I am also happy that I was able to capture the orange shade of the sky and some of the mist. A lot of the details are lost in the shadows, but that was the way it looked in the limited dawn light. In case you are curious, the flowers in the foreground are a kind of hibiscus that grow in the marsh—I think they are known as Swamp Rose Mallows (Hibiscus moscheutos).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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