Photo: Sly Leafhopper

I can't resist these little guys, even if the wife claims they're sucking the juice from her garden plants. This shot says it all.

Photos: Backyard Flowers

Well, the last shot isn't from our yard. It's some kind of bizarre hairy wildflower found on a hike.

Photos: Ladybug Nymphs

The ladybugs are everywhere, err ... rather their babies are.

They're not quite as cute as their parents, but boy do they devour aphids. The updside down nymph was hanging from a strand of silk. Most of the insects were on a pine tree in the backyard. I also noticed a very tiny wasp hiding nearby. I believe it was preying on the ladybug nymphs, laying eggs on their backs which would later hatch and eat their host.

Virescent Green Metallic Bee

I got a ton of macro photos this holiday weekend, but this is my favorite so far. After a stressful Sunday morning of dealing with a sick dog and an emergency visit to the vet I noticed this fellow nosing around next to the driveway. So, I took a mental break and followed the bee with a camera for a bit.

Cheap 500mm lens!

I picked up this ancient 500mm lens at the OSU used store a few days ago, not knowing if it would work with my camera. But, at $30 I figured it was worth the risk. But, what a monster! It's 2 feet long and all metal. The label says century Tele-Ather II 500mm 5.6.

Luckily, it has a t-mount (a screw on attachment common with spotting scopes and old lenses) so after adding a $20 adapter it comes to $50. Not bad for a top of the line 1980's lens.

Here are a few shots taken with it earlier today. Hand focusing is slow, even for a manual, and it seems to blur distant subjects, but for getting close-ups of medium range subjects it's a great outdoor lens (except the weight, of course).

Oh, and there were around 6 more of them at the OSU surplus when I left.

Photos: Riverside Insects

A few more shots from my backlog, due to a heavy work load. All of these are things you can find along most Pacific Northwest river banks, if you sit down and look around.

First up: a tiger beetle. These look like flies from a distance and camouflaged quite well. They seem to like warm sandy beaches.

Next: small semi-aquatic grass hoppers. These guys are fair swimmers when they land in the water. This image has been edited.

Lastly, a toad bug. I saw some of these last year and had no idea what they were until I looked them up. True to their name they hop around like little toads.

Photos: Spiders Spiders Everywhere

Some recent spider shots. The first one are zillions of baby spiders, possibly orb weavers that recently hatched in my wife's flower bed. The second shot is a wolf spider with egg sack found along a river bank. It's not nearly as big as it looks in the photo, but I liked the creepy detail in this close-up.