Purple, Yellow, Green, Brown …

Ironweed shows up in late summer. When the purple shows up, I know we are on the backside of summer. It is a butterfly magnet.

A little detail about this beautiful plant:

“Standing 4 to 6 feet tall at maturity, ironweed boasts a big garden presence when it begins blooming in late summer. That's because clusters of bright purple flowers decorate its tall stems for 6 weeks or more at the end of the growing season. Ironweed received its common name from its ironlike qualities: tough stems, tenacious growing habit, and flowers that give way to seed clusters the color of rust.” Source: Ironweed

If you live near a pond or river, and near some grassland, you should get out and see the beautiful colors ... to take a walk, and take your camera. Enjoy!

~ Rick

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

Monarch In The Making …

Teresa capture this photograph of a monarch caterpillar while we were hiking this week. The caterpillar eats the milkweed, but the butterfly doesn’t. Here is the inside story on this amazing bond:

”You see, the latex-based sap produced by milkweed plants contains toxic compounds called cardenolides. Most other insects, save for a handful of species, can’t digest these toxins; it kills them or they avoid it all together due to its foul taste. But monarch caterpillars actually absorb these toxins as they feed on milkweed leaves, rendering the caterpillars themselves toxic to potential predators. The toxins found in the monarch butterfly host plant actually help protect the caterpillars and adult butterflies from birds and other predators.” (Source: The monarch butterfly host plant: Milkweeds ...)

And now you know ...

We hiked this week .. here is our latest video .. enjoy.

~ Rick

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

Natures Imposter?

This is not what you think. At first glance, you may think it is a Monarch. Well, it’s not. This is a Viceroy). What is the difference?

There are a few noticeable differences, but the big one is the ‘lines’ in the wings. The Viceroy has a line that runs perpendicular to the rest of the lines in the wing. (see the photo to the right.)

The Viceroy Buttefly

The Monarch Butterful

This is a photo of a Monarch that I took a couple days ago. Noice the difference? There are some other interesting differences.

• The Viceroy is usually smaller. They are still a larger butterfly, but just not as large as the Monarch.

• The Viceroy tends to fly more direct and faster. You have to watch them to understand this, but its true.

There are other differences, but I’m not going to discuss them in this blog post. The fact is, they are beautiful creatures .. both of them. Just enjoy their beauty.

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

A Late Summer Pond

This view never gets old. This pond is about 50% covered in algae. The lush green of the trees and shrubs make it difficult to get a clear shot, but that is what makes the photo beautiful. I plan to go back sometime this week and take a drone shot from about 400 feet up. That should be fun.

~ Rick

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

Buggy Eyes

This is a female blue tail damselfly. The blue color is beautiful. We see dozens, maybe hundreds of them when we hike along the river, but rarely get a photo as good as this one. Teresa usually gets the best shot of these beautiful creatures, and this is one of her photos. Very well done.

~ Rick

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright