Saturday, June 13, 2015

Mystery Photo

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #78. Here's the mystery photo!

I wish these were sharper, but I took them through the sliding door glass in the basement in W.V. I saw this hawk* swoop in, next thing you know he or she was carrying off a hapless woodland creature (and some leaves). *Red-shouldered Hawk, thanks TWG!


So no sharp pics of the hawk visit, but here are some butterflies. This is an Eastern Comma, Polygonia comma. The quite similar Question Mark has 4 spots in a row on its upper wings.

Last but not least, a Great Spangled Fritillary:


Update: Also linking to Andylens' Weekend Butterfly #01

Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
~

27 comments:

Linda Kay said...

Raptors are fascinating, especially if you go to a raptor show where they demonstrate the incredible hunting skills.

Small City Scenes said...

How neat to get the Hawk capture. Circle of life.
The Butterflies are very pretty.
MB

Maude Lynn said...

Love the hawk pictures. How cool!

TexWisGirl said...

looks like a nice red-shouldered hawk with 'mystery meat.' :)

fyi, a new link-up started today that i thought i'd tell you about. weekend butterfly at...

http://andyslens.com/blog/2015/06/weekend-butterflies/

eileeninmd said...

Cool sighting of the hawk with it's dinner. And the butterflies are lovely. Wonderful shots! Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your critter post. Have a happy weekend!

lina@happy family said...

Hawk is a great hunter. Great action shots.
The butterflies are so lovely.

21 Wits said...

I used to really enjoy seeing hawks at work, not so much around here now that I have Dash who is barely 7 pounds in weight and thinks everything is or should be his next best friend! My first thoughts on the mystery what is it? Don't laugh, but it appears bird like, quite a wind span too, it seems and that long white thing in the center, probably a leg, but screams, mushroom to me. See, I said you'd laugh. Lovely critter captures all throughout too.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

What perfect timing! I once saw a hawk swoop like that while riding my bike home from work- I was so awed, I almost crashed the bike.

Nancy Chan said...

What a fantastic timing for you to capture that particular shot!

Phil Slade said...

With raptors you have to be pretty quick on the button - they tend not to hang around. I really like that fritillary butterfly, it's beautiful.

Phil Slade said...

With raptors you have to be pretty quick on the button - they tend not to hang around. I really like that fritillary butterfly, it's beautiful.

Minoru Saito said...

Hi! The butterfly photos are very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Rajesh said...

Very colorful critters.

Irma said...

Butterflies are amazing, beautiful shots.
Good observation of the hawk with prey.
Best regards, Irma

NatureFootstep said...

lol, I have lots of images like that. Point and shot ones :)

Andy said...

Thanks for stopping by and participating in "Weekend Butterfly".

Michelle said...

That is a great capture of the hawk!

Unknown said...

Cool shots of the hawk! Have a great week.

Hootin Anni said...

the hawk is gorgeous...as are the butterflies.

♥ Łucja-Maria ♥ said...

Wonderful photos!
Butterflies are amazing!
Lucia

Jim H. said...

Saw one carrying a snake recently. Forget having a camera at the ready. Nice job!

Hannah said...

Great shots of the hawk and its amazing wing patterns. The butterflies are fun, I haven't seen any of those up here. The blue spots and patterns on the fritillary's wings are awesome!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

A raptors gotta eat too, same as the rest of us. Looks like this one isn't too particular about his protein sources. The butterflies are lovely and I admire your ID knowledge.

A Colorful World said...

Fascinating hawk shots. I bet it was a mouse or vole. And I love your butterflies.

Rose said...

Nice captures, even if they are not sharp. Fun to get the action. And those butterflies are gorgeous.

EG CameraGirl said...

Hawks sure can swoop in fast, can't they?!

Stewart M said...

Great shots - its surprising what you can see through a house door these days!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne (for a couple of days!)