Local Lepidopterae in Southwest Florida

Tropical Checkered Skipper

Tropical Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus oileus).  Although listed as common in SW Florida, this is the first one I've seen.

 

All about the Tropical Checkered Skipper

This is a male feeding on Broomweed (Sida acuta) which is a host plant for this species.

 

Broomweed link and great butterfly photos

Reflections at One Sarasota Tower

I am fascinated by reflected sunlight and clouds.  Light is essential to both nature and photography.....so this post about sunlight reflected off the mirrored windows of a Sarasota, Florida high-rise building is really not so out of the ordinary.



One Sarasota Tower is a 12 story high-rise building overlooking Siesta Bay in Sarasota, Florida.  Bathed in sunlight, the mirrored windows of this post modern commercial office tower reflect the sky and it's surroundings. 

Building data from Emporis

 

 There are taller buildings in the area....but none use sunlight, clouds and reflected images to draw one's eye to nature's impromptu art.

 

 Managed by Icorr Properties, One Sarasota Tower has 137,139 sq feet of office space....in addition to it's external beauty.

 Reflected light in photography can be stunning, but it is often difficult to capture.

Beautiful reflected light photos

 Here the distorted images of nearby windows become abstract art.

 Buildings, sky clouds, trees.  What is real, what is reflection?

 Is the blue the color of the sky or the color of the glass?

 Shooting into the reflected sun...a difficult exposure.

 The blue colors change with the angle of the sun....and the clouds become more ephemeral.

 I love the blurring at the right hand corner of the windows.  From left to right....real palm, reflected palm, distorted image.

 Laser beam from a passing UFO?  No, sunlight, glare and reflection....made brighter than the background sky by the angle.

 The sensor didn't want me to take this shot.....too much glare, flare and distortion....but I like it!

This was a fun shoot with my daughter Chrissy on a sunny afternoon in downtown Sarasota.  Come on down and see it for yourself!

Florida Fall Butterflies

 

Gulf Frittilary (Agraulis vanillae) 

Late summer and fall are great butterfly times here in Southwest Florida.  Here are some species we have seen recently....mostly in our backyard butterfly garden.

Checkered White (Pontia protodice)

Queen (Danaus gillippus)

Long Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)

White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)

Whirlabout Skipper (Polites vibex)



Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charithonia)



Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)

 



Southern Cloudywing (Thorybes bathyllus)

Orange-Barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea)



Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Barred Yellow (Eurema daira)

Mangrove Buckeye (Junonia genoveva)

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)



Florida White (Appias drusilla)