Animal Photos – Page 19

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange

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Today I’m participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “orange”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

Orange is far from being my favorite color but I love how nature displays it boldly. My favorite display has to be this orange dragonfly I captured a few weeks ago. It was a lucky shot for sure. You can see my photo of a blue dragonfly here.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange dragonfly

While I visited San Diego’s Balboa Park on Sunday, I stopped by the rose garden and took several photos of the many colorful roses. You can view these beautiful (and not orange) roses in yesterday’s post. Here are a few orange roses I saw while there:

I tried to use the very cloudy sky as a background for the next photo. I kind of like the effect, although I bet this rose would be absolutely beautiful on a blue background since the two colors are opposite on the color wheel.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose at Balboa Park in San Diego

And here’s a last large burst of orange roses for you!

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose in San Diego's rose garden — A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose in San Diego’s rose garden

This next rose is more subtle and displays a mix of orange, yellow and light pink. I love this type of tea roses and they usually smell very good.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange tea rose in Balboa Park rose garden

Of course, roses are not the only flowers that are orange. Here are a few more orange flowers I’ve photographed in the past, like this beautiful orange protea pincushion.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange protea pincushion protea flower

I’m not sure what the next flower is called but I love its big fuzzy petals.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange flower with fuzzy petals

I like the orange leaves of fall foliage. We don’t get a lot of that in San Diego, so it’s nice to spot it here and there.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange leaves of a sumac tree in the fall

Of course, I can’t participate in an orange theme without displaying an orange, can I? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange on the orange tree

Sunday Post: Attraction

Today I’m participating in Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post photo challenge. This week’s theme is Attraction. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

As a tourist town, San Diego is full of attractions. My kids and I visited two of them this morning. We first went to the world famous San Diego Zoo. I love the elephant topiary welcoming you at the front. There is one elephant on each side of the San Diego Zoo sign.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Entrance of the world famous San Diego Zoo — Sunday Post: Attraction – Entrance of the world famous San Diego Zoo

We were planning to spend most of the morning at the zoo but with the unexpected rain, we shortened our visit. We saw many animals but probably one of the most famous attractions at the zoo are the giant pandas. The 9-month old baby was out with his mom, taking a nap in the trees.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo — Sunday Post: Attraction – Giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo

Unfortunately the light was terrible to take pictures and this was the only angle available. So here’s baby panda – Xiao Liwu. It means Little Gift in Chinese.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Baby panda Xiao Liwu at the San Diego Zoo — Sunday Post: Attraction – Baby panda Xiao Liwu at the San Diego Zoo

His mom Bai Yun was taking a nap too.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Panda Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo — Sunday Post: Attraction – Panda Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo

She managed to display a couple of poses while I was taking my pictures. How nice!

Since the weather wasn’t getting any better, we headed to the San Diego Natural History Museum, a five-minute walk from the zoo. Here’s what welcomes you inside when you enter the museum from the Balboa Park fountain entrance.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Dinosaurs at the San Diego Natural History Museum — Sunday Post: Attraction – Dinosaurs at the San Diego Natural History Museum

The San Diego Natural History Museum is currently displaying the amazing Dino Jaws exhibit, which demonstrates the feeding habits of various dinosaurs. There are about 10 robotic full-size dinosaurs on display throughout the exhibit, including this Baryonyx trying to catch a fish. I love the shadow of the jaws and teeth on the back wall.

Sunday Post: Attraction - Dino Jaws at the San Diego Natural History Museum — Sunday Post: Attraction – Dino Jaws at the San Diego Natural History Museum

Of course, there are many other attractions in San Diego, but I hope you enjoyed this little sample.

May 5, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, California Photos, Photography, Photos of San DiegoTags: baby panda Xiao Liwu, Bai Yun panda San Diego Zoo, Dino Jaws exhibit, Dino Jaws exhibit San Diego, photography, photos, San Diego, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo giant pandas, Sunday Post, Sunday Post: Attraction 14 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “from above”. Most photos I take are from a different angle than right from above, but sometimes when it comes to close-ups and macros, placing the camera right above can capture the best picture.

Here are a few samples of photos taken from above. Remember you can click on each photo to view it in a larger format. And if you like what you see, I invite you to subscribe to this blog so you can get new updates as they come. I publish new photo posts 3 to 5 times a week. Enjoy!

I love photographing raindrops, especially as they linger after the rain has gone. If the sun shines a bit, it can makes for a really nice picture.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Raindrops on the leaves of a rose tree — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Raindrops on the leaves of a rose tree

I don’t like spiders but I like how raindrops sit on a spider web. Here’s an example of a spider web right above smooth river rocks with raindrops on top of it. I have more examples of this type of raindrops here and here, but this photo is a few weeks old.

I usually don’t photograph flowers from right above but these flowers below seemed like the perfect exception. Look how the center of the flower seems almost white as the petals go from yellow to red. Only a shot from above can amplify this pattern.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - bright yellow red flowers — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – bright yellow red flowers

Of course I can’t talk about flowers without talking about bees. I like photographing them from above to show their beautiful wings. On this photo I shared a couple of weeks ago, I noticed something quite special. Take a close look at the bags of nectar the bee is gathering on its back legs. What an efficient way to gather a lot of nectar!

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Bee carries bags of nectar on legs — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Bee carries bags of nectar on legs

Finally you also can’t talk about flowers without mentioning butterflies. When they stay put and leave their wings wide open, you have the opportunity to photograph beautiful colors from above.

Here’s a beautiful orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia).

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia) — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia)

And here’s a postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene).

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene) — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene)

May 3, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, Plant Photos, Rock photos, Water photosTags: bee gathering nectar, bee with bags of nectar, bees carry nectar on legs, Dryas iulia, Heliconius Melpomene, nature photography, orange julia butterfly, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, photos of raindrops, postman butterfly, raindrops on spider web, Wordpress weekly photo challenge, WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above, yellow red flowers 6 Comments

Macro Monday: the blooms of the violet honey-myrtle tree

Let me start this post by announcing that you can save 40% on any poster, print or canvas in my online Zazzle store until May 1, 2013 by entering coupon code ARTDEALSFORU at checkout. See a photo you like on my website but not in my store? Just ask me what product you’d like to purchase and I’ll create it for you.

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. Remember you can click on each image to see it in a larger format.

I recently discovered a violet honey-myrtle tree in bloom at the San Diego Botanic Garden. Very pretty flowers, but I wonder why they’re labeled violet when they’re clearly more pink than anything.

No matter the color of its blooms, bees seemed very interested in this tree. Here’s one I captured hard at work.

Macro Monday: bee on a violet honey-myrtle bloom

Happy macro Monday!

April 29, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower PhotosTags: bee on blooms, bee on flower, Macro Monday, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, violet honey-myrtle blooms, violet honey-myrtle flowers, violet honey-myrtle tree 4 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather

I’m participating in LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge. This week’s Challenge is: Birds of a Feather!

I’ll start with a couple of photos I took yesterday of my neighbor’s house, right under their roof. We have tons of swallows (swifts if you don’t live in the U.S.) in San Diego and it’s nesting season right now. This swallow couple started building their mud nest just this week and they’ve been busy finishing it up to lay their eggs.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - swallows in their nest — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – swallows in their nest

Here’s another shot of just one of the parents. I can’t wait to see little chicks in there. I love watching the swallows hunting for insects every evening. It’s amazing to see so many of them moving so fast through in the air without flying into one another.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - a swallow's nest — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – a swallow’s nest

Talking about nests, here’s a dove sitting on its eggs. We have tons of mourning doves here too. I love listening to their soft cooing in the quiet of the morning.

Mourning dove sitting on its nest and eggs

Here’s a West African crane taking a nap. What a cool hairdo!

I can’t help but laugh when I look at the next photo, where the duck is acting like he’s a flamingo, although his legs are about two feet too short. I guess he’s the real ugly duckling.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - Flamingo and duck — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – Flamingo and duck

This great blue heron below was a freeloader at the San Diego Zoo, eyeing the small fish in the crocodile pond. I wonder if the crocodiles were eyeing him too…