Dakota's Nature Photos

Monday, May 30, 2011

A New Creature



You can't really tell by looking at the picture, but the place where I was standing was literally surrounded by these little trees and the locusts apparently loved them because they were all over the place. Though I didn't include it in this particular shot, right below the cicada was the shell from which it had emerged. It seemed to be a perfect illustration of 2 Corinthians 5:17,

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new."

Friday, May 27, 2011

Open Wide!



If you think this looks different than your average turtle, then you're right. It's actually a decent-sized snapping turtle I spotted on one of our hikes, apparently having ventured from the water during the recent rains. It was getting pretty warm out when I got this shot, so I'm hopeful he was able to find his way back to where he belonged.

By the way, have you guys seen my new blog button yet?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Family Reunion



Sitting in the middle of a beautiful glade with my family, I decided to walk around a bit and see what nature around was worth photographing. I came across this small tree and noticed that, every few seconds, ants were scurrying across its branches in either one direction or the other. It took me a while to figure out where they were all going, but I was finally able to get this cool shot of them all gathered together on a couple of the leaves. Can you see the tiny eggs near the main stem?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Green Pastures



We just got back from our first camping trip of the season, and I must say I'm really excited about some of the pictures I made it home with. Over the next several weeks I'll be sharing with you more than 10% of the shots I managed (that's a pretty good success rate for me) and I hope you'll continue to check back for some truly unique shots!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Nature's Bendy-Straw



About a week ago I came across a cocoon while doing some stuff outside and decided it would be fun to take it indoors and watch the butterfly emerge. Though it took about 5 or 6 days for it to complete its metamorphosis, seeing this beautiful butterfly made it a worthwhile wait in the end.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Under the Shadow of the Almighty



Yesterday afternoon my sister told me about a bird's nest she'd spotted outside, though at the time I didn't really want to take the time to go check it out. Thankfully I remembered it this evening and, once I had her show me where it was, was able to capture this neat shot during of the few moments when the sun actually peeked through the overcast clouds.