Summer Solstice Safari

                        
                                  

Painted Lady (Phyciodes tharos) on Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa)

                  
Today I had the rare privilege of hiking on Nature Conservancy land near Copenhagen, La. This preserve is not open to the public, but the Louisiana Native Plant Society got permission to visit, led by botanist Dr. Charles Allen.

What an amazing place and experience! We spent most of our time in a large plot of prairie thick with grasses and wildflowers. This was the only painted lady I saw. The bee balm was blooming everywhere, and we saw prairie clover, prairie conflower, purple coneflower and much more.
                         
This is one of my favorites from the morning. Many photos to come!
                 
        

Summer Solstice Safari

                   
                             

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)

It was plenty hot, but we had a fantastic hike today at the Charles Allen Biological Station, led by Dr. Allen himself, with friends from the Louisiana Native Plant Society. It was our kick-off hike for the Summer Solstice Safari that continues through Sunday noon.

Tomorrow we will visit the Nature Conservancy reserve in the Copenhagen Hills that neighbor the CABS where we spent today. I am so excited! The Nature Conservancy is not open to the public, but Dr. Allen can take use in.

This beauty is tasting Brazilian vervain, a common wildflower in Louisiana that butterflies love.

              

Photographer's Journal

                                                         
                                                         
Gulf Fritillary on Brazilian Vervain

                                              
Oh, for a 400mm lens! I just couldn't get as close as I wanted to the butterflies today, and I saw a beautiful Great Egret but spooked it trying to get within range. At the same time, had I had a lens that isolated the butterfly in close up, I wonder if I'd have bothered to compose as nicely as I did this shot? Hmmm.....

Today I preached and served communion to the delightful folks of Christ Church in tiny St. Joseph, La. I travel Highway 65 South from I-20 when I go to St. Joseph, and although I didn't have much time today, I couldn't resist stopping to take a few photos on the way home.

Highway 65 travels between the Mississippi River on the east and three nature preserves on the West: Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, Big Lake State Wildlife Management Area, and Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area. I have barely begun to explore all the little side roads that travel toward the river and toward the nature preserves!

To the east toward the river is particularly interesting. In some places, the distance from the highway to the river is 10 - 20 miles, and that space between is a photographer's/hunter's/fisherman's/farmer's dream. It includes flat, fertile fields but is also riddled with levees, bayous, oxbow lakes, and patches of swamp and woods.

I have never wandered too far into it because a) I haven't had time, and b) I wouldn't want to go alone. It would be too easy for me to get lost! But, oh, for a photographer buddy to go with me! Any takers?