He’s So Fly When He Smiles!

This gallery contains 4 photos. He’s so fly when he smiles! No matter what angle I shoot this Cardinal Meadowhawk from, he’s got a big, “toothy” eye-to-eye grin on his face. Photographed on May 18. 

Creepy to the nth Degree

This gallery contains 5 photos. Nothing evokes creepiness as well as the members of the insect world. Cold, calculating, and chilling are a few more adjectives that have been ascribed to these bug-eyed beasts, who are

A Closeup of Satin Flowers

Satin Flowers really is the alternate name of Pale Yellow-Eyed Grass, and the former label is a lot more charismatic. Photographed at UBC Botanical Gardens on May 24, these flowers grow in a round and blossom in tiers;

Don’t Call Me Four Eyes!

My first meeting with a Jumping Spider in the sunroom. After seeing various wildlife documentaries and photos of this eight-eyed arachnid, I was surprised to discover just how small this subject actually was–no bigger than

Closeup of a Christmas Cactus Flower

As its name suggests, Christmas Cactus blooms in the winter, when most other flowers do not–providing a festive and welcome burst of colour during the holiday season. Photographed on November 23.

Macro Monday: Spurge is for the Birds

The misnamed spurge laurel is for the birds (like American Robins who love to eat and poop out the seeds), but hands off for humans. Considered an invasive species, the dainty yellow flowers of spurge laurel may be pretty to look at, but the entire plant is actually poisonous for us.

Don’t Be Waspish

Here’s a closeup of a Yellow Jacket wasp pollinating the fragrant white flowers on a skimmia japonica bush. The hint of red you see to the left of the wasp is one of the very round, very red berries (which are a tasty treat for wildlife, but we have never seen the birds nibbling on them).

Leopard’s Bane!

Spotted under the Mayan Orange bush on the front lawn: the first Leopard’s Bane (which resembles a yellow daisy or a mini sunflower) to fully unfurl its petals. I never noticed the “green outlines” on the outside of each petal, nor the “mini flowers” along the perimeter of the honeycomb-type core, until this photo was taken.

Puget Gold Apricot Buds ‘n’ Blossoms

A closeup of Puget Gold apricot buds flowering during the third week of March (a chilly start to spring), with the original background removed and the subject isolated on a black background. Flowering this early with the threat of April showers to come, these buds may not bear fruit, but they are certainly lovely to look at.