Nature Walk

On a Sunday afternoon, my parents took me to a little nature trail up in Bridgeport. They had heard the wildflowers were in bloom, and though there weren't a ton of flowers yet, it was a nice time with lots of little things to photograph.

Bridgeport has this covered bridge (built in 1862) that crosses the Yuba river. Don't be confused by the welcoming chain link fence--you can't actually walk on it anymore. But according to Wikipedia, "The Bridgeport Covered Bridge has the longest clear span of any surviving covered bridge in the world."

These photos aren't the awesomest, sorry. The middle of a pleasant sunny day is perfect for getting outdoors, but not necessarily perfect for photography.

Our first small sighting was this chrysalis. My mom found it, and now I'm kind of kicking myself for not kidnapping it. She could've watched the lovely butterfly emerge a few days later! Or maybe it's a moth, in which case I'm glad I left it intact.

At first we were just noticing a few flowers and I wasn't getting many photos. We began to see several butterflies, but they wouldn't land anywhere within photographable distance. Then finally we had some luck!

I'm cropping some of my photos in close so you can see the detail. Also, I have about a million butterfly photos, so I'm sorry if these are a bit repetitive.

These Pipevine Swallowtails were all over, but this was one of maybe two that I actually was able to photograph.

Meanwhile I was also catching photos of pretty much any bug that would sit still, even if it was normally a bug I'd want to leave my presence.

My dad spotted this, and I was surprised it sat still long enough for me to get a photo.

Blue!

Look closer--striped antennae! God was all, "Let there be pizzazz."

Okay, back to Pipey.

Now you can see better how blue they are when the light hits them a certain way.

And their furry wings? I'm a little confused, since this doesn't always show up.

An accident that looks like a scary movie butterfly. Butterflyman Prophecies.

That stick is unfortunately blocking him, but I kept this picture because of of the detail. Look...

Butterfly foot! I never knew they had little claws.

We came across a few lizards as well (I was hoping for snake sightings, but there were none). Oh hey lizard, are your toes long enough?

A close crop so you can see the pretty dark blue coloring on his neck and stomach.

Cute plant!

A smaller lizard.

Up close!

Thanks for looking, and thanks to my parents for pointing out stuff to me and patiently letting me take pictures! :) And for the Subway sandwich on the way up. :D

Droplet photos are coming next. Have a great weekend!