Gray

Intro Felicitations. Thanks for visiting my nature photos. Yes, my given name is Gray. Further info is divided into sections comprised of comments, and sub-comments below this pinned post. ⚠️ This is an arthropod safe zone: we treat other Earthlings with respect, as conscious beings, and guides.

past midnight 1 it’s u u don’t know me i know b4u say i’m dying u call me another name another & another i’m all you’re happy about nuclear fusion u want me 2 know u love me the secret = we should say it more & look in each other’s eyes nuclear fusion? we laugh

2 can we end on laughter? i look @ your painting every day & will as long as i can c answer each phone call as if it may b the last u tell me how we met u invite me & say we still have time 2 fix things i say nothing’s broken we laugh laugh across the country.

Bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax) Andersonville neighborhood Chicago, Illinois 6-3-23 Teal blue jaws atop rusty chain link fence. #ColorADay #BlueTue #arachtober #31DaysOfOctober #ECK #macro #threewordgenre #nature #blue #spiders #arachnids #Halloween #bugsky #arachnids 🎃

Marbled orbweaver (Araneus diadematus) on dried wildflower pod Mathews County, Virginia 10-24-26 This autumn hunter intently spins her threads in the early morning chill. #macroMonday #blueSkyMonday #arachtober #31DaysOfOctober #ECK #macro #nature #spiders #arachnids #Halloween #Cobweb #bugsky

Civil twilight at the dock departed sun under a Rothko sky, reveals the highest clouds, paints their bellies, reflected on the river’s olive green, swimmin in schools of pink, light blue, & white, South against our apparent wind & tide, migratin across darkenin waters— in the mornin we’ll be gone.

Phaon crescent butterfly (Phyciodes phaon) on blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) Mathews County, Virginia 10-24-26 #ColorADay #OrangeSun #stunday #eck #macro #nature #orange #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #butterflies #lepidoptera #bugsky

Bee & flower Pure green sweat bee (Augochlora pura) on sulfur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) Mathews County, Virginia 10-22-26 #ColorADay #greenSat #eck #macro #nature #green #art #photography #macroPhotography #native #bees #pollinators #bugsky #yellowThu #yellow #flowers #threewordgenre

Happy Fly-day. We made it! Ultramarine hover fly (Toxomerus marginatus) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-3-26 #FlyDay #eck #macro #nature #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #flies #pollinators #bugsky #diptera

Dark-veined longhorn bee (Melissodes trinodis) on wild goldenrod (Solidago) Mathews County, Virginia 10-15-26 Buried in autumnal pollen. #ColorADay #yellowThu #InsectThursday #eck #macro #nature #yellow #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #bees #pollinators #bugsky

Prove you are not a human #humpDayHumor

Mahogany paper wasp (Polistes metricus) on wild goldenrod (Solidago) Mathews County, Virginia 10-19-26 #ColorADay #redWed #InsectThursday #eck #macro #nature #red #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #wasps #hymenoptera #bugsky

Eastern tailed-blue butterfly (Luthrodes pandava) on peppervine leaf (Nekemias arborea) Mathews County, Virginia 10-17-26 Quiet moment’s rest on winding vine. #ColorADay #BlueTue #eck #macro #nature #blue #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #butterflies #lepidoptera #bugsky

Nursery web spider (Tibellus oblongus) under pink cosmos flower (Cosmos bipinnatus) Mathews County, Virginia 10-17-26 Waiting under the floral canopy. #ColorADay #PinkMon #macroMonday #eck #macro #nature #pink #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #spiders #arachnids #bugsky #arachtober

Early morning reflection Zimmerman Marine boatyard Cardinal, Virginia 10-16-26 Classic two-masted clipper schooner. #scape #eck #landscape #nature #sailing #boats #maritime #waterfront #reflections #photography #art #TwosDay #virginia #peaceful #threewordgenre #stunDay #sailingSunday ⛵️

Monarch butterfly nectaring (Danaus plexippus) on elegant zinnia (Zinnia elegans) Mathews County, Virginia 10-15-26 Another shot from the pumpkin patch #ColorADay #OrangeSun #stunday #eck #macro #nature #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #butterflies #bugsky #orange #halloween 🎃

Baby rhino in 1998 in Chitwan park we sought tigers, but found it instead, with a khaki park ranger, “namaste,” he patted its head. “Her mama was killed by poachers.” “Despicable,” we said. “We were looking for tigers,” at which he tittered, & replied, “you won’t see tigers… they’ll see you!”

Eastern pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis vesiculosa) on beggarticks seed head (Bidens alba) CREW pen flint strand lake trail Bonita Springs, Florida 9-30-26 A dewy female pauses her hunt. #ColorADay #greenSat #eck #macro #nature #green #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #odonata #bugsky

Yellow fly agaric 🌕 (Amanita muscaria var. guessowii) Mathews County, Virginia 10-15-26 Golden geometric ring patterns across a weathered, sun-bleached moon cap. #FungiFriday #eck #macro #nature #white #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #mushrooms #fungi #fungusky

Autumn at dock East River shoreline Mathews County, Virginia 10-15-26 Morning shadows meet crimson pops. #scape #eck #landscape #nature #autumn #threeWordGenre #art #photography #virginia #peaceful #scenery #waterfront #sailing #boats

Happy Fly-day. We made it! Virginia flower fly (Milesia virginiensis) on side-of-the-road wild goldenrod (Solidago) Mathews County, Virginia 10-13-26 Grand wasp mimic in autumn shadow #FlyDay #eck #macro #nature #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #flies #pollinators #bugsky #diptera

Maine naval 1 he reads her plate: NORMA JEAN & rear-ends her at 35 MPH on the 2-laned road by the base she’d stopped to take a left across the double yellow-lines his old Saab totalled he kicks open his door & staggers up the road to her— he won’t recall her dazed face only her license plate.

2 Underclad at midnight the pines’ virgin snow allows only his feet— a mile in he hears it a distant dragon roar & can’t resist its call— holding the fence he watches the jets touch-&-go engines flaming blue reflecting off clouds until the last flies off redly & he follows his own tracks— home.

Corn earworm caterpillar (Helicoverpa zea) on native zinnia (Zinnia) Mathews County, Virginia 10-13-26 The pumpkin farmer grew flowers along the farm’s border to attract pollinators. #colorAday #YellowThu #InsectThursday #eck #macro #nature #yellow #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #bugsky

Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) & crab spider (Misumena vatia) on pumpkin farm’s cosmos flowers (Solidago) Mathews County, VA 10-13-26 #ColorADay #redWed #eck #macro #nature #yellow #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #bees #spiders #twosDay

That tilt of her head because maybe she didn’t hear, (although she’s sharp-eared) rewarding us w/ time, to reconsider our words, to take them back w/o penalty, to say what we wish we’d said, instead of the less courageous, less curious or kind words of some lesser version of ourselves she refuses.

Condescending boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major) CREW pen flint strand marsh Bonita Springs, Florida 9-5-26 AB’s #BirdOfTheDay themes are #LookingDown: any bird looking down/head lowered, & Alt #LookingUp. #eck #blueTue #colorADay #birds #birding #threewordgenre #photography #art #birdSky

Alligator surface tension (Alligator mississippiensis) submerged in calm marsh water CREW pen flint strand lakes & trails Bonita Springs, Florida 8-21-26 #ColorADay #BlueTue #eck #wildlife #nature #threeWordGenre #art #telephoto #photography #native #reptiles #marshlife #herps #herpSky

Spiders & snakes Once I was a child & made my bed in a wooden cabin in the country of Zambia. The cabin’s walls ended 2 inches above the floor. “Can’t spiders & snakes get in?” I asked trembling, my host said with a smile, “that’s so they can get out!” This is why I try to keep an open mind.

Bicolor striped sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) on cosmos flower (Cosmos bipinnatus) Andersonville neighborhood Chicago, Illinois 9-29-22 Emerald on a gold & pink stage. #ColorADay #PinkMon #macroMonday #eck #macro #nature #pink #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #bees #pollinators #bugsky

Asian trampsnail (Bradybaena similaris) on purple heart flower (Tradescantia pallida) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 9-27-26 #ColorADay #PinkMon #macroMonday #eck #macro #nature #pink #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #snails #mollusks #snailSky

Surprise joy bump into an old friend, a dog rolls on its back in the grass, Queen Anne’s Lace nods to Ethiopiques jazz in the breeze, a black swallowtail butterfly (lays egg after egg), our hands smell of dog, afternoon cools to evening, yet oddly we aren’t hungry, wanting no more than this.

Purple-spore puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis) Gloucester Point Beach Park Gloucester Point, Virginia 10-7-26 A sun-baked giant resting in the sandy grass, with hitchhiker. 🪰 #BNWmacro #eck #mobile #nature #fungi #fungisky #threeWordGenre #art #nature #native #puffball #mobileMacro #macro

White-footed leafcutter bee (Megachile albitarsis) on beggar tick wildflower (Bidens alba) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 9-12-26 #ColorADay #OrangeSun #stunday #eck #macro #nature #orange #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #bees #pollinators #bugsky

What, what’s freedom if we can’t love & grieve for whom we desire attend funerals or not remember the dead or not even names of friends becalmed (tidal memories some lost some tenacious (they loved the tilt of your head parasail full of wind)) drawn thru thick seas by names unspoken you loved?

Green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) with spiked egg sac CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-3-26 Mom guards her brood beneath a leafy canopy. #ColorADay #greenSat #31DaysOfOctober #ClassicMono #ECK #SpiderWeb #Spiders #art #Halloween #Cobweb #arachtober #bugsky #green

Happy FlyDay! We made it! White-footed leafcutter bee (Megachile albitarsis) on beggar tick wildflower (Bidens alba) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-1-26 #FlyDay #eck #macro #nature #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #bees #bugsky #insects #pollinators

respond to me as you would a child your child i’ve called you from afar lend me all your attention as if expected as if this is your purpose your only purpose to listen to reflect so certain in your love i take you for granted you wouldn’t have it any other way

Boat-tailed grackle belts (Quiscalus major) on a sandy lake shore CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 5-19-26 Rob’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #crooners & Alt is #Eating: birds with food in beaks, or singing. #birds #ECK #birding #threewordgenre #nature #singing #photography

Ambush bug vigil (Phymata species) on Mexican clover bloom Patient predator stakes out an egg raft. CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 9-12-26 #ColorADay #YellowThu #InsectThursday #eck #macro #nature #yellow #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #bugs #bugsky

Hump-day (Wednesday) humor #humpDayHumor

Eastern amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis tenera) perched on wild seed head backlit amber stained glass wings CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-2-26 #ColorADay #redWed #eck #macro #nature #red #threeWordGenre #art #macroPhotography #native #odonata #bugsky #insectThursday

Courting blue butterflies (Ceraunus blue) on wild sensitive plant (Chamaecrista nictitans) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-3-26 #TwosDay #ColorADay #BlueTue #eck #macro #nature #blue #art #macroPhotography #native #butterflies #bugsky #Lepidoptera #threewordgenre ❤️

The conference of a murder of crows 14 genuflect, cavort, caw, & preen, self-organized on sand pine branches, 1/4 & 1/8 notes inking morning fog, their topic: Rebranding, they’d prefer to be called a “party,” for in ultraviolet light, how they see, they’re rainbow-colored, playful & arty.

Florida ivory millipede (Chicobolus spinigerus) coiled around a bare brown twig CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 9-20-26 #macroMonday #eck #macro #nature #green #art #macroPhotography #native #threeWordGenre #bugsky #invertebrates #invertefest

Boredom living on a sailboat make repairs; do laundry; watch the weather; brew morning coffee; let the cat on deck; follow him on inspection, detectives, solving nightly stow-away mysteries: three ballooning spiders; two flying fish; Coleridgian albatross excrement… imagination can polish a turd.

Regal jumping spider (Phidippus regius) on hairypod cowpea leaf (Vigna luteola) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 10-1-26 Upside-down, blonde sentinel. #ColorADay #OrangeSun #stunday #eck #macro #nature #jumpers #threeWordGenre #art #spiders #macroPhotography #bugsky