Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: critter

Yesterday Steve and I walked around one of our "country blocks", which is about 3 miles, and I took my camera with me. At one point, Steve said, "Janet, look! There's a dragonfly on the road!" Sure enough, he pointed it out in time for one picture before it took off after an insect! Gotta love the one-chance successes! :D

This beetle was about the size of a grain of rice and was quite busy crawling all over my finger, making it a challenge to get a reasonable picture! :D

This is the new, darker-colored orb weaver that has come to live on our porch! It currently has a body about 2/3" in diameter. So pretty! :) (Textures by Jerry Jones: Square-170 and Square-151 )

Winner of FlickrDuel contest: +10 Wins, Color Division: Green This image was taken during the Rogue Vallely Photography hike to Mt. Ashland on August 7, 2011.

Lucky, lucky me! This spot at the edge of Clover Lake was teeming with bold dragon- and damselflies, and I finally got good pictures of dragonflies!!! HAPPY DAY!!! Both of the shots I put up on Flickr were taken at 35x zoom on my Canon SX30 IS. The brightness of the day made it possible for a high ISO and a cleaner image! :) This image was taken during the MeetUp Mountain Lake Hike on August 21, 2011.

Woot!!! I finally got a good image of a damelfly, and of all the luck, it's a mating pair!! YAYYYYY!!!! This image was taken during the MeetUp hike around one side of Howard Prairie Lake on August 11, 2011.

Down by our seasonal pond, I decided to find out if there was something under a rock I saw. Carefully rolling it over, I found a burrow with a little buddy inside! I would like all of you to say hello to my new friend, the Jerusalem Cricket! Isn't he cute? (I heard that...he is NOT ugly!) These large, flightless insects are native to the western United States and parts of Mexico. In California, they are often referred to as a “potato bug", and oddly enough, they aren't true crickets and they don't eat potatoes! The name “Jerusalem cricket” is believed to have originated in the 19th century when ‘Jerusalem’ was commonly used as an expletive...isn't that horrible?? I do understand why people would be afraid of them because they are big and freaky looking! I've found these as a kid when I wasn't expecting it and I screamed my head off! :D (By the way, I carefully replaced the rock as I found it after taking my picture!) If you would like more information about these fascinating insects, there's a really great page here: arthurevans.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/backyard-monsters-no... Wiki also has an excellent source of information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cricket

Living out in rural southern Oregon, the wildlife can be found right up to the walls of our home, as shown here! This grasshopper was too magnificent to pass up when I found him by the front door, so I quickly ran in to grab the camera! Did you know that some species of short-horned grasshoppers are also known as locusts when they swarm? In the United States, the only species of ( swarming locust is now extinct ). If you would like to know more about grasshoppers, Wiki has a page here: Wiki: Grasshopper

I found this darling leafhopper on our hike yesterday! He was so tiny that I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get a good picture of him, so when I saw this on my computer, I was delighted!