[Daily Photo] Bee and peony 2 / 蜂與芍藥

I posted a photo of "Bee and peony" two weeks ago. This is another photo I took on the same day. Although the bee is smaller than the one in the previous photo, it still match perfectly with the peony.

兩星期前我發表過一張「蜜蜂與牡丹花」的照片，這張照片也是同一天拍攝的。照片中的蜜蜂雖然比前一張的小，卻也不失風采。上網查了資料才發現原來「芍藥」和「牡丹」英文都是同一個字peony。二者的不同之處在於牡丹是木本植物，長的像樹；而芍藥是早本植物，沒有明顯的樹幹。所以牡丹的英文也有人稱為tree peony.

[Daily Photo] Bee and peony / 蜜蜂與牡丹花

I took this photo at the Peony Garden of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I used a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec to capture this photo. To achieve this, I set the ISO up to 640. I took many photos of this busy bee collecting nectar, and this is my favorite one. It was flying toward another flower.

密西根大學的牡丹花園內百花齊放，我在園中追著蜜蜂拍照。這枝蜜蜂正採完花蜜，飛向下一個目的地。

[Daily Photo] A cute horse lying on the ground / 可愛的馬

This photo of a beautiful horse lying on the ground was taken at Domino's Petting Farm in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The horse was going to stand up so it stretched its forelegs to the front. Its hair style was so cute.

我在達美樂農場遇見這一匹駿馬，他的髮型好像櫻桃小丸子裡的花輪。他正伸直了前腳，準備站起身來。

[Daily Photo] Question Mark Buttterfly / 長尾鈎蛺蝶

I saw this Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) Butterfly while I was walking along a trail in Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan (in Ann Arbor, Michigan). I was lucky to find it because when it closed its wings, it looked exactly like a dry leaf. I tried really hard to find one with its wings closed, but I never succeeded.

我在野外的步道上遇見這一隻長尾鈎蛺蝶，其實他是一種枯葉蝶。我很想也順便拍一張翅膀合起來的照片，但是我怎麼樣都找不到，他的擬態實在太厲害了。

[Daily Photo] American Robin / 春天的信使 - 知更鳥

This is an American Robin, a symbol of spring. I met this cute small bird in Gallup Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was totally not afraid of me when I got close to it.

[Daily Photo] Northern Cardinal in woods / 林中的北美紅雀

Today I have two photos of Northern Cardinal to share with you. I believe one of the famous "Angry Bird" is based on Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). I took these photos in Nichols Arboretum of the University of Michigan (in Ann Arbor, Michigan). I was walking along the trail in the Arboretum. There were not yet many flowers in this early spring, so everything looked green. Then I saw a red spot among tree branches, and I recognized it was a bird. I switched my camera lens to a telephoto lens as fast as possible. I started to take photos from far away, and tried to get close to it slowly. However, at some distance I scared it and it flew away.

以下兩張照片拍攝於美國密西根大學的植物園。漫步在園內的步道時，我發現萬綠叢中有一點紅。靠近點看，發現是一隻北美紅雀(我相信"憤怒鳥"其中的一隻就是以他為雛形設計的)。我以最快的速度換上望遠鏡頭，一邊拍照一邊慢慢的接近牠。但天不從人願，還未靠近到讓我滿意的程度，我就嚇跑牠了!

[Daily Photo] Four-horned Jacob Sheep / 四角雅各绵羊

This strange looking animal is the Jacob Sheep, an ancient breed of multi-horned sheep. It reminded me of some game characters of ancient demons. I took this photo at Domino's Petting Farm in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[Daily Photo] Closeup of an alpaca / 棕色羊駝(草泥馬)頭部特寫

I went to Domino's Petting Farm (in Ann Arbor, Michigan) today. There were a lot of cute aminals. The alpacas were one of the cutest. This brown alpaca was curious about my camera and looked at me all the time when I walked close to it.

羊駝(草泥馬)，攝於美國密西根州安娜堡市的達美樂農場。

[Daily Photo] Closeup of a bull elk resting on the lawn

This photo was taken at Yellowstone National Park. In the evening, a lot of elks were gathered around the lawn in front of Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and they were totally not affraid of people. We were excited when we found them because they were so close. Therefore, we drove slowly and circled the lawn to observe them. I was using my telephoto lens to catch this closeup shot. This bull elk was taking a rest after having dinner.

此照片拍攝於黃石公園。傍晚時分，一群Elk鹿大喇喇地在猛瑪溫泉旅館前的草皮上覓食。

[Daily Photo] Swans in the pond

I found a small pond in south Ann Arbor. The frozen water surface was starting to melt at this time (the end of winter), and these three swans were swimming in the open water of the half-frozen pond. I took many pictures of them and chose this one because they were all with the same posture. I remembered one time I was at Gallup Park shooting swans. An older man told me that the swan with gray feather and beak was the young one (like the swan on the left side of this photo). When it matures,  the beak becomes orange and the feathers become snow white (like the other two swans in this photo). I found out that this species of swans are called Mute Swans.

[Daily Photo] A night heron standing on a rock besides a pond

When I was a graduate student in Taiwan, one day my friend, Jenhom asked me to test his new "Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR" lens for him. I grabbed my gear and went to the Eco-Pond of National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學生態池) to shoot some photos. This photo is one of them. I set focal length to 300 mm in order to take this closeup photo of a night heron.

[Daily Photo] A cute squirrel standing on a tree root

I met this little squirrel when I was at Montrose Park, Washington DC. It was happily eating the food holding in its hands. I followed it and took a lot of pictures of it.

[Daily Photo] A yellow-bellied marmot

I took this photo of a yellow-bellied marmot in Yellowstone. We were leaving Yellowstone that morning and when we drove by Yellowstone Lake, we saw this marmot running across the road sitting on a stone on the lakeshore. I took this photo from our car.

[Daily Photo] A jellyfish

This photo of a jellyfish was taken in Shedd Aquarium, Chicago. I have no idea what's its name or species.

[Daily Photo] Komodo dragon

I took this photo of a komodo dragon in Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington DC. Its mouth was so funny. It must be saying "Mmmmmmmmmh".

When I was taking photos at Reptile Discovery Center, a woman asked me how I took this photo, and why all she got were the reflections of the glass window. I checked her photos and camera settings. Then I suggested to her that she should turn off the flash, and adjust the angle between her and the glass to avoid the reflection of the glass. Then, zoom in to get the close-up view.

[Daily Photo] Mallard in the pool

I took a photo of this mallard(wild duck) in Taipei, Taiwan. I like the light reflected on the water surface and the ripples in this photo. The upper part of the photo is very bright, which makes your eyes want to escape to the darker part of the photo, then you find the mallard.

By the way, I still can see mallards swimming on the river near my house (in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) today. It seems that they are used to the cold weather here.

[Daily Photo] American bison

This photo of American bison was taken in Yellowston. We found hordes of American bisons on our way from the Roosevelt to the Northeast Entrance. They were having dinner at that time. The expression of this male bison was so cute (note his tongue is out).
Recently I learned from TV that the lives of bisons in Yellowstone are very harsh during winter. In winter, Yellowstone is covered with thick snow. The only food sources are in the areas near the hot springs and geysers. However, the grasses and alge in this area are poisonous, so the bisons were slowly poisoned by the food they ate. In addition, the sulfur in the air near the hot spring also poisons the bisons. It was summer when I took this photo. They all look so carefree and leisurely. It's hard to imagine that they will had a hard time in winter.

[Daily Photo] A beautiful Jellyfish

I took this photo in the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago. There was a jellyfish exhibition when we visited the aquarium. The actual jellyfish is more beautiful than in my photo. I hope you will have the chance to visit the aquarium.

[Daily Photo] A cheetah lying in the meadow

This photo was taken in the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington DC. In my memory, the zoo was always smelly, messy, and dirty; however, every corner of this zoo was impressively clean and didn't smell.