Photography Scavenger Hunt

My second assignment was to head outdoors and take some pictures of plants or animals in an ecosystem that fit the following categories: something colorful, something important to nature, a strange thing, something extremely small, and something gross in nature.  I was so excited!  So once again my son and I headed outside with our cameras to see what we could find.

Once again we headed out to our outdoor classroom.  It was a steamy Sunday afternoon and the mosquitoes were out in force.  As we rounded a corner I spotted these little beauties!  The sun was hitting them just right and it seemed to make them glow.  I really liked that you could see the seeds showing through the skin of one of the berries.   I'm not sure what they are, but I loved the red color!

The next thing on my list was to find something important to nature.  My first thought was to take a picture of water, but I wanted to find something different.  I came across this pine cone and knew I had found what I was looking for.  The pine cone reminded me that without plants we would not be able to exist and this one was just opening up to release its seeds.  I liked the colors and that its tips were white, which to me gave it interest.  So I snapped a quick photograph and continued on my journey through our outdoor classroom.

I knew exactly what I wanted for my photograph of something strange.  This strange looking thing has always fascinated me.  On this side it looks like an elephant with its trunk turned under.

And on this side it looks like an animal curled up sleeping.  Can you see it?  I had no idea what this odd growth growing on the side of a cedar tree was.  Of course being who I am, I came home and Googled it.  What I found was that this is a tree burl.  There are mixed opinions on what causes them, but sources stated that they are highly valued for the wood inside them.  Artists make all sorts of things out of them.

I had a little difficulty finding something extremely small to photograph. I almost decided to use a photograph I had taken of some dew drops on a spider web when I saw this tiny little butterfly and decided that it was the perfect choice for me.  It looks like it was a normal sized butterfly but it was only about a half an inch across.  I loved it's color!  It was just sunning itself in the warm afternoon sun and asking to be photographed.

The final thing on my scavenger hunt was something gross in nature and I felt that this definitely fit the bill.  This was some scat that we found on a little bridge in the outdoor classroom.  It looked like whatever left it had some trouble digesting the red berries.  They looked like they were swallowed whole and came out the same way.  Ewww!!! What made it even more disgusting was the worm looking thing that was in the part closest to the camera.  I'm not sure what it is but it sure looked slimy and gross!

Well, that is all for this post.  I hope you have enjoyed my photographs as much as I did taking them.  Get outdoors and enjoy this beautiful fall weather! 
Thanks for visiting Sandy's Samplings.  I'll post again soon.