Early Friday morning, I went out to a nearby Missouri Conservation Area. I was going to work on capturing some prairie birds in the area, but arriving there I found the area covered in dense fog. Normally, I love working in the fog, but knowing I would not be able to see the birds until I got right upon them … and scaring them … I decided I’d drive around the area and do some “scouting” to see what else is in the area.
As I drove into the area lake parking area, I noticed the unmistakable Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria) just starting to bloom:
The Moth Mullein is a relatively new wildflower to me. I found my first patch of these beauties late last spring, so I knew I should be seeing them soon. According to my reference, this plants’ flowers are either white or a lemon-yellow color. So far, I have only found the lemon-yellow plants, but they sure are gorgeous! And with the heavy fog (and rain, earlier in the morning), there were lots of water droplets on the plants, giving them an even more wonderful appearance!
All of today’s images were made with my “prairie birding lens”, the EF500mm, f/4 lens. I also had carried my EF180mm macro lens with me, just in case I ran across some wildflowers in the meadow, so I also made a few macro images, which I’ll share tomorrow :o)
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 7D body
- Canon EF500mm, f/4, IS lens
- Gitzo #1228-LVL carbon fiber tripod, with Kirk Ent. HD ballhead
- ISO 400
- Aperture f/8
- Shutter 1/250 sec. (top photo) and 1/400 sec. (bottom photo)