Running interference

I am losing the game of getting a good swallowtail photo. I am currently 100 to two with the butterflies winning to keep their appearances off camera. A lot of the issue deals with swallowtails who are too busy to sit still for a photo.
However, sometimes there is interference. It is usually due to some four-footed team mates who don't play by the rules. Often a butterfly finally lands only to have a dog or goat stomp through the area and spook the insects.
I scold them out-loud saying,  "Do I interfere in the stuff that you are interested in."
Immediately after I uttered that statement, I realized how wrong I was.

I often interfere in their business. It is because the stuff they are interested in is poop and dead things. These can lead to unplanned doggy baths, vet bills and some sad discoveries.
This was evident this past week when one day Sherman uncovered part of the partial remains of a dead fawn. At first, I was horrified that my interference didn't happen soon enough and that Sherman was a murderer. However, I realized that there was no fresh blood and the remains were old. Sherman was told to "leave it" and walk on. I had hoped that whatever predator killed the fawn would come return to finish its meal.

A few days later whatever it was came back for some of its meals.

​Nonetheless, Sherman continued scouting the area for the remains.

Despite the four-footed interference, I was able to capture photos of a tiger swallowtail and a spicebush swallowtail.

The pink rhododendron has bloomed and that is always a good lure for swallowtails. I also snapped a shot of a hummingbird clearwing moth visiting some allium blooms and a silver-spotted skipper butterfly.

​Meanwhile, I checked in on the local patch of lady slippers and was not disappointed.

It seems there may be more this year than last.

However, I didn't interfere with Kyle's appetite for the plants quick enough. Two of them succumbed to his meal plans.

There was likely a little unnecessary roughness in his removal from the area.

Nonetheless, many of the native orchids survived the attack.

I was additionally surprised when I found another smaller patch of the orchids nearby.
On a side note a Facebook friend, who happens to be a relative, mentioned that my great-grandmother would sometimes refer to the pink flowers as "bull bags" when she was being witty.

​I hate to say that now I can't seem to get the comparison out of my head when I view the orchids.

I continued to run interference on the goats as I tried to photograph some other flowers. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't.

Honeysuckle, ragwort and sweet shrub are showing off their colors.

 I found a lovely patch of purple flowers. I learned later that they were bugleweed and were not considered native flowers.

Meanwhile while trying to photograph frogs at the neighbor's pond, Sadie was running interference. She has been frog hunting.

 Thankfully, she's had no luck. I, however, had a lot of luck getting froggy photos.

Nonetheless without interference, I was able to photograph a solitary sandpiper that stopped by and a painted skipper dragonfly.

Sometimes there is natural interference with bird photography. Hummingbirds are an excellent example of this. As soon as I get a shot in focus, another hummer dive bombs my photo subject. I was able to get a photo of a female hummingbird that was looking to the skies to see where the next attack was coming from.

Surprisingly I managed to get two male hummingbirds sitting adjacent to each other. This usually never happens as one always guards the feeder and chases others away. On a side note, the truce that day did not last long.

Additional natural interference in life include the weather. One example would have been the surprise snow on Mother's Day. It obviously interfered with the hummingbirds trying to feed.

While trying to photograph other birds at a the feeder, a red squirrel caused some interference.

Additionally, a catbird interrupted a shot of a flowering tree.
​
Interference can be bad and sometimes good. 

That's just the nature of things 'round here.