Ahh, Anglewings!

There are both Question Marks and Commas. However, the new butterfly book I recently purchased has them all indexed under the name "Commas." The wings on the butterfly below are spread apart a bit, their translucence allowing the interior color and markings to show. Wow! (It's hard not to be exuberant!)(Click on any of these photos to enlarge them for detail.)
There were four of them in the yard when I drove home Sept. 29. On Sept. 30, I noticed them again, hanging around the dry hummingbird feeders. Presumably looking for food. So, I ran to get the camera!

They looked newly hatched... absolutely perfect. Again, my book tells me that there are two broods that fly between Spring and Fall, and that the second-brood adults hibernate, fly again in the spring, and mate. (I wonder where they all hibernate during the winter???)

The photo below shows one in the closed position. There's a silvery backwards "c" with a dot underneath... hence "Question Mark." The comma has only the silvery "c." (Depending upon the way the butterfly is facing, the "c" will either be forward or backwards!) It generally rests with the wings upright. They open and close with "breathing movements."

I timed this photo pretty well... note the beautiful lavenderish outline on the interior wings.

If you'll look closely, you'll note that these are two different butterflies. (They're sitting on two different feeders.)

Another one of those breathtakingly beautiful moments...
and we can be reminded of the grandness in what we most often take for granted.

I'm Home... and look what I found!

The hibiscus had triple-stamen... all the better to share the nectar, I guess!

The volunteer impatien (who knows how it got into the pot) was blooming. If you look closely, as I draw it aside, you can see that I was really trying to start a few Christmas cactus sections that had been, much earlier this summer, knocked off the parent plant by a... squirrel?

Here are my two Christmas cactuses. Actually, one blooms at Christmas, while the other blooms around Thanksgiving. The close-up shows that the plants weren't hurt with the early pruning.

In fact, this branch has FIVE starts on it!

This Chocolate Drop coleus loved its setting; it took over! The Pineapple coleus is very, very pretty, but I especially liked the Rose Splash geranium. It became crowded by the coleus, so the plant didn't remain as sturdy as I'd have liked. But the blossom was a "bright spot!" You might see some very light leaves at the bottom and right side of the pot (what pot?). This was 'Lemon Licorice' Helichrysum petiolare. I'm quoting from the tag. At any rate, it may have done better with less crowding, but it gave a nice contrast.

The wandering jew nearly hides the frog pot below. An earlier photo showed just a few starts.

The temperatures dipped some last night. It didn't freeze, but the moss rose looked pretty peaked this morning. Perhaps it's time to take the pots indoors to the screened porch.

And it's time to begin raking leaves. The good thing is that, due to the fact that 1/2 of the trees lose their leaves in the fall, the winter is "less shady." ;-)

Thought you were going "buggy?"

Spiders (Araneae) » Opisthothelae » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynes » Orb Weavers (Araneidae) » Neoscona (Click on the photo if you want an up-close and personal view!)

He may not play baseball, but this fellow makes his living
catching flies!
Just don't let on about your arachnaphobia! :-)

According to Bugguide, this is spider is a Neoscona. It was just outside the front door, on the front porch, in its somewhat destroyed orb web. We're looking at its underside. I was taken with the markings that seemed somehow "facelike."

It didn't seem bothered at all that I was probably within "striking distance," so I took several photos. ;-)

The next photograph is a web I found a few weeks earlier. Perhaps my Neoscona left this one to make the other...Might it be that this is "Charlotte's" great-great-great-grandchild? Something to ponder out here in the shade!

Were We Talking About Moments That Take Your Breath Away?

There I stood on the front porch, leaning on and over a potted hibiscus with my arms outstretched. My camera was in my hands; focused on a single hummingbird feeder.

And, in came this little "hummer!"

Enjoy the photos. Please click on them for wonderful close-ups.

I couldn't help myself. There were so many little birds vying for each of the three feeders in the front yard, that I had to be part of the experience!

I'm sure I spotted only one male. His ruby throat is unmistakable.
(The males may have discovered the lone feeder I hid in the backyard yesterday. Possibly they were having an easier time of "sharing the wealth!"
As I held the camera, two or three of them hummed over and around my head, coming between my arms, under my chin, to sip nectar from the hibiscus flowers.

I could hardly breathe!

*As a postscript, you might have noticed all the "insectavariety" (my own word) with which the hummingbirds must compete for food.

Buzzing About With the 'Hummers!'

We get Ruby-throated hummingbirds in Iowa.

There are two little ones at the right-hand feeder.

I'm going to furnish a couple of short videos, if possible!

This first one shows us that our "Guard Bird" has gone off-duty. Finally!

I just didn't have the heart to try to download another video! So I put it on Youtube.
Perhaps I can add a link here. This video isn't better quality, but you'll see a LOT of hummingbirds and a quick close-up or two! ;-)

My Pearl Crescent

I chased these little fast-flying fellows all over a field last weekend.
(With my little camera, you need to get close!)
Today I was painting a shutter for the shed, and what should appear...
but a fast-flying, quick-"breathing," Pearl Crescent.

Guess he wanted a closer view of what I was doing... so I obliged him!

Aliens???

I spotted these yesterday as I drove by our friends' house... I didn't slow down to take a closer look, until today.

All in a row.
Thought I'd better investigate.
Wanted to see if there were "wee folks" climbing down outta there.

Could this be the result of toppermost-atmospheric-incomprehensible-heat and burn-upon-entry?

And... might this be the Command Center?

Are you with me? I'm going Down Under!
Taking a peek... AAAHHHHH!

Hey... it's Beautiful down here!I don't see a sign of anyone,
but this thing is HUGE!
I feel like a little, bitty fellow...
Wonder if I could crawl up this "tree."
If I could just get up to that ring.

(If you don't hear from me pretty soon,
please call home.)

It's Shady under here, too!