July - Blogger's Muse Day

Flying Flowers

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

taken at the prairie today.

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.

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!

Saturday Afternoon

We first took a walk through the prairie. My husband pointed out the Autumn Olive seedlings that the birds are planting by seed dispersion. He's having to destroy not only the mature plants furnished (as seedlings) for planting several years ago but also these new seedlings. Instead of being the ideal bushy refuge and food source for birds, they've become invasive.

I know not everyone appreciates thistles, but I truly think they're beautiful. I'm not the only thistle fan. Check out the Great Spangled Fritillaries below!
(Click on the name for more information and the photo to enlarge it.)
We were on the edge of the prairie and just next to the woodland edge.

Close-up of the thistle.
This is Partridge Pea.

Next, we headed for the woods.
Trees
"I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree. . . .
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer I credit the following fungi to our recent rainfall. I had a comment, upon which I took action to investigate. The fungus below is most probably a Puffball.
I have NO idea what this is.

This is Monotropa uniflora, Indian pipe. Sometimes people find more beautiful specimens.
Click on the botanical name to go to a site that provides a photo of another "version," and additional information.Last, but not least, a few other items to share:
Path of a bark beetle,
Jewel weed, nature's defense against poison ivy "itch!"This area was so very overgrown and lush with rainfall,
that several jewelweed had fallen over... note this one's rooted stem.
Poke Weed (often called Poke Berry)
The plant parts are poisonous. (click on the name for more information)

I don't know what these flowers are... do you? Each stem was multi-flowered.

Towards the end of the trail, I noticed a few sticky seeds
had clung to the tail of my shirt. As I walked, I picked them off and dropped them.
I was providing a means of seed disbursement until,
at the END of the trail, I looked down and saw...

Thousands of seeds stuck to my socks!I'm trying to decide whether I should pick off the seeds
or throw the socks away!

Your verdict?

I Thought I Was Seeing Things!

What? A Red-spotted Purple on the hummingbird feeder?
(An empty, dirty hummingbird feeder?)

These photos don't get clearer when they're enlarged...
...I should have used "macro" on the camera.

A nice surprise on this overcast day.

Present-day Miracles

Observation of a nearly complete life cycle, beginning with a Monarch caterpillar that traveled from a milkweed leaf in my yard, to my grandson's yard, and back to my yard! "Around the World" (From a mature caterpillar to butterfly) in 10 days.

Our Monarch caterpillar... eating, eating, eating... just prior to being housed in a mason jar with part of a pantyhose leg under a jar ring on Thursday, August 10.

The chrysalis that was formed in the jar on Friday, August 11.

The empty chrysalis we found in the jar this morning... Sunday, August 19.

The Monarch butterfly in the jar!A transfer to Daddy's hands.

Wonderment...

... and letting go.