Butterflies and birds in Henderson.....

We drove over to Henderson, KY this week to the "butterfly road" hoping for some good butterfly shots.  We didn't see very many varieties.  Usually I can count on seeing the swallowtails as well as the little woodland butterflies.

This is the Hackberry.......a very small butterfly that likes woods with Hackberry trees.  They can be very friendly and land on you while you are taking their photo :-)  They like the gravel road and we see them flitting all along it.

It is always willing to pose with its wings open for me!  I wish all butterflies were this easy.

This is the closed side view.

Another butterfly that likes the gravel and the woods....the Question Mark.  Very similar to the Comma, but with slight differences.

Harder to get this one when it is open.

The side view showing the question mark that gives it its name.

There was a spot in the gravel road where someone had emptied a cement mixer and boy, did all these little butterflies like that!  Must be the minerals that they like best.  This is the American Snout.  I have never managed to get a shot of the wings open on this one.  It always rests with them closed.

A very torn up swallowtail.......I think it is a Spicebush.

Talk about good camouflage!  These grasshoppers were all over the place.

I think this is the Blue Dasher female dragonfly.

We didn't expect to see many birds, but actually saw more birds than butterflies!  This little Eastern Wood Pewee was flitting along the narrow road between tall trees just ahead of us.  We would stop ever so often to take its photo.

A back shot.  It was a very shady area, so my shots are so-so.

He stopped by these webworms.....I wonder if they eat them?  I would hope that some bird would.

Out in an open area we spotted this one power pole with a whole group of birds on it.  Very plain, grey/brown birds.  I think they are young Grackles.

Talking to each other.  They had long pointy beaks.

On another wire....a Dickcissel was singing his tunes.

....and Swallows in the same area.

They always seem very sociable.

We figured the wet areas would all be dry, but there was one shallow wet area and an egret enjoying the water there.

Very pretty as he glided in and out of the plants.

Here he lifted one foot....black legs, black foot.....Great Egret?  Didn't seem that tall.

 A Kingbird swooped out of the bushes chasing a Brown Thrasher away.

Panting....it was a hot day!

Finally, on the way home there is a swampy area and we stopped the car to look.  This bird was spooked out by another bird from its hiding place.  I think it is a young Red-wing Blackbird, all fluffed up.  It sat there squawking and I was hoping for better shots, but about that time a pick-up truck showed up behind us and another one coming the other direction, so we had to move on.  We have an uncanny ability to find trucks in the middle of nowhere whenever we are trying to photograph something....frustrating!

***************

We are busy trying to do some remodeling in our house and have a crew coming in this next week to do some work, so my posting is going to be sparse, I'm sure!  The biggest question of the moment is where to put our bed while they fix the drywall and paint in our bedroom??  Not much time for picture taking :-)