More odds and ends, this and that, whatever......

I had some more encounters with the little Eastern Tailed Blue butterflies at Mouteau Park.

They are just so pretty and on the pink flowers (Smartweed?) even more so.

Sometimes they don't pick a nice background.....this one was checking out a cigarette butt left on the ground.  Yuck!  "Beauty and the Beast?"

One more pretty shot to rid the mind of cigarette remains.

I think this is an Eastern Wood Pewee.  It's one of "those bug catching birds" anyway.

Coming home the other night we passed a couple yards with deer in them.  Mother and fawn.

"Mo-oo-oo-o-m........someone is watching us!!"

"Don't just stand there like a deer caught in the lights...move!"

"Can't--move--must--stare."

Saw this cute little bug in my backyard.  No idea what it is!  It is on one of the "Touch-me-not" seed pods.  Hope he doesn't pop it, or he will take a high flying ride!  Better known as Jewelweed, my kids and I used to love to touch the pods and watch them explode at the lightest touch.  Very effective seed distribution system.

A closer look at the bug.  Anyone know what it is?

More yellow flowers just because I like them :-)

White flowers complete with bug.

Odds and ends of the past week......

I seem to have a lot of left-over shots that I might as well post.

I'm surprised at how many wildflowers are still blooming.  I wish I knew the names of more of them.  I love all the yellow daisy-like flowers and here they were mixed into this grass that looks like a cloud of pink when you see a field of it. I love how it looks, but it is hard to show it in a photo.  It looks better in the bright sunlight.

Looking across one of the Blue Grass lakes at a field of the yellow flowers.

All along the gravel road there were Morning Glories in a mixture of colors....deep purple, light purple.....

......a blueish  shade....

...and a few pink that were well hidden in the weeds!

Chicory

The Killdeer were hanging out with the Horned Larks, but I forgot to post them :-)

I like their red eyes and black and white bands.

Another day, another place.....this time at the wetlands near dusk.  A heron who flew away soon after I arrived.

A Red-Shouldered Hawk sitting high and watching.....

....all the Tree Swallows gathered here (who were watching him very closely, too)

They didn't seem very concerned, but they weren't swooping around much either.

The path across the meadow at the wetlands is still full of flowers, but it was cool and late in the day and there weren't any butterflies moving around.  Where do butterflies go at night?

Lots of bugs on the Goldenrod.

Just as I was leaving a saw a group of Robins.  Some of them were in the Sumac eating the seeds.  I didn't know they ate them, so this was new behavior for me to learn.

"Look over there"........

The last pit we stopped at had so much activity going on that I had trouble keeping up with the photos.

This frog was the last thing I saw, but it was my favorite.  He was sure catching the light making him look silver.

We stopped at this pit because there are always goldfinches and sometimes other birds bathing there.  Sure enough........here comes one now!

This pit is very shallow and there is an area where you can launch a kayak or small boat.  This is where they like to take their bath.

"Splish, splash, I was taking a bath......"

There are some nice willow trees nearby where they sit to dry off.

While watching for the goldfinches, I spotted a Viceroy butterfly in the grasses nearby.

Got a couple of shots and then I hear Mike say.....

....."there's a diving duck out there".  Sure enough....one Grebe.

Going down!

A Catbird joined the Goldfinches for a bath. 

Then it flew over to a little tree right beside me and started "mewing".  They are so funny sounding!  We saw several Catbirds in other places, too.  There is a little grove of pear trees, where they were hanging out with the Mockingbird and Cardinals, and I hope eventually some Waxwings.  I'll be going back as the pears get riper.  These are very small ornamental pears and the birds love to eat them.

A "mystery" bird showed up at the bath.....very plain and brownish gray.  Maybe a female Indigo bunting?

I just happen to click as it flew away!  So graceful looking!

Then as we drove around to the other side of this pit, a flock of ducks flew in.

I don't know what kind they are....my photos aren't very clear but they didn't look like Mallards to me.  They stayed on the far side in the heavy shade.

While watching them, Mike spotted the frog.........so we are back where I started!  A very busy pit!

Hawks, Heron, and Horned Larks.....

We went to Blue Grass stripper pits the other day and it was a great day for seeing a lot of things!  Rose and I have had a discussion on what to call these "pits".  I was raised calling them "stripper pits" and she knows them as "strip pits".  Anyone else want to give their name?  They are lakes that once were part of strip mining land and are now reclaimed for fishing and wildlife.

The first thing I saw was a Red Tailed Hawk sitting on a fence post by the bean fields, but as soon as I started to take a photo he flew off.  There were two of them hunting along this field.

As we were leaving, Mike caught one of them up on a power pole and he was a little less nervous about our presence.

Down near one of the pits, we saw this other hawk in a tree.  Not sure what kind.  Looks kind of skinny and young.  Not much tail.

This was a surprise!  I was shooting Horned Lark photos and suddenly looked up and there was a Great Blue Heron perched on the top of a small tree nearby! 

We saw 6-7 Heron at least, but most were flying over, leaving to get away from us, or like this one....out in the middle of the biggest pit where we could barely get a shot.

There is one parking lot where we almost always find Horned Larks at this time of year.  This one almost let me walk up to it, so it is the closest photo I have ever gotten.

They seem to like the rocky parking lot and usually it is a struggle to make them stand out against the white rocks.

This one seemed to want to stay in one place.  I would have thought maybe it had a nest, but this would be the wrong time of year for that?

They like areas with low grass and dirt and can blend right in......parking lots, airports, plowed fields, golf courses.  This is the only place in Evansville, that I have managed to find them so far.

Fat and fluffy.  Looked like it had a brood patch line down the center of it.

We saw lots of other stuff, so more tomorrow.