Sunset for SkyWatch and butterflies and bees....

I haven't had any SkyWatch photos for awhile, but the other night there was a beautiful sunset! Early....
......ending!
For more Skywatch photos click on the icon on my sidebar. Thanks to the Skywatch team for all of their hard work to keep this going.


Since it was Thursday, we went to Hartman Arboretum to search for butterflies and had some luck.
A Spicebush Swallowtail

Mike took this one.

Trying to get it with the wings open is always hard, but with this butterfly I actually like the closed position better.

A small white one not too well focused, but I liked it with the purple flowers.

A Silver Spotted Skipper with a small friend.

The Button Bush was thriving with bees and other critters.

A Painted Lady...I think. Mike shot this one.

The bees are almost as big as the flowers :-)

Bee in a bright yellow cup.

Some odd cattails by the lake.

We saw several Monarch caterpillars.

This one was busy devouring that leaf. Notice the little green balls beside him.

3 different bugs.....the Milkweed was as busy as the Button Bush.

I like the way the Trumpet Vine is sticking out in all directions.

Why I let the sunflower seeds grow below the feeders.....

Discovery!
"Oh boy....fresh seeds!"

Perfect balance at all times

Leaning in

.....wayyyyyy in!

Hanging low and reaching under

I didn't have as many volunteer sunflower seeds grow this year. Now I wish I had planted some more! These beautiful Goldfinches make me smile watching them work for the seeds.

Making the weekly rounds....

We headed over to Henderson for the weekly eagle/heron rookery check yesterday. Nothing happening in the eagle's nest, but they are still there. I was trying to shoot the grasses, but realized that this gives you an idea of how far away the trees with the eagle's nest and heron rookery are.....that is them in the distance.
The roadside is so full of flowers and weeds and bushes now, that it is a wonder we can see over them to the trees! This Sulpher butterfly was enjoying the crown vetch.

Teasel!.....At first I thought it was a weird kind of thistle, but then remembered what it was. Very interesting....but very prickly!

I've never seen it blooming before.

Lots of herons in lots of nests....what can I say.

This area always looks like about 3 nests all joined together with many large birds :-)

Since the eagles were not doing anything, we headed out to Blue Grass to see if there was anything new there.

I decided to go walk in this little "forest" of trees....some sort of willows?

They had these "fruits" all over them.

Found a really nice nest in one of the trees just above my head. I was dying to look in it, but resisted. I'm always afraid I will disturb a bird and make it desert the nest.

Higher up in the trees, this little bird was busy cleaning his feathers. I don't know if he goes with the nest, or not. He was very intent on cleaning and itching.

Not sure what it is....a flycatcher of some sort?

Very plain in color.

One of the feathers he pulled out :-)

I'll stop here in case I don't have anything to post tomorrow.

Butterfly book.....

I found this beautiful little pocketguide to butterflies on Ebay. It has beautiful pictures and has a hand-drawn, hand-lettered style. It is by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson and comes from Johnson Books in Boulder, CO
It's very pretty to look at and sometimes I even learn a new butterfly from it :-) Although I am not sure about that one I posted today. (see below)

Dragons and Ducks and.....whatever

(My scheduled posts are still not posting at the right time)

I could go to the Howell wetlands every day and be perfectly happy. Always something new to see. This first photo is actually one of the last that I took, but the strangest.It wasn't until I had it on the computer that I saw the discarded exoskeletons on the stick under this Amberwing Dragonfly. I didn't know they shed their skins.....or are they just old dead dried up ones? Interesting, whatever they are! (NOTE: Both Tom and Eve explain what these are in the comment section...thanks to both of you!)
Here, you can see it better and there were a couple more on the same stick.

I always like these green dragonfly females.


The water in the marsh is now covered with these yellow flowering plants. The leaves are really chewed up by something.
While looking at the flowers I saw something begin to move through them......

.....dark heads sneaking along in a line.

A family of 12 ducks.......I think a female Mallard in the lead. No male in sight.

They swam out to the edge of the weeds and started eating the plants.

3 Killdeer on the far side of the lake

In the meadow, these white flowers were attracting a wide assortment of bugs and bees and such. This one was beautiful, but I kept wondering it it would sting me and kept my distance!

Later I found this very tiny white butterfly. If you look closely it has striped antenae and striped legs. Rather pretty, but it would not open its wings for me! It is on a poison ivy leaf if that gives you an idea of the size....very small.

A rather lethal looking wasp. Later I saw a different kind that had yellow antenae, but it kept going under the leaves and I never got a good photo.

Mike took this photo of a web.......

....while I shot its owner. I never seem to be able to focus on the web and he did it very well.

That strange "bubble" is a turtle ducking its head just as I took the photo.

A pretty "puffer".

We always called this plant Nicotiana, but I don't really know if that is what it is.

It was so good to get out and not melt while walking around! There was actually a breeze blowing part of the time! Yeah!