Turtle time...

Time for a few more turtle shots :-)

 Big and little.......lots of red on that little one.  I think the small one is a painted turtle and the big one a Red-eared Slider.

 I liked his reflection

 The shell of the one on the left looks so shiny and dark.  It must have just come out of the water.

 I think of this one as the "one with the striped underpants".

 More smooth and shiny ones

 Are the 3 in front watching the balancing act by the other one?  

 "You really ought to get you some duckweed to wear.....don't you think mine looks nice?"

Three heads are better than one.

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Blogger still won't let me change my header photo.  So I was going to put my header shot at the top of this post.  However, as soon as I tried to load it....even though I have shrunk the size of it just like the other photos....they gave me the message about having used all my space!  Weird....I can load photos, but not a photo with words on it.  Weird.

Wetlands odds and ends from two walks.....

I have photos from a couple walks I haven't posted yet, so I will just lump them all together in this one post.

 I believe this is a Dainty Sulphur.......I have never seen one before.

 A few geese are staying on the creek right now.....bottoms up!

A Killdeer on the boardwalk

 I saw LOTS of Buckeyes yesterday!  At times there were 3-4 flitting about on these white flowers (Fleabane?)  They always look so pretty.

 This Goldfinch flew out of the flowers....where I'm sure it was gathering seeds...and sat on this stalk at the side of the path.  It watched me a long time, but wouldn't fly away until I finally had to walk past it.

 A Gray Hairstreak eating upside down in the clover.

 When I arrived this heron was on the railing of the boardwalk.  It didn't seem to want to leave, but as I kept getting closer, it finally walked down the boardwalk ahead of me and flew off into the shallow water.

 Always happy to find a Monarch and this one was in perfect condition.  They are heading south this time of year.  I haven't seen many so far.

 Lift off!  

This was the closest I got to an open shot :-)

 Hiding in the yellow flowers.  Their color compliments the butterfly very nicely.

 I just love that polka dot body!  It looks very fuzzy.

 An interesting moth.....I tried to identify it, but can't be sure.  Maybe a Cabbage Looper?  I have a little booklet of just Indiana butterflies and moths, but don't find the drawings helpful at times because they are never in the position that the actual butterflies or moths like to sit....more like drawings of ones that have been pinned to a board in open position.  I never see a moth open in that manner.

 A couple of Painted Ladies......there were dozens of them yesterday!  One clump of these little white daisy flowers had at least 4 Painted Ladies, 4 Buckeyes, a couple Sulphurs, some skippers, and the Monarch!  It was a very busy clump of flowers!

 A Clouded Sulphur

 2 Different Skippers.....dark one and light one

And an in-between colored one :-)

 A Common Checkered Skipper.....I think they are really pretty!

 This one moved constantly and the flower kept blowing up and down.....but that is a checkered White, I believe.  

And lastly, this mean Mantis has ripped a poor Buckeye butterfly in half and eaten it.  I guess Mantis have to eat, too.  I shooed another Buckeye away that landed right next to it, just in case it was still hungry.

I'll save my turtle shots for another post :-)

American Lady vs. Painted Lady....

This week I was fortunate to see both the American Lady butterfly and the Painted Lady butterfly, so I thought I would post a comparison of the two.  Unfortunately, my American Lady was in very bad shape.

 Above....the Painted Lady with 4 small "eye spots" on the hindwing.  

Below is the American Lady with only 2 large eye spots on the hindwing.

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 Above....again, the Painted Lady

Below.....the American Lady

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 Above.....Painted Lady....there are some other difference besides the eye spots, but that is the easiest way to tell them apart.

Below.....American Lady.....this one is so old and torn, it makes the comparison of other markings difficult, but the hind wing spots are the easiest thing to look for.

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I thought this poor American Lady deserved one last photo :-)  Sharing her flower with a bee.

Goldfinches picking seeds.....

It's been gloomy and rainy here the last couple of days.  But that doesn't stop the Goldfinches from their mission of picking all the seeds out of the dead Black-eyed Susan flower heads!

The Goldfinches have reverted to their drab winter color....no more bright yellow.  Combined with the dreary weather and the dead flowers these aren't exactly colorful or "pretty" photos :-)

 We counted as many as 10 of them picking over the seeds.

 I included this more distant shot to give an over-view.  I can see at least 5 in this photo.  It was hard for the camera to pick them out at times and I had a lot of slightly unfocused shots.

 This one took off while I was shooting, making an interesting flutter of wings.  I can see the edge of another one's wings down below behind a leaf.  They hide well!

 Resting

 Pensive

 Working

 I like the way he found two flowers...one for each foot...to rest on.

 Digging in.  

Luckily, this gloomy weather keeps the neighbor's cat away.  She was busy sleeping in the dry garage and ignoring them.

 They are very industrious little birds and when they eat they really concentrate on what they are doing.  At the feeders they just hang there and eat and eat and eat.

 Checking out the head of some Goldenrod as well.

And all that eating makes you thirsty!

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Gloomy again today, but hopefully clearing off tomorrow.  This is the week of our big Fall Festival....an entire week of eating and rides and entertainment on a closed off street on the west side.  If the weather clears up, maybe I'll get down there for some photos!