Fall at Howell wetlands...

I haven't been out much, but today we went to the wetlands and there was lots of wildlife in evidence. These photos are in no particular order.

This bunny was on the trail.....looks half asleep. 

 A large group of Mallards were on one pond and appeared to be changing into their mating plumage.

 The blue side feather peeking out on this young male

 One of the female dragonflies.....Widow Skimmer?

A large group of Canada Geese were on the creek area. 

 I like this log of little turtles watching the geese eat the duckweed.

 Turtles and a headless goose :-)

A Goldfinch picking out flower seeds in the meadow 

 A Great Blue Heron arrived just before we left.

Several Killdeer in the mud with the ducks.

 A Painted Lady Butterfly on the asters.

This Leaf Hopper jumped right in front of me.  I'm amazed at how "leaf like" they are, even to the veins.  Great way to hide!

I was happy to find a couple of Monarch butterflies on the asters. 

They must have been fairly new....they were in perfect condition. 

There were two sandpipers in the mud. 

I liked the mix of geese and turtles.  I should make this into a header shot, but I quit changing my header a few years ago.

 Turtles on the log

 This one was right below us and didn't slip away, so I got a few close-ups.

Dig those "Freddy Krueger" nails!   Ouch!

Not sure why I included this wasp and bee....just more of the life that was buzzing around.

Hot day + water dish =...........

Fun in the sun!

Never have so many.....

......had so much fun.....

.....in so little water!

 I get such a kick out of watching the little sparrows when they decide it is time to play in the water.

"Heads up!  Cannonball!" 

 A few taking a break at the water fountain.

This one decided that a water fountain was a perfect place to sit....right on the water spout!  LOL

 "Children......I think I'll get my drink up here!"

"Finally.....the sparrow brats have all gone away!"

Goldfinches love fresh sunflower seeds right out of the head.  I wish I had a few of those really big heads of seeds for them!  I had one little one (the one that grew at the end of the walkway :-) to put out for them.  I like to "spike" them on the end of the hooks and they just love sitting there and eating the seeds. 

.....but they will take them right from the plant, too.

Another wetlands walk....

Getting to the wetlands once a week seems to be all I am doing for photos at the moment.  Just haven't been out and about anywhere else interesting much this summer.  But there is always something new with each visit to the wetlands as well as the things I almost always see there.

I believe this is the black female of the Tiger Swallowtail.  It is hard for me to shoot over the through the taller flowers, so there was always something between me and her.  I can see the faint "tiger" stripes and the body was all black, I'm pretty sure. 

This was a surprise...for both of us!  I was headed for the bridge over the creek and looked to  my left and there was a deer standing down the path!  She turned and looked right at me and even took a couple steps in my direction. 

She wanted to go into those trees along the creek.  I left her alone, but it was great seeing her so close! 

A female Eastern Pondhawk 

A pair of them mating 

This Great Blue Heron hangs around the pond on a fairly regular basis and isn't too "spooky" around people. 

 It was near the boardwalk, so I slowed down and gave it time to wander over the edge of the pond away from me.  It must find the best fish near the boardwalk, because it is often there when I first get there.

 Silvery Checkerspot....I think. 

 It was hanging around the little patches of sunlight in the wooded area.

Slaty Skimmer? 

This Spicebush Swallowtail had some wing damage and never held still.  Made it hard to get a good shot. 

Not a good photo.  This spider was in the woods and I liked the web, but I could not get the camera to focus on both web and spider for a good shot. ( I have a lot of trouble with close-up shots with this camera.   I never had this kind of trouble with my Fuji cameras.  I just don't understand the close-up and autofocus on this camera.  It is frustrating.) I notice the spider has green leg bands.  No idea what it is, but it makes a nice web. 

Can't go to the wetlands and not get a couple turtle shots :-) 

At this time of year they are always covered in the green duckweed.

Hope to get out somewhere today.  

Crossing the line....

So.....when does one cross the line between being a "nature lover" to being ......

"that strange neighbor that lets plants grow in the middle of her front walkway"?

OK.....I'm that strange lady.  But this sunflower was growing so nicely and I see no reason to uproot it until it is done blooming :-)  I made this bee happy.  I'll pull it out when the flower is done.  My neighbors know that I am weird by now anyway.

I'm not much of a gardener any more, but I do have plenty of these Black-eyed-Susan's growing.  Anything that comes up on its own and flourishes without my help is very welcome for color!  The Goldfinches love these flowers, so I just let them grow in profusion.

 I also have some Phlox that comes up every year and this year there is a lot of it in different shades of lavender/pink.

Thursday I went to Hartman Arboretum, where I usually go to chase butterflies at this time of year and their garden looks much better than mine :-)  There weren't too many butterflies, but I did find a few skippers.

I saw a half dozen or more of the Silver Spotted Skippers.

They were posing very nicely for me

We always call it the "white elephant skipper" due to the mark on the wing that looks like an elephant.

The Silver Spotted Skipper again on a prettier flower

Cabbage White female that actually opened up for me!

The Cabbage White female again

The Clear-wing Hummingbird Moth was out and I actually got a few decent photos of it.  It moves so much I have trouble chasing it down and getting a focus.

 Another side shot of the hummingbird moth.

 No butterflies here, but I love these tall hydrangeas!

Another hydrangea.

A couple of nights earlier at the Arboretum they set up a white sheet with lights trained on it to attract moths!  It was an interesting experience.  Will have to try this at home.  This was the neatest one that I got a photo of.  I don't know its name.  I meant to look it up before posting but forgot.  Sorry about the finger in the photo, but there were young kids there and they were very excited about all the moths and bugs :-)