I'll let this last one with the huge orange center lead to tomorrow....Pink and Purple flowers with butterflies....I promise some different butterflies :-)
This was one of my favorites.....two Pearl Crescents on this yellow flower. There are several photos of them in this group.
Not a great shot of this Gray Hairstreak.....but for some reason I like the photo anyway.
Don't even ask me which Skipper this is. There is only one Skipper I know the name of and there are too many in the book for me to figure out the rest.
At times there was a butterfly on each one of these yellow flowers! Mostly the Pearl Crescents.
There's that pair again
This should probably be in the "orange" page for tomorrow.....but the Sulphur allowed me to put it on the yellow page :-)
I liked the way the sun shown through the Sulphur's wings....the only way I ever get to see the color on the inside. I wish I knew what magic formula allows Roy, The Fenlandwalker to always get his butterflies to open up! I think he is the "butterfly whisperer".
More flower than butterfly
Sulphur again
Last shot of these two
The Tiger Swallowtails are "yellow" and the Button Bush doesn't fit any color in particular. Besides the two Tigers there is a dark Skipper on that one flower.
Just hanging with the Tigers :-)
Painted Lady posing on the Thistle
Pokeberry
A very unhappy looking wet Mockingbird :-) His head looks so funny!
This one looks a little better :-)
These flowers hanging out over the creek were attracting the Monarchs....2 can be seen here.
Some wet pods I liked.
A dragonfly wanted to pose for me....not sure what kind.
Looking at me!
The morning glories were very wet looking and getting tattered.
Blackbirds in silhouette here and below. They were gathering in the trees back along the creek.
I liked this little stump out in the water with the hole in it and the little fungi near the bottom.
On the way across town, I saw this yard full of geese and had to stop for a few close-ups!
Something good in that grass
Staying alert
I kept hearing this very loud noisy bird and couldn't find it at first.
Bruce tells me it is a Red-Shouldered adult. It had been raining and it was very wet. The head looks "odd" to me.
Then another one joined it on the limb!
Their heads look so light in color (I've been told they are molting) and they were very spotty on the backs.
I went back later in the day with Mike hoping to find them in the same area, but couldn't find them.
This is actually taken on the way back to the car after walking around some, but I liked this view of the walk and little cypress trees.
The Heron was there at 9:30AM when I first went by and still there when I dragged Mike back to look for the hawks around 5:00PM. It must have been having a nice day and hadn't been disturbed by anyone. They often will stand there and not fly away when I creep along the boardwalk with my camera. I guess they have gotten used to people.
I can't resist taking too many shots when they want to pose so nicely.
This end of one boardwalk had a lot of long grass hanging over it, soaked from the rain.
Lots of colors and textures right now.
I always like this bush for some reason.
A couple of Wood Ducks cruising until I approached with my camera.
This spot in one field usually has water in it during the spring, fall and winter (and shore birds and water fowl), and is surrounded by planted fields. It was dry right now due to our extreme heat and lack of rain. The "water plants" look like aliens sticking up in the dryness. This Killdeer was roaming around, so maybe there was still some dampness. There must be one wet area still...we spooked a heron into flight further back in the field.
Along the gravel roads are areas of trees and vegetation. Butterflies were very busy in and out of these and hard to photograph without lots of distractions. A Black Swallowtail.....I've been seeing this a lot the last week or two. Migration?
This was a nice little surprise area....the road ended there! Nice view and I would like to have had a chair and just sit there for awhile enjoying it. We spooked another heron....we're good at that....as we drove up!
There were some yellow lily buds, but not very photogenic, so I just enjoyed the leaves.
An Eastern Tailed Blue along the rocks.
A couple of Pearl Crescents on a leaf.
A big swampy area....we never see much there, but I'm sure the geese and ducks will be there later in the year.
One gravel road had Monarch butterflies flitting in and out of the vegetation along the side. We saw dozens of them....often spiraling together in pairs. They all looked really new and perfect like this one. I wonder if they are recently hatched. Certainly not tattered like so many butterflies I am seeing.
I have trouble catching them open. They like to sit closed most of the time.
Something is sure chewing up the leaves :-)
At one stop, Mike said, "Give me the camera". This very large fly was on his (dirty) window and he wanted to try to photograph it. Interesting eye and details! I really must wash the car windows :-)
When I shot this photo of the Trumpet flowers and pods, I didn't even notice the little butterfly on it. Not sure what kind it is.
I just liked the white flowers against the water.
Anyone know what these are? Nice white berries of some sort.
This water area is pretty constant, but usually much larger. A lot of it is dry right now. A farmer has planted several rows of corn between it and the road, so I had to get out of the car and sneak around the end of the corn to get this heron shot. He immediately saw me and flew away. Some sort of blackbird behind him.....
Not a great photo, but in the foreground there are some sort of sandpipers, then the heron in the water, a killdeer on the other shore and the blackbird in the field...what a combination!
I found a white moth! I'm always seeing photos of these in other blogs, but this was the first one I found. I love their fuzzy heads! I actually picked the piece of grass it is on and am holding it with one hand while trying to take the photo with the other. It showed no inclination to move, which was very nice of it :-)
A Question Mark......I used this photo to show the comma and dot making up the mark. This was on the "butterfly road" where we saw all the butterflies in the ditch.
From this side it is much prettier, but I seldom get very close to one. The mark to look for here is the dot with a dash over it near the top of the wing. This is what makes it different from an Eastern Comma. (according to Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America
These "flies"? were swarming all over our windows and mirrors as we were leaving this road. We were afraid we were taking them home with us, but Mike finally did some starting and stopping that made them go away!
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