ABC Wednesday

Q is for Queen.
I saw her in Texas.

Q is for Question Mark.



I saw her on the deck.



Q is for Quebec.
A lovely place to visit.

Q is for Quack


and Quill.


Q is for

Quadrille

and Quantum Theory.




Q is for Quarks

and Quasars.


Q is for Quetzal



and Quetzalcoatl.

Q is for the Quapaw Tribe.



Q is for Quivira.



I wish I had a quiver for all my Qs!
To experience lots of fun Qs visit
ABC Wednesday.

In the moment

November teaches me to live in the moment.


She teaches me to celebrate the Marigold.

Each Autumn I gather my seed.

Each Spring I sow my seed.

In November,

when the other flowers have sung their swan song

the Marigolds keep blooming.

They provide nourishment.

They provide flowers for my tables.

I am very fond of the Marigold.

Indian Summer continues in my gardens.

I know it will soon come to an end.

I cherish these warm November days.

I cherish my time with the bugs and the birds.

Sunday Safari

Indian Summer warms our November days.

Some leaves remain in the woods.

The squirrels are busy gathering acorns.

November's light amazes me.

We are studying the Medicine Wheel this month.




There is one not too far from my house.



We have visited this wheel before.


I was born under the Earth Renewal Moon.



I find comfort in this spiritual path.


We hiked in the woods near the Medicine Wheel.



A flock of Cedar Waxwings


ate Juniper berries.

The lavender is blooming again.

There are bees and butterflies in the marigolds.
There are leaves covering the ground.
We are staying near the gardens.
We are preparing for winter.
We have come full circle.

Happy Sunday Safari!

Indian Summer

The Juncos have returned.

They will stay all winter.

Chick-a-dees come and go.
They are friendly little birds.

Gulls circled my house this afternoon.
A warm southerly breeze kept them aloft.
I see them often in November.

The Northern Cardinals are still coming for seed.

They still act like mates even though

they have stopped singing.

I am on a quest.

I want to see as many butterflies and bees as I can
this November.

I want to remember each rose.


I walked the neighborhood.

Some of the trees are holding on to their leaves.


I placed our Jack-o-lantern out in the sun.
I hope it will dry.

It is Indian Summer.

ABC Wednesday

P


is for Purple.

This perennial is

a popular



plant.

There are plenty of butterflies as long as there are blooms.




P is for

Pipevine Swallowtail.

I was pleased to see her.

P is for passion.

P is for Puddling.

P is for Prairie.


May we preserve and protect.



P is for Pokeweed.
The berries provide a native prairie
purple dye.


P is for pencil pin.
A personal treasure I made
from my Father's pencil collection.

P is for pumpkin

and Pilgrims.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

P is for the People that host and play ABC Wednesday.

I am proud to be a part of this fun meme!

Sunday Safari

A few blossoms remain.

A Painted Lady

and an Orange Sulphur find nectar.





The marigolds are thriving
even after many nights of frost.



They provide food for the migrating Monarchs.

Surrounded with leaves the white mums stay warm.







November is a gateway month.

We are having new beginnings.

We shall study the Medicine Wheel.

We shall walk the good red road.

We remember family and friends

that have gone behind the veil.

We celebrate and are grateful.

We work together as a couple.





Like the Snout we bask in the November sun.



Many of the leaves have fallen from the trees.


Indian Summer has begun.

ABC Wednesday

O is for October

and Orange.

O is for Ouch

and Oregano.

O is for Oak

and Osage Orange.

O is for Orange Sulphur



and Or.

O is for Owl.

O is for Opera

and Oracle.

O is for Oregon.

Happy Abc Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

We drove north.
We followed the Missouri River.

We were hunting for pumpkins.

We remembered a pumpkin patch out in the cornfields.

We knew if we watched we would see the sign.

It was a perfect October day.

Perfect day for pumpkin hunting.

Tucked up on a straw bench we found her.

The sun was bright and the bugs came out.

A Walking Stick found its way across the wall.

We hiked the river bluff.

I was surrounded by Autumn.

Spiders and Harvesters have their Autumn dress.

The woods were glowing.

An Eastern Comma basked in the sun.

I also turned my face to the sky.

Happy Sunday Safari.

Prairie Labyrinth

Autumn colors are at peak.

Each tree has an inner light.

The grasses on the Prairie sway in the breeze.

I walked the labyrinth.

This Labyrinth is a magnificent walk.

I am inspired.

These grounds are sacred.

October is full of fantastic experiences.

I tied clooties, prayer tokens.

I am grateful.

ABC Wednesday

N is for Needle

and Needlecraft.

N is for Nickle

and Native Americans.

N is for Noise makers.

Nice to have about this time of year.

N is for Naturalist



and Natural.

N is for Night.


N is for Necklace.

N is for

nest.

N is for Nuthatch.

N is for Nettle.

It is very high in Nutrition.

N is for notebook

at least until November.

To meet more very nice ns visit ABC Wednesday.

Brought to us by Mrs. Nesbitt.

A remarkable N.

Sunday Safari

Cahokia Mounds, City of the Sun.
700 AD -1300 AD

This mound is known as Monks Mound.
It rises 100 feet.
It is the largest prehistoric earthen construction
in the Americas.
It was the center of this ancient city.



This city sprawled over six square miles
and supported a population of 10-20,000.


In 1982 this site was named a world Heritage Site.


When I entered the interpretive center


I was taken back into time.
I was transported into an amazing culture.


The veil is thin at this site.
I could almost hear their voices.


As I looked at the artifacts I began to think.


As I read about these ancient people I connected.


I too plant and harvest.


I too craft and cook.


These pots are so beautiful.


I am inspired.

Corn chowder would taste delicious in a head pot!

Like the Cahokians I do not eat wheat.

The visitors center is world class.

After having our lunch out of our picnic basket we walked the Grand Plaza.

I too celebrate the spider.


We climbed Monks Mound.



I looked down and saw St. Louis, Missouri.


I looked across and saw more mounds.



I laid all my sadness down.
I vowed to take care of what is left of the Great Mounds.


The seasons are changing at Cahokia.


The rain water puddles as it has for thousands of years.

Painted Ladies,


Orange Sulphurs and Buckeyes still find late season

nectar on the native wildflowers.



The Crows still fly and teach for those who will learn.



It was time for me to travel back to my house.




Time for me to take my Birdman treasures home.

Like the people who came before me I went west.




I bought a journal while at Cahokia.




A place to write about the Indian Mounds.
A place to honor those that came before me.
A place to hope that those that come after will also honor and take care.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

M is for Moon

and Mantis.

M is for mint

and Mockingbird.




M is for mating Monarchs.

M is for Magnolia

a marvelous flower.

M is for Marigold
and the mystery of metamorphosis.

M is for monster.
It is that time of year.


M is for mourning

and memorials.

M is for Missouri.

It is where I live.

I am studying.
I am making magic.


M is for Mystic!



For more merry making visit ABC Wednesday !

Sunday Safari

There is a blush on the maple trees.

I walked in my gardens.
Temperatures dipping.

The bittersweet is opening.

Snapdragons still bloom.

The cockscomb is ready for drying.

The Fire bush is ablaze.

The red clover is offering nectar.

Bees are waiting for warmer temperatures.

The morning glories are closed.

Acorns scatter across the lawn.

I hung the suet.

The Chick-a-dees were pleased.

I am planning a field trip for next weekend.

I want to visit Cahokia, a World Heritage Site.

It is the Season of the Ancients.

It will honor the people that came before me.

ABC Wednesday

L is for

Lavender.

L is for Lilac.

L is for

Lincoln sparrow.



L is for Lady Bug

and Leaf Hopper.

L is for lonely.

It is lovely out on the prairie.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

October on the Tall Grass Prairie
is colorful.

The butterflies are still flying.

Prairie Asters provide nectar.

Orange Sulphurs dominated the Prairie today.

We did see one Buckeye.

The bees were out in abundance.

A few thistles still bloom.

Many Flower Beetles caught my eye.

Their black and orange dress is perfect for October.

Spiders are spinning and weaving.

Dragonflies still patrol.

It is cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons.

Soon we will have frost.

The Mantis hunts for another couple of weeks.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

K is for Kite!

K is for Katydid.

K is for Kestrel.

K is for Knitting.

K is for kaleidoscope



and knots.





K is for kiss

and kill.

K is for kinetic energy

and knocks at the door.

K is for Kitty.

She was a kindred spirit.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

The Monarchs are migrating.
I watched them in my backyard this afternoon.

I stayed home today.
Once my land was part of the Tall grass Prairie.
Once my land was part of the Santa Fe Trail.

Long ago this land was plowed
and crops grew where my mums now grow.

As the city stretched out developers bought up the farms
and built neighborhoods.
This sedium was here when I moved in 33 years ago.


Part of the Live Forevers are in the sun and part in the shade.

The Katydid likes the sun!

The Bright-eye Cosmos are extra bright today.
I saved some seed for next year's garden.

The bees are still gathering pollen.
They seem tired.

A Bee Mimic was in the orange mums.

The gardens are winding down.

The leaves are beginning to fall.

The berries in the Dogwood are ripe.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

J is for Jasmine.


J is for Joe-Pye Weed.

J is for Jewel Wing.

J is for Jacks.

J is for juggling.

J is for Joker.

J is for Jayhawk.

J is for Javelina.

J is for Jellyfish.

Thank you Mrsnesbitt

for hostessing ABC Wednesday!


J is for JOY!

Happy ABC Wednesday!

Sunday Safari

In southwestern Missouri a herd of over 180 Bison graze peacefully.
Around 1540, millions of Bison roamed this area.
By 1889, fewer than 600 were left in all of North America.

In 1982, nine Bison were brought to Prairie State Park.
The Bison roam free on this native prairie habitat.

Since the soil in this area was too rocky to plow much of the land is virgin prairie.

Once tallgrass prairies covered over 13 million acres in Missouri alone.

I walked the prairie and felt the magic of the grasses.

I watched Spicebush Swallowtails nectar in the Bull Thistles and

Hummingbirds nectar in wild Cardinal flower.

When I return from the Prairie I surround myself with field guides.

I long to know the names of all the wild flowers and all the insects.

I recognized the Pearl Crescents

the female

and the male Eastern Tailed Blue when I saw them puddling together.

I knew the Orange Sulphur butterfly

but the wildflower White Heath Aster

and Purple Prairie Aster are new to me.

I have looked for this moth in my

"Butterflies and Moths of Missouri" filed guide

but I still do not know its name.

This is an Eastern Comma.

I know them from my backyard.
The wildflower appears to be White Snakeroot.

Katydids and grasshoppers jumped about as we hiked.

Prairie State Park is a collaboration of many different organizations.

After we left the Prairie I noticed many areas that once were plowed fields planted in native grasses and wild flowers.

More land stewards are going native.

The Viceroy Butterfly flew between the barb wires.

I shall continue to walk the prairie. It changes with the seasons.

Happy Autumn.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

I is for ice.

I is for inspiration

and instruments.

I is for Indigo Bunting

and interesting 1928 children's books.

I is for insects on Ironweed

and the Idigenous people of the Prairie.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

I hunted for bugs in my backyard today.

Seeing the Zebra Swallowtail is always exciting.
She is never far from a Paw-paw bush, which is her host plant.

I was so pleased to see a Northern Walkingstick.



Autumn is coming soon.
My mums are in bloom.
The grasshoppers are in abundance.

The Zinnias are begining to fade.
The Skippers are still finding nectar in them.

The Live Forevers draw Gray Hairstreaks

and Praying Mantis.




The Bright Eye Cosmos have been in bloom since June.
The Common Checkered-Skipper is not common to my backyard.
I have only seen her a few times.

Red Spotted Purple likes rotting fruit.

I share the stems of my figs and my apple cores.

The Female Hummingbirds will begin to migrate in October.
The males left last week.

The Nuthatches will stay all winter.

The Northern Cardinals will also stay through the winter.

This couple raised four chicks this year.

I have chores to do.

Autumn is coming.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

H is for Hummingbird.

H is for Hawk.

H is for Heron.

H is for Hollyhock.

H is for Hibiscus.

H is for Hyacinth.

H is for House.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Weekend Safari

We went hunting for Bison.

On a tall grass restored Prairie in south-central Iowa
we found a herd of 80.

The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is committed to

"restoring and reconstructing tall grass prairie and savanna habitat"

of this region.

We walked on mowed trails through the grasses.

We watched many butterflies nectar on the wild red clover.

The Painted Ladies charmed me.

We read about a restored wet lands just north of the refuge.

At first light we were on the trails.

As the sun rose the fog lifted.

The Campion plant and Spotted Touch-me-nots

reminded me of how beautiful the woods


are in the morning light.

We are approaching Autumn.

The Pelicans are migrating.

This wetland is an important resting place.

Here, as on the open Prairie,
the grasses provide shelter for the birds and insects.
I watched as the Monarchs awoke.
Hundreds slowly began to start their day.
One by one they rose out of the grass and flew across the trail.









When we care for the land, bio-diversity returns.
White thistle provides nourishment for the migrating Monarchs
and for my spirit.

We traveled the state roads.
Serendipity lead us to five ancient Indian mounds.

A Great Spangled Fritillary and an Indian Pipe

watch over these ancient Indian burial grounds.

ABC Wednesday

G is for

Gray Hairstreak in the Goldenrod.

G is for Grosbeaks,

the males and females are migrating south now.

G is for
Giant swallowtail

and Grasshoppers.

G is for Grass.

There are many different varities of grasses,

not all are green,

yet all are gorgeous!

G is for the Green Jay

and the Goatweed Leafwing.

For more Gs visit ABC Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

Wah Kon-Tah Prairie,
Great Spirit, Great Mystery, Sun, Moon and stars.
For the Osage Indians, Wah Kon-Tah describes
all that is sacred and unfathomable.
For me Wah Kon-Tah describes bliss.


The Regal Fritillary
have one brood in June and fly until frost.

They are common in prairie meadows

in Western Missouri.

I watched them feast in the Ironweed.

The Buckeyes

and the Hairstreaks

have a relationship with the flowers of the prairie.

Small tracts of native, virgin, prairie

are knitted together with degraded pastures.

Land stewards are working to protect and restore over 20 square miles.

I saw bright orange moths

and Lady Beetles.

I watched many different Skippers

and Pipevine Swallowtails.

Eastern Tailed-Blues were in abundance.

The butterflies and the grasses

are in relationship.

I was delighted to see a Black Swallowtail.

I have seen very few this summer.

On the way home we saw a river of wildflowers.

They glowed pink in the late afternoon light.

This is sacred land.

May we all be land stewards.

The butterflies are depending on us.

ABC Wednesday

F is for

a friendly fellow in the Fennel

and a Female feasting!



F is for Feathers.

I find them in the fields and forests.
I find them when I am far from home.
I find them in my own backyard.

F is for Fuchsia.

I picked one blossom for its fragrance.


F is for Fig.

Four Figs, my favorite food, festive and fantastic.

I feel full.

I take flights of fancy.

This is the fruit of Folklore.

F is for Fig Beetle.



F is for Fly

and Flycatchers.
F is for Florets,


Fritillaries

and Finches.

There are many varieties of them.



F is for Flora.


I knit her yarn.
Happy ABC Wednesday!
Have fun!

Sunday Safari

We walked the Konza Prairie.

This is an 8600 acre tract of native tallgrass prairie

in Kansas.

We walked while the cicadas sang

and the Bluets flew.

New to us Dragonflies and butterflies flew about.

I believe this is a Sleepy Orange.

The Variegated Fritillaries were out.

There is time for one more brood before frost.

There were caterpillars.

I have identifying work to do.

The Viceroy Butterfly is a mimic of the Monarch.

Both were flying today.

There are lizards on the prairie

and Painted Ladies.

Eastern Kingbirds hunted bugs.

We walked for 5 and half hours.

I am so pleased to have walked on this beautiful Prairie.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

E is for Egret

Elegant birds even when they give the warning cry.

E is for the Eastern Tailed-blue butterfly.

Although they are very tiny
they are equal in beauty to the large swallowtails.

We plant clover to ensure they have plenty of food.
Seeing them nectar in the yard is exciting.






E is for Echinacea, the purple coneflower.
The roots make a healing tea.

E is for ear.



When the bees whisper we listen.
I am an Entomologist at heart.
I study insects.

E is for the Ebony Jewel Wing.



These are the most exquisite of all the Damselflies.

Perhaps the most exquisite of all the insects.


For me the Ebony Jewel Wings are the essence of all that is beautiful.
I am enthusiastic about protecting the Ebony Jewel Wing's environment.
I would like to entice everyone to join in my efforts.

I love the Earth and all of her creatures.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Thank you mrsnesbitt and team.

To enjoy lots of exciting world wide exotic posts click here!

Hello

A Yellow Warbler
came into the garden.

Monarchs and

Tiger Swallowtails



nectar in the butterfly bushes
between rain showers.

The Cloudless Sulphurs
sip from the Hibiscus.

More rain is on the way.

Sunday Safari

It rained two inches this morning.
I was not sure we would be able to go bug hunting.
Around noon the rain stopped and we took off.

Last week the local chapter of the Sierra Club newsletter arrived.
An article about a prairie very near to our house caught our attention.
We had planned on exploring this native Prairie when we needed a close to home spot.

Today was the day!
I was so excited to see Hummingbirds on the Prairie.
No nectar feeders here!

Common Wood Nymphs flew in the undergrowth.

The Thistles are just beginning to bloom.
They are one of my favorite wild flowers.

Another set of bugs for Bug Guide to help out with.
I just call them Thistle bugs!

These are Milkweed nymphs.

The Indigo Buntings were about.
This male appears to be molting.

They will begin their Autumn Migration soon.

The Silverspots were out

as were the Goatweed Leafwings.

This is a beautiful Native Prairie.

We had so much fun hunting bugs today.

Hummingbird Clearwing

When I went to the deck to refill
the Hummingbird feeders
I saw the Hummingbird Clearwing.

With wings constantly moving this diurnal, day flying,
moth appears to be a tiny Hummingbird.

Seeing these darlings was just the
inspiration I needed
to brave the heat, humidity and the mosquitoes!

There are three Butterfly bushes in the back yard,
all needed dead heading.

I do want food for the
Hummingbird Clearwings come September!