Sunday Safari

A Red Spotted Purple
dried her wings in the Twisting Willow.

Many butterflies are emerging.

The lavender is ready for harvest.
It is early this year.
I am pleased to have lavender drying for winter use.

A Spring Azure laid her egg
on top of one of the blooms.

I did not know the Spring Azure
laid her eggs in lavender.

I have been watching for her caterpillar to emerge.

Today I saw this very small caterpillar
on the lavender stem.
It looks different than the photographs in my field guide.

I spend lots of time studying the wildlife
in my backyard.
I am interested in the relationship
 of  flora and fauna
and people.

I want to know the names of the butterflies
and which plants they need as hosts for their eggs.

The Monarchs are in need.

Their host plant, milkweed, is being eradicated.

The Monarchs need home gardeners to plant for them.

There are many different types of milkweed.

I think all of them are beautiful.

Marigolds are easy flowers to grow.

I  direct sow my saved seeds every spring.

Wonderful annuals for the butterflies.

We have two old garden ponds, both need re-working.

We will wait again this year until the Dragonflies are finished using them.

Perhaps the Autumn would be a good time.

Is there ever a good time to leave the garden?

All of my May decorations are packed up.

June's darlings are set out.

This is the unofficial opening weekend of Summer.

 

Tadpoles are swimming in vernal pools,

large ruts made by a careless driver.

We saw the ruts while on a morning hike.

Vernal pools are necessary however they are made.

Perhaps I need to make vernal pools in my gardens.

I struggle to provide habitat.

Learning each bug and bird and what their needs are

 has taken me a very long time.

Planting native and providing water

 is the best I can do.

In the long twilight we have been taking our walk

and watching the Fire Flies.

We have been planning our hikes

our walks

and our drives.

We are going west June first.

                                                           There will be birds to identify

and many bugs.

In Yellowstone and the Salt Flats of Utah

 I want to see the field markings

for different bacteria.

Microbes are my new love.

I am packing the picnic basket.

I will keep a travel journal.

I am bringing my knitting

and my smile.

Enjoy this amazing artist.

Have a happy June.

See you in July.

Sunday Safari

We watched the bumble bees

spread open the blooms of the
Blue False Indigo.

A very beautiful tall wild flower that is native to my area.

We watched the tiny Gray Hairstreak
nectar in the white clover.

Plains Coreopsis provides food for many of the pollinators.

 

Acres of these beauties once covered the plains.

We took a short hike in the nearby

Upland Oak-Hickory Forest.

An ancient inland sea once covered this area.

Now we have the lovely Bethany Falls Limestone

rock formations.

These rocks saved this land from the plow.

I have found many fossils in these rocks.

Many small animals have homes in these rocks.

This area is my

Mythic Woods.

Each area in our world has

a sacred landscape.

It is our responsibility to care for these

habitats.

We sat by the pond and watched as

Dragonflies emerged.

Crane flies call the grasses home.

I share this land with so many creatures.

I too need food and water.

The potatoes are in bloom.

The roses are opening.

The painted daisies are in full bloom.

The sedium in the south garden is just

beginning to bloom.

The chamomile is ready for harvest.

When we live in cooperation there is room for every one.

Happy Sunday Safari.

Orchard Oriole

I am smitten.

The Orchard Oriole has won my heart.

The juvenile looks so different from the adult male.

The female also looks different.

I am very fond of these charming birds.

We are on the cusp of Gemini.

I am reading about the birds of California

and planning day hikes.

I am reading about surfers

and hot surf spots.

I am learning.

I am planning.

I will write a ballad of my travels.