Good Bugs!

The Common Buckeye
is my husband's favorite butterfly.



The Great Spangled Fritillary
is in the Bushfoot family.



I was so pleased when the Giants
found the Mexican Sunflowers.
I had planted them just for the Giants!



The Praying Mantis has grown.
She has turned brown.

She is one of my favorite bugs.

Hunting

After lunch we stopped at the park
to hunt for bugs.



A Red Tailed Hawk was perched
on one of the arbors in the rose garden.

He was an attraction.
A spokesman for the raptors.

We found lots of Skippers and bees.
Seeing the American Snout was a special treat.

Safri Sunday

The mornings are cooler now,
transistion has begun.
The Halloween Pennants are mating.

The colors are changing as
early Autumn comes to my area.

A Viceroy Butterfly and a Cicada Killer Wasp fed
on the sap of the Willow tree.



The Monarchs are mating and feeding.
There is time for one more brood before migration.

The Giants remind me Summer is still here.

Full Sturgeon Moon

Happy Full Sturgeon Moon also known
as the Full Green Corn Moon.

Sacred World Chants

Fresh Seed

The Cone Flower seed is ripe.

I never get any for my seed box.

I don't really mind.

I would rather the Gold Finches have fresh seed.

Hummingbirds

I enjoy seeing the Hummingbirds
feeding at the flowers.

Books

Most often I have three or four books I am reading at the same time.

I have them open by my reading chairs and one or two on my nightstand.

One is usually open on my desk another on the counter by the telephone.

I take a book with me when I run errands just in case I have to wait in line.

These are the four I just started.

Sue Hubbell has inspired me to join the Xerces Society.
I would love to talk with other bug people.

Bugs and birds are my favorite to read about.

Dragonflies will be my main bug to study in 2009.

This book tells how to set up Dragonfly habitat.

I just might learn something new!

Some birds I will dream about.

Xerces Society

While walking this morning I saw a
Little Wood Satyr.
A lifer for me.

The leaves on the Dogwood are starting to turn.
It seems very early.
Perhaps it is global dimming in my backyard.

Walking in my backyard is walking with Butterflies.

I enjoy them very much.
I decided to start a life butterfly list.
It will be like my bird list.

I also decided to join the Xerces Society.

Watch out!

I was visiting with the Hummingbirds
when I heard the call of the Cicada.

One sting from the Wasp and the Cicada was paralyzed.

She flew straight towards me with her Cicada tucked under her body.
Amazing!

We both went back to our work.

One amazing Wasp.

The world of insects is awesome.

Tigers and a Giant

Butterflies fill me with awe
every time I see them.

A male Tiger Swallowtail

and a female Tiger Swallowtail.

The Giant Swallowtail shared in the blooms.

There is room for everyone.

I never weary of the Tigers or the Giant.

Tiger Bee Fly

While on Sunday Safari, hunting for bugs,
my husband saw the Tiger Bee Fly.

The Tiger Bee is a parasite of the large Carpenter Bee.

They are harmless and are nectar sippers.

Sunday Safari

These are grasshopper days.

Robber Fly

and Sweat Bee days.

Garden spiders are spinning their webs.

We hiked for 3 1/2 hours, hunting for bugs.
The breeze was from the east.

Our summer days are slowly slipping away.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Shopping

The Giant Swallowtail has been shopping
my backyard for a week.
I think she is looking for a Prickly Ash tree,
a place to lay her eggs.

She stopped to nectar this morning.

I will plant Prickly Ash trees this Autumn.

Where I do not know.
I will find a spot.
Her caterpillars need a Prickly Ash tree.

The Giant Swallowtail is a tropical butterfly measuring 6 inches across.
I have the heat and the humidity for her to feel right at home, now I need a Prickly Ash Tree.

Sunday Safari

It is very hot, 96 degrees at noon.
The humidity is 44%.
My camera lens fogs up when I go outside.

This caterpillar was on the Fennel.
I have never seen this one before.

The Fig Beetle found a shady spot in the Mimosa tree.

A tiny wasp was in the Queen Ann's Lace.

The Red-spotted Purple found shade in the Ash tree.
I am inside reading, waiting for the heat wave to subside.
100 degrees for tomorrow with high humidity.

New Sunflower Moon