Karner Blue Butterfly Easement, Concord, NH

Today I went up to Concord, New Hampshire to the Karner Blue Butterfly Easement with hopes of finding and photographing a Karner Blue.  It was sunny, breezy and in the high 70s.  It was my first time to this site, and I had good luck!  It was a wonderful place to see butterflies.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The Karner Blue!

Karner Blue

and again, the endangered Karner Blue

 Wild Blue Lupine

Wild Blue Lupine is the host plant for caterpillars of the Karner Blue

Red Admiral

Gray Hairstreak (very faded and worn)

Gray Hairstreak

Crossline Skipper (not certain)

Little Wood Satyr

Eight-spotted Forester Moth

Sachem Skipper (not certain)

Cabbage White

Sachem Skippers (not certain)

Sachem (again, unconfirmed)

Today's Butterflies

Clouded Sulphur

Peck's Skipper

There was lots of clover to choose from, but they just had to share this one!

American Lady

This American Lady was ovipositing (depositing eggs) on this short-leafed plant.  If you look closely, you will see that the butterfly's body is curved toward the plant and not in the usual straight position.

The caterpillars will hatch from the eggs and find themselves born on a suitable food source.

Foggy Morning at Wildwood Cemetery

What a morning!  I went out to try to get a picture of the river in the fog, but there wasn't enough of a contrast, so I headed over to Wildwood to see what I could see.  Well, there was a lot to see there this morning!

Red-tailed hawk

This was the 2nd red-tailed hawk, which had been sitting right beside the one in the photo above.  When it flew off, the other birds flew after it and kept bothering it.  I liked the silhouette against the foggy sky.

I saw this odd silhouette so I had to go closer to investigate.

Tom was taking his morning bath, still favoring a sore foot.  (He is standing on only one leg here.)

When I was photographing the hawks, I spotted this fox killing a squirrel.  Lucky for me, he didn't run when I moved in closer.

This is MINE!

Tastes like chicken! (see squirrel's leg in mouth)

Oh, this piece is tough!

Bye!

Osprey

I walked at Waseeka tonight to check on the Ospreys.  There was one on the nest, which started up an alarm as soon as it saw me (presumably).  It flew towards me twice, circling back to the nest each time.

Hopkinton State Park

 A storm had passed through about 20 minutes earlier.

Which of these flower photos do you like better?   Blue background or green?

 (lake in background)

(looking at it from above and cutting out the lake in the background)

catbird

Baltimore Orioles

I spotted Baltimore Oriole parents bringing food to their nest at Wildwood Cemetery.

Male

Female and Male (partially under cover of pine branches)

Female

Baltimore Orioles build a round basket-shaped nest that hangs below the tree branch.  You can see the bottom of it here.

Update on Tom Turkey

I saw Tom Turkey tonight at Wildwood Cemetery in Ashland after not having seen him in quite some time.  I was hoping that he had found a girlfriend and started a family, but it doesn't look like things have gone that well for him.

Poor Tom had a severe limp and was moving quite slowly.  Hope he will be all right!

Northern Flicker, Alabama State Bird

Northern Flicker (female)

Rainy Day in the Garden

Hover Fly on Lady's Mantle

Rosebud

Peony

 Hosta

Rose

Bumblebee on Catmint