Today's Butterflies and Blooms

Butterflies and Blooms:  What a good combination for a summer Sunday!

I took my morning walk at BHCL and enjoyed some beautiful butterflies there.  When I left, I noticed some moths were still hanging around the garage doors from the outside lights being left on overnight, so I took a few minutes to check them out.

Yellow Fringed Dolchomia Moth

That one was so tiny, I nearly missed it.  It was perched right in the inner corner of the doorway.  Really, when I stopped and paid attention to it, I found it quite beautiful.

 And look at the fringed antenna on this one.  Pretty neat -- looks like a curvy comb.  This was the side view and below is the top view of the same one.  Quite pretty, again!

OK, now on to Breakneck Hill Conservation Land...

 Red Milkweed Beetle love fest

Some of the milkweed is already starting to build its seed pods.   This makes me kind of sad.  I hate to see signs of summer's end.

Blue Vervain

Gray Hairstreak

That one piece of grass was in the most imperfect spot!

Song Sparrow

Pearl Crescent

Great Spangled Fritillary

Eastern Tailed Blue

showing off its beautiful blue wings

 again

 Gorgeous!

 Common Wood Nymph

Pearl Crescent

In the afternoon, I walked at Garden in the Woods.   There were a couple of frogs in the fountain at the entrance.  They had very cool expressions, and they weren't afraid of me, which was nice.

Green Frog (female)

I just learned this week that when the tympanum (ear area to left of eye) is about the same size as the eye, it is a female.  It would be about twice the size of the eye if it was a male.

I was happy to have a chance to photograph one of my favorite native plants, the Canada Lily.  It is one gorgeous flower!  [I had a nagging voice in my head that said this was not a Canada Lily.  It didn't match what I remembered photographing last year.  And, guess what?  It's a Turk's Cap Lily!]

 Northern Cardinal (juvenile)

 Northern Cardinal (the proud father)

 Ruby Meadowhawk

Prairie Dropwort

Ebony Jewelwing

Virginia meadow-beauty

Eastern Prickly-Pear Cactus

Summer Azure

Ebony Jewelwing (female)

The female has the white spots at the end of her wings.

White-top Pitcher Plant

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Butterfly Weed

Flowering Raspberry

Banded Hairstreak

looking down at me from a tree leaf

And on the way home, I happened to be witness to a major Wild Turkey crossing that stopped traffic.  There were over a dozen.  They just kept popping out of the grass on the left side of the road, so thank goodness the cars kept waiting to make sure there weren't more....

Why did the wild turkeys cross the road?