AstroGypsies

Finally! The butterflies have decided to slow down and are stopping to smell the flowers and eat the nectar! This Great Spangled Fritillary (who names these guys?) stopped to try the swamp milkweed down by, well, the swamp! Along the road, several Midsummer Tiger Swallowtails were resting as well.

The first one looks like it needs a trip to the body shop! Something took a bite out of that wing! So delightful they have shown up. I was getting worried!

..and the Monarchs! Yeah! Couldn’t get a wing open shot but I’ll keep trying! These two look quite similar, but the first one is a Northern Pearly-Eye and the 2nd a Common Wood-Nymph.

Then there are the Crescents! One day I will be able to tell them apart!

..while trapesing along the road, you know it’s not all pretty bugs I’m looking for! Ha!

I had no idea the smoke-filled sky would change the tone of the photos so dramatically! It was an eerie light under the trees as I walked.

With the rains, it has been a banner year for fungi! Last year was so dry not much came up. What a delightful treat this year is!

Who knew the wonders of the road…I documented the progression of this beautiful shelf fungi over a ten-day period! Some of the mushrooms appear in the morning and by late day are already fading away, not these guys! He had a friend in the last shot;)

So you might have guessed I’m not a speed walker;) The road is my slow treadmill, I don’t need a TV screen or moniter in front of me to take in Mother Nature:) How about some moths? 🙂

Life around the Milkweed bush back at the house has produced some more interesting soap opera characters for their drama 😉

Never a dull moment! Ok, I’ve bugged you enough! I’ll save all the dragonflies for another day!

I was glad to see the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird this morning. I have a feeling that her nest/nestlings were destroyed by the torrential rains. The male had gone back into mating behaviour flight patterns and she had disappeared for the last two weeks. Fingers crossed we’ll see juveniles soon!

It’s been quiet eagle and osprey-wise. Maybe later, as everything this year seems late. The beaver has been busy out in front noshing on greens! I heard Loons carrying on earlier, so I might have to go explore, if and when the wind calms down!

I see him/her several times a day, sometimes several beavers swimming around together!

Today was the first morning I couldn’t smell smoke! yeah! Hoping it doesn’t blow back our way, it did yesterday. It’s nice to see a blue sky! Hard on the breathing as well! I’ll leave you with an eerie sky from last Wednesday. I’m hoping the rains up North have helped the fires and air quality for everyone up there…fingers crossed…I’m grateful for that rain, no matter how hard it falls, when others are in such a drought…Saludos amigos!