Monarch Sightings

 

I'm so happy to report several Monarch Butterfly sightings already this August.  Late summer is generally the time they start to migrate through our area on their way to warmer climates where they'll stay for the winter.  Last year, I didn't see a single Monarch.  Due to herbicide and pesticide use as well as habitat destruction and eradication of their favorite host plant, the milkweed, their numbers have dwindled dramatically.  The Monarchs love our butterfly bushes and stay for lengthy periods, stocking up on the sweet nectar from the tiny purple flowers.

 

 

The Monarch always has the company of many other butterflies as it feeds.  In the photographs to follow, you can see a couple of the other butterfly bush feeders.

 

Tiger Swallowtail

 

Silvery Checkerspot

 

We also have a white flowered butterfly bush. It's favored by the black swallowtail butterflies which frequent it the most.  It's a real joy to watch these graceful winged beauties!

 



Little Things

Wildflowers

Baby Skink

Honey Bee

Garden Snail

Inch Worm

Up early this morning,  I decided to poke around the yard a bit and see what I might find.  It didn't take long to discover all sorts of tiny surprises, which you can see in the photographs above.