Pumpkin

Pumpkin often sleeps like this across the arm of an armchair. This was taken with a 35 year old Hasselblad 500C/M camera which I've been using recently.

Deep Joy

Yay!  I've found my missing slides that I've been searching for for the last 12 years or so. Thats funny, two for's next next to one another. Who cares about grammar, today is a good day.

Heres one from May 1981.

Taj Mahal from Kodachrome 

Got to improve my scanning abilities somewhat but I just wanted to see how it comes out.

Memorial Lake

Between showers this afternoon I popped up to Memorial Lake just after a thunderstorm had blown through. Talk about humid. Phew, it was like trying to breathe underwater.

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

Not a Butterfly

Groundhogs are one of my favorite yard critters except when they eat my flowers and herbs that I grow for the butterflies. There's a little known fact about Groundhogs that I'll share with you. They just adore Fig Newtons, yep Fig Newtons, Fig Rolls what ever you want to call them. Groundhogs love them. I came across this picture from way back in 2007 and decided I'll provide the evidence.

Joe Pye Weed

Certainly not a weed and not a particularly spectacular plant but damn the butterflies really like it. I came up the driveway this afternoon and there were several Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on it. Note to self, need more Joe Pye Weed.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Joe Pye Weed

Humidity

It's 93f outside and about 99% humidity. Inside we keep it at 75f during the day and down to 72f in the evening. This means of course that my camera is also around 75f. If I decide to go out and take a few pictures of the butterflies I grab a camera and try and focus and nothing,  instant condensation on the lens and eye piece. Forget it. I have to leave my camera in the sun to warm up a bit by which time XYZ Swallowtail has moved on. The Monarch picture below is on a flower called Meadow Mist or Mist Meadow or Mistflower or something along those lines. The butterflies and bees love it.

Butterfly Garden Activity III

Nice and Sunny today and not too hot or too humid. Lots of activity from the Butterflies. Theres the Cabbage Whites, the Silver Spotted Skippers, hordes of Monarchs, a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and a nice Spicebush Swallowtail. I wish I could find a Spicebush Caterpillar as they are gorgeous.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Orange Milkweed

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Orange Milkweed

Spicebush Swallowtail on Orange Milkweed

Butterfly Garden Activity II

It's been raining pretty much every day this week, my iPhone is full of Flash Flood Emergency Alerts for this area. When the sun comes out between deluges it's HUMID, as in nasty humid.

The Butterflies and Bee's don't seem to mind though. I've got caterpillars and loads and loads of eggs. I'm going out in a few to put some stakes in the ground to prop up some of the leggy milkweeds to stop them falling over.

Heres a few from yesterday.

Bee Sp. on Swamp Milkweed

Black Swallowtail

Groundhogs ate all my Parsley so no Caterpillars

Monarch on Swamp Milkweed