Explored !

Mama Eastern Phoebe has hatch a second clutch of four babes ! Got a fuzzy pic of 4 fuzzy babies this morn.. the 4th is at the far side.. its how they laid out before. Even on the ladder the camera is above me..not easy to get a decent pic ! The white strands are horse hair from "Misty" ... the neighbours horse in the field next to us !! EXPLORED !

I filled the watering can to do the birdbaths.. at the second bath.. out poured Moonflower frog !!! So .... he got his pic taken... got a swim in the bird bath and a sit on the side.. whilst I did the 3rd bath .. then I popped him back in the watering can and took him back to his territory. EXPLORED !

The butterflies are very slow coming.. they were last year. This year the flowers are slow coming as well... so its for the best. EXPLORED !

It was good to see this Bee... We are scarily short of seeing Bees of any kind here so far this year. Everything is late.... but not seeing Bees is a serious thing. By percentage 25% of all we need to eat is sourced from things that need pollination... there is a world wide deficit of bees and that is not good. EXPLORED !

I love these fuzzy moths ! One day I will get a decent picture.. but this is the best so far in 3 years ! EXPLORED !

I was delighted to see this fellow this afternoon ! The sheer size of them always amazes me ! EXPLORED !

There must have been a hatching of these.. there were at least 7-8 flitting around... at speed !! EXPLORED !

Well... not a great photo but a "one shot and that's all I got" photo !! As much as this is well inside their big range... this is the first I have seen here in 3 years ! EXPLORED !

"Esmeralda" or... Good Deeds Never Go Unpunished ! Got coffee ? Got a glass of wine ? .... Short story coming up... In June 2011 we moved here. That day it was 110F. I got heat exhaustion. The whole Summer went on that way. Terrible drought and heat. Up against the South side of the house a Black and Yellow Garden Spider made her web. Now... I am not a spider lover..... at all.....(and she was a big girl...a couple of inches plus across) That said ... I had overcome my fear of these particular ones a year before when observing one in the hedge by the apartment we were renting. It became a fascination.... from a distance (of COURSE !!) to see how she grew.. and grew.. and her skill as a huntress. Back to the Summer of 2011.... Relentless heat... "Morticia" (yes.. I name most things) struggled on.. next to no shade cept the little she could get from the siding. I would even carefully drop a fly into her web from time to time.. or mist it with water at night.... (dont get me wrong.. she still scared the heck out of me !). She did then... make two egg purses... her time was close... and she had to follow the urge to make the next generation. The egg purses were also in direct heat... really lost causes.... One morning Morticia was gone..... I waited several days... no spider....and the nights were begining to chill down. She was dead and gone... the likelihood of any surviving babies in the egg purses was remote..... but........ Carefully (I assure you with gloves on !!!) I gathered the 2 purses and took them to an adjacent hollow Black Jack Oak(the nature of them is to hollow out and die.. but they remain strong dense hard wood). I put them deep into the hollow and added alot of Autumn leaves. It was the right enviroment for the purses and any survivors to over-Winter. The Spring and Summer of 2012 came and went... no sign of any Black & Yellow spiders in the garden. Not really surprised. Again in 2013..... nothing................. Three days ago I was stalking butterflies... and with my bad mid-distance sight noticed a tiny "feather" caught in what I knew was a spider web in the Lantana 30 feet away from where I was watching for movement. Thought no more of it. (You still with me ?) This evening... I was in the same place and saw that the "feather' was still there and walked towards it. OH MY !!!!!!!!!! The "feather" was a ladder web inside the bigger web I knew about and THERE... in her immature glory and about 1 inch across was......ESMERALDA !!!! A Black and Yellow Garden Spider... guarding her carefully wrapped supper ! Ok.. I know she isnt one of the "babies" from 2011..... but....a little thought played itself across my mind. As the "gentlemen travelers" of old would leave a tiny mark on the gate post of a "friendly" householder (to indicate that water and food and maybe a hay bed for the night in a clean warm barn may be forthcoming) just perhaps... Morticia had left a message on the four winds that this was... if you dont get too close to the householder... a safe haven !!! Imagination is a wonderful thing. Esmeralda may stay or go... but she is a link in the chain from the past.... to the present.. and to the future...... EXPLORED !

He is a cousin of Albert's. He has been coming more often this Summer. He and Albert are the only ones who will allow be to photograph at a closer distance... but still need to zoom. This morning.. was the closest yet.. and I had had about 6 shots. This pose told me.. Enough ! So.. I took the cue.... Discretion is the better part of Valour ! There will be another day. EXPLORED !

This year the "plentiful" insect has been these Green June Beetles ! These three started a a bunch of maybe 10 surrounding the female and rolling at speed around on the ground under the Photonia (they seem to like that !) It was just a blur ! Finally these three sayed still long enough to play at Just Good Friends ! EXPLORED !

These are even more impossibly hyper than the Snowberry Clearwings !!!! EXPLORED !

Poor quality I know ! On a rare rainy night in Oklahoma... through a water streaked window.... hand held and by the light of a distant security light !! It looks alot brighter light source than it was with the editing I did ! She brings them at night ... the big feeder on the tree is one I built.. and built and hung to withstand at least 25 lbs in weight hanging off it... well being the thwarted engineer I am.. I added a little leeway.... which is fortunate ! EXPLORED !

I think he was trying to find a place to die quietly till I came along with a camera. EXPLORED !

A visitor ! One shot was all she gave me. EXPLORED !

One Swallowtail does not make a Summer ! But.... she made my Summer. This year there have been so very few butterflies. This is the State butterfly for Oklahoma too. I have seen but 3 this year.. and the other 2 were not stopping to have a photo taken. This lady was shy.. but allowed 3 photos ! EXPLORED !

So few.. so precious... EXPLORED !

Not the prettiest of backgrounds but the butterflies are so few and far between this year I will take what I can get !! EXPLORED !