So I'm musing over assorted work related topics and trying to decide whether to vacuum the house or work on assignments when Long Suffering Spouse starts hollering outside. I knew he was out back with one of the neighbours, so I went out...and met this new arrival, wings still wet.
Well, naturally I ran for my camera, and returned to sit in wet grass watching her as she rested, opened her wings a few times, and unfurled her proboscis a bit for my observing pleasure.
I left her be, hanging there on her rudbeckia, and went around to look at the others. Some others have also hatched, though I haven't seen them yet--it's cool here and they need to get their wings warmed up before they can fly--but I hope to catch this one in the process of coming out, as it's obviously getting ready to emerge soon:
Meanwhile, there are several cats munching through the swamp milkweed again. I told them they'd better hurry up, as Kylee at Our Little Acre reports that the migration has begun down her way.
As if to compensate for my moody posting on Muse Day, the garden is bustling with life--much of it of the insect kind, especially pollinators, with big fat bumbles and other bees, bee-mimicking flies, and other friends. Plus we've seen several garden toads, a few frogs up from the pond, and my favourite, the tiny tree-frogs known as spring peepers. They're silent now, of course, but they're here. The skunks have been digging up grubs from the grass, and they're welcome too, because they have a laissez-faire attitude towards the cats.
And there are still plenty of flowers, even if some of them are of the kind that annoy one Ranter ; echinaceas and rudbeckia. As I posted in comments, though, each to their own. At least we're all gardening--and not cutting off other people's gardens like the nice municipal plant-nazis in Toronto, right?
Okay, back to thinking about butterflies and other life-affirming creatures. What's blooming in your garden--flora or fauna--that makes YOUR heart sing?
jodi - i say screw the chores! beautiful butterfly pictures! it's about a thousand degrees in chicago today so I'm just trying to stay cool and enjoy my last day off before returing to work tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteJodi: I haven't even found a chrysalis yet!!! You have them emerging from same! Good for you! I have the frogs and this morning the goldfinch was resting on the immense sunflowers growing in front of the office windows where I am supposed to be working but instead, enjoying your posts as usual!
ReplyDeleteThey are so fun to watch!! I would have sat and watch for a long time and never got anything done :) Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteI am always undone by a monarch - I could watch them for hours - hell, I could watch the pictures you took for hours! The hummingbirds get me laughing this time of year and I'm soaking up the sound of the crickets so they'll keep ringing in my head for awhile after they're gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting so much pleasure from your monarch photos, Jodi. That shot of the monarch on the rudbeckia -- the contrasting shades of orange are so lovely that just looking at the photo makes my heart ache. Thanks so much for having the patience and skill to take these photos and the garden that attracts them and gives them shelter.
ReplyDeleteJodi,
ReplyDeleteCongrats you're so lucky to have them developing in your garden.
Hi all and welcome!
ReplyDeleteGina: hope cooling weather is coming your way--though it's decidedly chilly here today and if it weren't windy, I'd suspect frost tonight.
Nancy, Of course your planter is a garden! If it's green and/or blooming, it's a garden in my books!
Layanee, hope you find a chrysalis; they tend to be surprisingly hard to find til you find one--then you see them in all kinds of intriguing spots.
Laurie and Chris, I'm resisting going outside too much today, because I have lots of writing to finish...but I'll just step outside for five minutes...
Kris; I hear you on the hummers and crickets. It's the peepers for me; I love their singing in the spring and early summer, then suddenly they're gone til next year, though I see them in the garden. And the hummers seem to have left this weekend, though we keep feeders up for an errant traveller.
Wild Flora and Mr Brownthumb; here's to more monarchs in more gardens in more of Canada and the US! Others are reporting that they're seeing plenty, but we'll keep on making habitats and encouraging others to do the same. :-)
Love the pictures! How exciting to see that in action.
ReplyDelete