Creatures Big and Small

8/1/13

side yard garden

    
     The side yard garden is starting to fill in finally with lots of blooms.  I've noticed lots of butterflies, dragonflies and bees visiting lately.
They flit from flower to flower so quickly, it was difficult to get photos of them.

     I did manage to take photos of a few of them and some other animals around the yard.

calico pennant dragonfly

      I don't know a lot about dragonflies, butterflies and moths.  Until I went on the internet and found similar photos, I didn't know the name of this dragonfly.  I don't know the names of the lepidoptera in the two following photos.  Do you?

moth?

 

butterfly

milkweed tussock caterpillar

      I was hoping I would see monarch caterpillars on the milkweed plants, since I've read they feed exclusively on milkweed.  But no.  An internet search identifies these as the milkweed tussock caterpillars.

deer running across the backyard

brave squirrel

     I took this photo through the sliding glass door that goes out to the back patio and back yard.  This squirrel  regularly visits the pots I have on the deck here.  I am guessing he is lured by the smell of the fish emulsion fertilizer I use on the plants occasionally.

zinnia seedlings

     I started this blog post about a week and a half ago, but life gets in the way sometimes.  So these zinnia seedlings are actually bigger than this photo shows.  Although I planted these only five weeks ago, they are almost ready to bloom.  I am so excited that I will have lots of beautiful zinnias (one of my favorite flowers) that I wanted to share their progress.