The Birds and the Bees

Bet you thought I'd never get around to this discussion....  

What?  You think it's going to be about sex?  

Nah...  not really

It's just about some of the things I see every day.

I'll start with the birds..

There is a family of Great Blue Herons here...  Yesterday I saw all 5 of them together.  I think they're a bit shy as I have trouble getting them to stay for a picture.

The juveniles aren't as distinctly marked as the adults.  I don't know where they nested...  only glad that they're here.

I quietly opened the door to the photo blind this morning...

This Mayfly was resting on the screen.  

The order name, "Ephermeroptera", means "living a day".  Some don't live even that long.  

They have several stages in their life and you might not recognize the naiad stage as the same species.

At this stage, it's only purpose is to breed and lay eggs.

(I said this wasn't about sex, didn't I?  sorry...)

 Possibly a "Half Banded Toper"  (dragonfly)

A Narrow-winged Damselfly

Could be a Circumpolar Bluet

As you can tell, I'm still learning about these critters...  and am always ready to be corrected about any misnaming.

A Monarch Butterfly?

Nope!  This is a Viceroy

  They so closely resemble the monarchs that birds who have previously lunched on a Monarch (which is poisonous) will avoid these guys.

Guess it pays to be a copy-cat, huh?

The goslings of early summer grew up...

If you look closely you can tell that mom and dad are in the front and rear, and the 4 kids are in the middle.  

We had a little rain last night (which we sorely needed) and I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but there were more waterfowl out in the marsh and on the lake than have been lately.  Nice to see them all again!

Great-spangled Fritillary

Another butterfly of this area....  this one on a clover head.

I didn't get any shots of bees...  so I guess I misnamed this blog.  Nor did I get any of mosquitoes, black flies, or moose flies.

Maybe I should go back outside and try again.

But before I do, I just have to show you what I saw the other day.........

One of our visitors went on a tour... I happened to look down at his vehicle.  (I've obliterated his license plate)....  And....

WOW!  What a magnificent insect collection!

One thing though...  isn't that a scorpion in the center?  

Don't think I'll be seeing one of those way up here....

That's All For Today!