Month: July 2018

What could be prettier than a yellow Swallowtail on a sunflower?

 

I waited and waited for a cloudy day to visit the lavender farm.  It was a long wait as most every weekend (until the torrential rains began last Saturday) was bright and sunny.  Finally I found a very brief window of opportunity and spent about an hour in the garden enjoying the luscious fragrance of lavender!  This is a favorite place to relax and refresh.  One sniff of my essential oil, lotion, soaps, etc. from the farm take me right back to this wonderful spot and the delight of being among the flowers!

I’ve never really spent time at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area other than during the winter snow goose migration, but I have ventured out a few times this summer and have not been disappointed.  Each time I’ve come home with photos that make me fall in love with nature photography all over again!  Here’s a Great Blue Heron in the lake near the Visitor Center.  Can you see the droplets of water coming off of it’s beak and into the water?

Trying to photograph hummingbirds is really really challenging!  By the time you see one and try to focus, the bird is long gone!  I definitely need more practice, but love the adventure of trying to capture these tiny birds in flight!  Here’s a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird stopping by the Bee Balm for a snack.

It’s always a treat to see a Monarch butterfly!  Climate change, pesticides and habitat loss have impacted this beautiful creature and their numbers have decreased significantly over the last 20 years.  We can help by planting milkweed and other nectar producing plants and avoiding pesticides!  I hope to visit the native plant nursery and add more flowers for the butterflies to our garden!