Orange Sulfur Mated Pair

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I chased some sulfur butterflies around a field yesterday:-)  They were everywhere, but they are so small and there are so many fire ant mounds to try to avoid...sigh.  I sure was pleased when I caught this mated pair and got a picture.  This is a first for me!

This guy was in the field too.  He flew several times and then landed so I could get a shot.  How nice of him to pose for me!

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Here are 10 cool facts about grasshoppers.  I definitely learned something new.

We're having another yard sale tomorrow at my old house.  This is the last of the last.  Just a few more items in the shed to move out.  We'll be ready to paint the garage this coming week.  We've contacted a roofer and someone to paint the outside.  Lots of little tasks left to do, and we're working on it daily, but we're getting there.

Swallowtail and Lantana

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At the risk of wearing out my welcome posting butterfly shots, I have another one to share with you today.  It's so addictive!  This one was taken at my neighbor's house (Jean).  I sure do appreciate her letting me stop by anytime to shoot pics:-)  Seriously, she has at least 4 huge Lantana bushes in her yard, and they were just filled with butterflies today.

I really like this shot too, but the details just aren't quite as sharp.

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Sunny and Bright

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Monarch Laying Eggs

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I was back in the vicinity of the sunflower shots that I took last week when I discovered some milkweed and a monarch butterfly.  I only had a few minutes but snapped off as many pics as I could. In all of them, the monarch is laying eggs and not eating.  Pretty cool.  If you look closely in this shot, you can see the abdomen bending and touching the plant so that egg(s) can be deposited.

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Faded Thistle

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It rained ALL day today, and I never had a chance to take any pics.  This is from a roadside stop the day before.  I liked the rounded form and bokeh.  Several varieties of sulfur butterfly were on nearby flowers too.

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Fluttering with Friends

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Another one of the butterfly shots I took yesterday.  The butterfly bushes at Donnie's house, guess it's time to just say my house, are huge and finishing up for the year, but there are at least 5 butterflies out there at all times.  Today I noted 3-4 black and 3-4 yellow swallowtails all fluttering about at the same time.  Add in the silver spotted skippers, the butterfly type moths, and the bees and the bushes are incredibly busy with life.  On one side of the bushes they are ground level, and on the other side I am 5' below them.  This shot was on the low side looking up at the sky for the  nice blue sky background. They kept landing on this one flower out in the open.  I may have to try to get up under this flower on ground level if I can. Always striving for that one better butterfly shot.

F is for Flutter and Fly

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I don't mean to be posting so late today.  I originally wanted to post a shot of the kids with F for friends and family, but it didn't work out.

Normally I shy away from any movement on the wings in my butterfly shots thinking that the sharper the better, but today I thought I'd embrace some movement in the shot.  What luck here to catch a black swallowtail butterfly  in motion while the yellow one stayed reasonably still.