Wildlife Wednesday :: God's Creation

In August, when I could manage it, I retreated to the garden with my camera. Spending time outdoors, observing God's amazing creation, always lifts my spirit and reminds me that I do not have to worry about tomorrow...not ever. *

Here are the photos I took of the wildlife that visited my garden last month:

BIRDS

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the evening light.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird showing off her elegant neck.

A Blue Jay selects a peanut from the feeder.

SQUIRREL

Zipping along the fence after raiding the bird feeder.

BEES

Bumblebee working the salvia.

Leafcutter Bee, another fan of salvia. 

DRAGONFLIES

Posing nicely in the garden.

Making a meal out of a Green Lacewing.

BUTTERFLY 

Tiny Skipper Butterfly, wings spread, basking in the sun.

MOTH

Huge Polyphemus Moth, freshly emerged.

CATERPILLAR

Sphinx Moth Caterpillar on the spent tomato plants.

*Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ~ Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

I hope you enjoyed my contribution to Wildlife Wednesday—a meme, hosted by Tina at My Gardener Says..., that celebrates wildlife in the garden on the first Wednesday of every month.

The August Garden

I'm still here, in case you've been wondering. Life's responsibilities and unexpected events (which always take priority over blogging) have left me with very little time or energy to compose a real post of any kind.

But, right now I find I have a minute or two to spare and a desire to share some photos of the beautiful flowers in our garden...because flowers have a way of making me smile, and I hope they'll do the same for you.

Esperanza 'Bells of Fire'

Giant Milkweed, also known as Crown Flower

Brazilian Buttonbush

Fennel

Salvia 'Indigo Spires'

Are you smiling yet?

Egg Tally for July

Queen of Eggland

Thank you, Queenie, for giving us 20 eggs last month. You will never win an egg laying contest in this flock, but you're the clear winner when it comes to beauty. That's why you're number one in my book and the queen of Poultry Palace.

Princess Lay-a

Well done, Princess. You laid 27 eggs in July. Even though the heat set you back a bit, you didn't let it it knock you off your game completely. I'm very happy with your results. And, I'd be even happier if you would learn to stay off the back porch and out of my geraniums.

Duchess of Yolk

Settle down, Duchess. There's no need to ruffle your feathers. You are Hen of the Month once again with a total of 28 eggs. You also laid the largest egg. It's not the biggest you've ever laid, but it's a respectable 1.87 ounces. When the weather cools off, I'll be expecting you to reach the 2 ounce mark...no pressure, though.

That makes a grand total of 71 eggs for July—just one egg shy of six dozen. Not too shabby, girls, not too shabby.

Wildlife Wednesday :: Happy Camper Butterfly Garden

Last Saturday I spent the morning sitting out by our little butterfly garden at the travel trailer on the banks of the Colorado River in Matagorda, Texas, snapping photos of the garden wildlife that came my way.

A Sickle-winged Skipper was the first to arrive.

Soon there were two flitting from flower to flower.

Every garden needs a spider...or two. 

The milkweed is full of aphids and a bit ragged looking, but that didn't stop this Queen from laying her eggs. Hopefully the new leaves at the base of the plants will grow quickly and be enough to feed the hungry caterpillars that will be hatching soon.

Deep within the milkweed jungle, I came across a grasshopper. He was just hanging out, but I imagine he'll probably snack on some of our plants. I don't expect he'll do too much damage all by himself.

A cute little Dun Skipper stopped by for a sip of Gomphrena nectar. It must be quite tasty considering how popular it is in the garden right now.

Our RV park management has neglected to mow the grass for a few weeks. And though I'm not thrilled about that, it's probably a lucky thing for this newly emerged Queen butterfly. 

I didn't find her empty chrysalis, but I suspect it's attached to a blade of grass nearby, since this is where she stayed for most of the morning before flying away.

And just when I had decided it was too hot to stay out any longer, a Checkered White showed up. It made the rounds from lantana...

to zinnia and other flowers in between. 

On the zinnia are ants and some unidentified bugs under the petals (mites? yikes!)—just another bit of wildlife in our pesticide-free butterfly garden.

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Today's post is my contribution to Wildlife Wednesday—a meme, hosted by Tina at My Gardener Says..., that celebrates wildlife in the garden on the first Wednesday of every month.

Look at It This Way

Two photos of the same flowers taken from different perspectives.

One facing the setting sun. This is probably my favorite.

The other facing the rising moon. Also lovely, but different.

It all depends on how you look at it.

Have a great weekend!

Photographed at Seabourne Creek Nature Park, Rosenberg, Texas.

How Many Eggs in June?

The grand total of eggs collected from the Royal Hens of Poultry Palace in June was 78.

Egg collecting is a favorite pastime of the toddler set. Just ask Myles.

That's six less than in May and is to be expected during the hot summer months.

I'm not sure how, but not a single egg was broken in the process. 

Queenie gave us 24 eggs. Princess and Duchess are tied at 27 each.

The quicker we get there the more fun it will be. Rose was a joyful helper.

It all comes down to the largest egg laid to break the tie.

Queenie is out of the running, but for the record her largest egg in June weighed 1.73 ounces.
Princess Lay-a's largest egg was 1.80 ounces. And, Duchess beat them both with an egg weighing 1.94 ounces.

Congratulations, Duchess of Yolk, you win the Hen of the Month award for June! Extra mealworms coming your way.

Rose and the Chickens

Rose wakes up first thing each morning ready to check on the chickens.

 If there are eggs she collects them, but usually it's too early for eggs.

She's big into offering them treats. It doesn't matter what kind, even a flower will do.

She would be happy to pet them all day long...if only she could catch them!

Mornings are so much more fun when Rose is here to check on the chickens.

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I'll be absent from the blog for the rest of the week while our granddaughter and daughter are visiting. Have a great week!

Monarch Memory

Earlier this year John made an insect hotel and hung it on the garden fence.

We've been waiting for our bee guests to arrive, but not a single room has been rented out yet.

However, a Monarch caterpillar thought the underside looked like the perfect place to form a chrysalis. 

One morning last week John noticed the butterfly was close to emerging, so he moved the hotel to the back porch and took this photo while I was waiting for my camera lens to defog.

Even with the chrysalis right where we could check it frequently, we still missed its emergence. This photo was taken very soon after. 

The butterfly's wings are still in the process of unfolding.

It took about an hour for it to reach the point where it was ready to fly.

During that time I was able to snap a shot

from every angle

imaginable.

When the time was right we brought Myles out to hold his very first Monarch butterfly.

He probably won't remember this.

But, we'll never forget it.