Friday Bugs

I keep seeing different kinds of Ladybugs. This one is on Swamp Milkweed.



This beetle, unknown species, is on Poison Hemlock.

At the Milkweed

As I was walking past some milkweeds this morning, a bit of bright orange caught my eye. This Ladybug had two joined spots and two single spots on each side.



The Eastern Tailed-blue Butterflies were pearched on both leaves and flowers of the milkweeds.



While I was attempting to take photos of the ladybugs and butterflies, this Deer Fly thought I would not notice her. I did notice, as I have fed these beasts before and don't like them eating on me!

Sunrise Caterpillar

A wonderful sunrise this morning needed to be photographed several times. Here are two of the results.





I also put up a long, skinny photo made up of several photos stitched together on my Flickr site. I didn't think the blog would handle it very well. Have a look if you wish.

The caterpillar was not photographed at sunrise but closer to sunset yesterday. I have gone through two caterpillar books and not found a name for it yet. It was found next to Rue (Ruta graveolens) plants and near a Shadbush (Amelanchier) shrub. If any one knows, please let me know. Thanks.

Art Walk 2006

For several years now, on the long July weekend, I have been setting up an art walk. Églantine has been out every year while others have come and gone. This year there were three of us that hiked back to a small waterfall near Tews Falls.



Below is a photo of the other artist, Sean, at work looking downstream.



Next are four small individual photos of parts of a large balance sculpture that I used to bridge the stream.



And finally, here are two artistic photos that Églantine took in the stream.

Canada Day Surprise - Polyphemus

Way back in February, February 15th to be exact, I found a cocoon. I had no idea what kind of cocoon it was and posted it as a Mystery Object. Several bloggers suggested that it was a Cecropia moth cocoon, and when I looked at my field guides, I agreed. I put it into a box with a screen front in the unheated barn and have been watching it almost every day since then. When the weather warmed up this spring, I put it outside the barn most days to warm up with the weather. I was thinking, just this week, that maybe it was time to throw it out and put in some new caterpillars and food plants to try to raise some other butterfly or moth as there had been no change since February.

Surprise! When I got home from my long run this morning, Églantine told me to grab my camera and follow her. She led me to the box with the newly emerged Polyphemus moth. I managed a few photos but Églantine took many, many more and it is from her collection that I chose these three photos to share. This first one I have changed a bit by blurring and greying the background to make the moth stand out a bit more.




This second photo shows the underwings.



This last photo is a close up to show some of the many beautiful colours on the moth and its hairy body.