Nature Highlights | October

 I hope you have enjoyed October and been able to spend time in the outdoors this time of year.

My favorite pictures this month are the Buckeye Butterfly and the October 10th Sunrise. Let me know if you have a favorite!

Beautiful Asters are part of the fall assortment of flowers. My Asters were a whir with activity from insects seeking nectar and pollen.

I captured pictures of a little bee with his pollen sacks full and a Silver Spot Skipper sipping some nectar.

Comma and Question Mark Butterflies are attracted to carrion which is highly available in October. Here is a well camouflaged Comma Butterfly finding some nutrients in the juice of a rotting tomato. (His head is facing the ground.)

My son was sharp eyed enough to spot a Common Buckeye Caterpillar starting to make an anchor for it's chrysalis. He moved it to a container and it continued the process.

Common Buckeye Caterpillars eat Plantain and Snapdragon. We have both of those plants in our yard but I have never been able to spot a Common Buckeye Caterpillar. 

The chrysalis was pretty small and looked like it would be very difficult notice in its natural environment.

After 10 days the Buckeye Butterfly emerged. It is so amazing to witness a butterfly metamorphosis!

These butterflies are so stunning!

The Buckeye Butterfly limbered up it's wings and made it's foray into the wild.

My son found this Praying Mantis at a playground and brought it to me. It escaped and scampered down my shirt. He was so fast! It was difficult to get a picture of him.

I saw this Crab spider outside our back door by the exterior light. I suppose he lays in wait for the moths attracted to this light. His shadow made me laugh. He looks so much scarier because his larger than life shadow. It would be funny if he knew this and could use it to intimidated predators!

I didn't take very many sunrise pictures this month. Sunrise is getting later and later and the part of the morning that I see on my walk is getting darker and darker. Next month I will get a welcome reprieve due to the end of daylight savings time. Yay! I hate daylight savings time! I know hate is a strong word, but I mean it. Daylight savings time saves no daylight and it is as dumb as the emperor's invisible clothes.

October 10, 6:51a.m.

October 11, 6:54a.m.

October 17, 6:51a.m.

October 18, 6:58a.m.

October 27, 6:55a.m.

And one sunset:

Nature In September

My favorite picture in this batch is the frog. Mostly because it was a funny situation. The Comma Butterfly picture is close second favorite. Which picture do like the best from this month? What are your favorite things about this time of year?

Our last Monarch caterpillar went into it's chrysalis. It crawled onto our door jam to make it's transformation.

Metamorphosis!

We took it outside to let it's wings finish drying.
 

I saw a whole bunch of turkeys during my morning walk this month. I couldn't get very close to take a picture. That is why this picture is grainy. I was surprised to see so many birds!

I was sad to see this snake crushed one morning.

I was amazed to find dozens of these caterpillars crawling down our road one morning. I have no idea where they are going or why they are going together or where they came from, but I took a short video clip to show you.

A lot of mornings I take a picture of sunrise down at the end of our road where it joins the highway. I can tell the sun is working it's way in a southerly direction across the eastern horizon. Sunrise doesn't happen before 6:30 anymore either. 

Our resident Garden Spider is getting quite fat!

We acquired a jumping spider this month and are keeping him in a terrarium. Here he is eating a fly.

This is one of the frogs that was hanging out in our RV water tank. I got three of them to jump out when I refilled the tank last time. The stinkers! I had heard them singing down there in their echo-y chamber so I wasn't too surprised to find them blocking the water inlet pipe.

This Comma Butterfly came to sample our watermelon mess. I don't see Comma or Question Mark Butterflies too often. I was glad that I had my camera handy.

Seasons are changing! From the later sunrises to the goldenrod blooming, Autumn is here!

Nature This Month 06/28--07/27

My favorite picture is the pinecones with glistening sap drops. Which one is your favorite?

Cicada on Lilac.

Lightning Bugs mating.

Cicada Shell on Tomato plant.

Red Ear fish.

Spider on the tent floor.

Pinecone and glistening sap drops.

Spider.

Oyster Mushroom Gills.

Tree Frog.

Bald Faced Hornet nest.

Pearl Crescent butterfly.

Blue Swallowtail Butterfly.

Mullein Flower.

Zinnia and Crab Spider hiding under petal.