Every Day is a Gift!
After I chose a few images of birds in flight for Lisa’s Bird Weekly Challenge I realized they were all flying over water. Then I remembered that Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Water in the Details. Thank you both for the inspiration for this post.
Our Lens-Artists challenge from guest host Priscilla at Scillagrace is to “present a “Getting To Know You” post showing your relationship with a subject you’ve photographed. The subject could be a Person, a Place, a Culture, an Object…anything that has captured your attention, won your affection and taught you a thing or two.”
I’ve always enjoyed watching butterflies as they fly from one flower to another so I planted a butterfly garden several years ago. The more I watched them the more I wanted to learn about them. Monarchs frequently fly through the area to feed and lay their eggs on milkweed plants.
Monarch butterflies will feed on many different nectar plants. I have found Mexican Sunflowers to be a favorite for them and many other varieties of butterflies. By summer the garden will be covered with zinnias, Mexican Sunflowers, coneflowers, and other nectar plants.
Right now my garden is in it’s early stages with very few blooms. I’m afraid the few Monarch butterflies that have come by my garden have been disappointed in the slim pickings. The only nectar plant blooming right now is a single Mexican sunflower with multiple blooms. I’ve been watching the butterflies drink their fill.
Every year I enjoy getting to know the caterpillars before they move on to become butterflies. I’ve learned their job is to eat so they have the strength to transform into a chrysalis.
The only plant that Monarch caterpillars feed on is milkweed (Asclepias). This year the female Monarchs laid their eggs on just about every available milkweed leaf they could find. The eggs hatched into tiny caterpillars and for the second year in a row they have devoured every leaf on every milkweed plant.
I observed the first group of caterpillars for several days and observed how quickly they grew before crawling off to make their chrysalis.
The caterpillars like to spin their chrysalis in a safe place and I very rarely can find them. Hopefully all the these caterpillars will emerge as beautiful Monarchs.
Many thanks to Priscilla at Scillagrace.com for this Photo Challenge. Please be sure to visit her original post at Lens-Artists Challenge #145: Getting to Know You
Lisa has challenged us to show birds we’ve seen in the past two weeks. All of the ones here are from this week.
I’ve been enjoying the variety of birds that have been coming to the feeder in my back yard this week. They are eating the seeds as fast as I can fill the feeder. Some days I just sit and enjoy seeing them without running to get my camera. In addition to the birds featured here there were also Carolina Chickadees, Cardinals, Doves, and a male Painted Bunting in my yard. One day I spotted a Great Egret pruning in the marsh.
Shared with Lisa’s Bird Weekly Challenge Birds seen in the past two weeks.
Spring is emerging with colorful flowers all around my yard in coastal Georgia.
I was late planting seeds this year so only a few flowers are blooming in the butterfly garden. I have spotted a few Monarch butterflies but have not been able to capture a photo yet. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have come back to the feeders but I haven’t been able to capture them, either.
Right now purple and orange are the only two colors in the butterfly garden. The milkweed in the garden will soon be blooming. I’m looking forward to adding a few new plants and watching the plants emerge from the seeds.
Most of the azaleas have dropped their petals but a few late bloomers are still showing off their brilliant pink color. Tiny white blossoms stand out on a huge rosemary bush.
We are adding some green to a flower bed in our front yard by adding three citrus trees. Our granddaughter and I had fun getting muddy when we planted a naval orange tree on Easter. The tree is small now but hopefully will grow quickly and produce fruit in a few years.
Many thanks to Amy for this weeks Lens-Artists Challenge #143: Colorful April
Thanks also to Marsha for her challenge Sunday Stills: Emerging
Ann-Christine’s choice for the challenge this week is “You Pick It”. My topic is Spring has Sprung!
I’m not a cold weather person and winter just lasts too long for me. All winter I look forward to seeing the colorful blooms of azaleas and Dogwoods signalling the beginning of spring. Usually by St. Patrick’s Day the azaleas are in full bloom and the vibrant pink blossoms are on display all over town. They were a little late this year but to me they seemed more beautiful than ever.
The blooms on Flowering Dogwoods are another sight I welcome each spring.
I also welcome the signs of spring in the animal world. Egrets, Wood Storks and other long legged wading birds like to build their nest in the spring and a great place to see them nesting is in the trees at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Alligators are coming out of their hibernation in the spring and if you are lucky you may even spy some baby alligators at the refuge.
Happy Spring Everyone!
Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this weeks Lens-Artists Challenge #142: You Pick It
Wandering Dawgs 