A comma Butterfly sipping sweet nectar and still going strong even though they look to have gone through the ringer with wings in tatters. Resilience in action.
Yellowstone NP.
On a stem
A bounty of wildflowers with vibrant color bursting forth on a single stem.
Photographed early July on a single hike in Yellowstone NP.
Makes you want to pluck them up and use them as paintbrushes they are so full of color.
Twice is nice.
We saw each of these fuzzy little caterpillars on two consecutive hikes. It is just amazing the forms that life on this wonderful plant takes.
Room to Roam
We recently had a chance to make a quick drive through Teodore Rosevelt Nation Park and were stuck by the wonderful, open and rugged nature of a landscape with plenty of room to roam and were also reminded of this quote by a President who many consider the greatest conservation Pesident our country has seen.
“We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.”
That quote spoken over one hundred years ago still rings true today and we are finding out what will happen.
Mr. Rosevelt we need you again today.
It’s a Pleasure to Meet You
A Tri-Colored Bumble Bee getting acquainted with a Purple Coneflower. Although the introductions were awkward the date was a success.
On a cloudy day
On a cloudy day a hike into the misty mountains yields much needed nature therapy. At first there is resistance but once the feet hit the trail and the rain jacket put on it all seems to feel just right.
Super Finch
An Evening Grosbeak:Coccothraustes vespertinus or commonly called super finch (only by me of course) looking a bit perplexed as to why the Pine Siskins and Cassins Finches are getting fed from this contraption but not me. Well, perhaps being the heaviest and biggest finch has its disadvantages sometimes as his weight seems to have narrowed the feeder openings enough to make getting that gros-beak into the opening.
Have a great weekend.
Quick Hello
A quick hello from a Mule Deer along the tail on a nice summers day.
Quiet time
One of our favorite forest singers the Warbling Vireo enjoying a bit of quiet time while on the nest. By now the eggs have hatched and young have left the nest. The next generation is on its way.
Monument Plant: Frasera speciosa
This version of Green Gentain called Monument Plant or more specifically Frasera speciosa is one of our favorite wildflowers.
From it’s humble beginnings…
Monument plant grows into a beautiful, tall, cone shaped plant which produces innumerable intricate sculptural flowers each a work of art in their own right.
Frasera speciosa is also commonly called elkweed as it is good browsing material for both deer and elk but the little guys seem to find Monument Plant to their liking as well.
And to top it all off a couple of photographers find Green Gentian fascinating as well and never tire of photographing it when it appears in the open meadows and grasslands each spring.
nature has no boss 
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