As the grass now turns to brown the insects follow suit. Once a succulent green a mantis turns to brown.
Moths stay hidden beneath a golden cloak.
And while most flowers have gone to seed a few beautiful prairie coneflowers remain to brighten the fields.
Simple sights on a late summers afternoon.
Given my abysmal skills at dragonfly identification I suspect this beautiful looking creature is some species of Red Meadowhawk Dragonfly.
Even though Fall is almost here there are some Dragonflies still buzzing about when the sun is out.
Seems like we are always waiting for that moment. A moment that seems to have no beginning and perhaps no ending. Such is the case with trying to photograph bees just taking to flight or just landing. The results are seldom clear but like life itself what is?
Which came first the butterfly or the caterpillar?
We are not sure but they both seem to enjoy spending time on the coneflowers.
A wonderful duet between pollinators and flowers. In this instance Blanket Flower was the host of the party which had numerous attendees all lining up to dance with the host one by one.
The Joe Pye Weed is in full bloom and this painted Lady Butterfly is happy about that. Although known for attracting butterflies we have noticed others to find Joe Pye quite to their liking as well.
Dragonflies like Joe Pye.
As well as this wasp.
And this lovely looking bee with pincers you don’t want to mess with like Joe Pye.
A hub of activity with lovely flower to boot.
A few weeks back the wild Buckwheat plants we in full bloom along a trail we were hiking and they proved irresistible to a wide variety of butterflies seeking a nice sip of nectar on a hot summer afternoon. With both the Sulfur-flowered and Yellow-flowered species both in full bloom there was a buckwheat to meet the tastes of even the most discriminating species. While the Acadain Blue and Juniper Hairstreak we more partial to the Sulfur-flowered buckwheat….
The Fritillaries, Checkerspots and this beautiful Field Crescent favored the Yellow-flowered variety.
A beautiful collection of butterflies all within the span of 50 meters along the trail.
It’s always an amazement to us how different so many butterflies look with wings up versus wings open and this little Blue Copper is no exception yet just as perfect on the outside and on the inside so to speak. A subtle color or specific pattern on one side to avoid predation or perhaps signal toxicity to predators and a more showy side thought to function predominantly to signal availability to mate.
Wow!
Late July and the birds are quiet, the landscape is parched in many places as drought has tightened its grip, yet along a creek where the last water flows wildflowers are still in bloom the flowers are topped with beautiful butterflies.
While the Checkerspot photographed above is a species we frequently see each summer the butterflies below are ones we either have never seen or perhaps never noticed.
The Black and White species above is anything but black and white sporting iridescence that glows like a rainbow in the proper light. In addition to being beautiful this species was also fairly small measuring about 0.75 inches in length.
Another small and iridescent species measuring just the length of a petal on a wild sticky geranium. This individual was difficult to photograph always darting from flower to flower. Luckily they found what they were looking for on this flower and stayed long enough for a photo.
The smallest butterfly we have seen this summer was perhaps this species which seemed to favor the white sticky geraniums along the creek. Perhaps half the size of the flowers petal, small indeed.
Now that August is near the wildflowers are quickly drying and dying for the season and along with the flower the butterflies go as well. Well, next summer is just around the corner.
A little Yellow Jacket just hanging out doing what Yellow Jackets do.
I wonder if looking at the world upside-down makes it feel right side up. Might have to go lay in grass and give it try.
nature has no boss 
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