Golden fall colors reflecting upon Crown Hill lake. Wheat Ridge, CO.
Tag: wildflower
Fur Coats
Tow different alpine moths each wearing fur coats forage up high in the mountains of central Colorado.
Photographed in early September.
Just an hour after posting this I came across a news story describing the decline of insects by 75% in Germany. I am sure this is happening globally to varying decrees. This sixth extinction caused by our human species will have consequences and is affecting life big and small. A link to the study is provided below:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809
Fuzzy
Fuzzy Purple Asters up high near tree line. It seems that when you ascend up towards the tundra the Asters become more fuzzy. A fur coat to protect against the chilly nights?
The butterflies like them as much as I do.
Photographed in August near tree-line in Central Colorado.
Milk Weed Seed
October is the time when Milk Weed releases it’s seeds and boy how I love looking at these. So many variations on a theme each unique in some wonderful way.
In a dark forest
As the day came to an end a beam of sunlight illuminated golden aspen leaves in what was otherwise a dimly light forest.
Near Ridgeway, CO.
Sowing Seed
A beautiful fall flower getting ready to release the seeds for the next go round.
Although I hesitate to say so does look a bit like any corn.
Aphids Beware
A few weeks ago one of the plants in our garden seemed to become infested with aphids of all sizes and shapes seemingly overnight. Also hidden within the plant and well camouflaged was a wonderful Aphid eating spider.
Once their prey was sighted the spider quickly moved in and made quick work of an medium sized green Aphid.
Given the number of Aphids present this guy will have quite a feast.
We also noticed numerous lady bugs and damselflies feasting away on the smaller aphids as well. Natural pest control at work.
Bombus Ternarius: Tri-Colored Bee
It’s always nice to have these bess buzzing about and who doesn’t like saying Bombus Ternarius.
From Wikipedia “Bombus ternarius, commonly known as the orange-belted bumblebee or tricoloured bumblebee,[2] is a yellow, orange and black bumblebee. It is a ground-nesting social insect whose colony cycle lasts only one season, common throughout the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.[3] The orange-belted bumblebee forages on Rubus, goldenrods, Vaccinium, and milkweeds found throughout the colony’s range. Like many other members of the genus, Bombus ternarius exhibits complex social structure with a reproductive queen caste and a multitude of sister workers with labor such as foraging, nursing, and nest maintenance divided among the subordinates.”
To read more:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_ternarius
Just for fun ….Bombus!
then and now
The sun has moved from north to south and the flowers have turned to berries.
Then and Now.
Although they’re one they’re not the same or at least it feels that way.
The flowers are beautiful but the berries are somewhat poisonous (depending on your species and I assume most of you reading this are human of course) and produced form a the pervasive and often considered to be invasive Bittersweet Nightshade vine.
Pink Edged Sulfur
It’s always nice to have a little company while out on a hike and this day it seemed we always had one of these beautiful Pink Edged Sulfur butterflies fluttering about either in front or along side of us as we made our way along the trail.
They seldom seemed to take a break from their flight. Luckily one did and that gave us a chance for a close up look before they lifted off fluttered way.
nature has no boss 
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