Polyphemus moth

 I saw this moth this afternoon on the ground right near my house. At first I thought it was a cecropia moth.

Later, I realized that cecropias don't have those blue and yellow eyes, which revealed themselves when I placed my finger under the moth so he could walk on my hand.

I was very gentle with him, this lovely creature. He flew away not long after I took this shot. Later I read he was a polyphemus moth and like the luna moth, only lives for a week after mating and laying eggs. Kind of sad. Such beauty and so fleeting.

Lilacs, butterflies and lupins, oh my!

 This lovely Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly was flitting around my lilacs yesterday.

 Upon closer inspection, it must've had a dust-up with another critter. One of its swallowtails is missing.

 Also buzzing around the lilacs was a hummingbird moth, also called a hawk moth. They do actually look like teeny tiny hummingbirds.

And like clockwork, the lupins start to bloom. This is one of many in my lupin patch that are getting ready to shine.

Luna moth

This luna moth spent the day on my barn and at night fluttered off. The only other time I saw one was on the very same building, but 20 years previous! Did you know that luna moths don't have a mouth and can't feed? They only live for a week and exist only to mate. Who knew?

NOT an emerald ash borer

There is much talk about the emerald ash borer and how it is destroying the ash trees across the land. I keep looking for them because I have a wonderful old ash at the front of the house. When I spied this creature, who looks more green in real life, I was really concerned. Turns out it's a harmless six spotted tiger beetle. Beautiful looking bug that isn't going to eat my ash trees. Phew!

Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

Last week we were lucky enough to catch of glimpse of this huge butterfly feeding in the  phlox. Richard grabbed his camera and managed to grab a few shots. It's the Giant Swallowtail butterfly, usually rare in these parts, but with the hot summer and warm winds, some of these beauties flew further north than usual this year. Lucky us.
To read more, here's the link to the Ottawa Citizen article about their arrival.

Helping a Little Critter

I found this poor butterfly with a broken wing alongside the road when I picked up my mail. It had been hit by a car and its wing was broken. When I picked it up, it was still alive and walked on my finger. Since it was pouring rain, I decided to place it under a footstool near my front door, where it was dry and sat it on some nice moss.

I brought it a flower to rest on. When I checked on it later on in the afternoon, it had died. It made me sad to see something so beautiful and ephemeral pass away like that, but I am happy that I gave it a nice place to rest instead of the hot, wet concrete of the road.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sam, who collected my wild bee swarm last year (click here to see them!), was back again this year but this time he put a bait hive up on a tree in the backyard.

It didn't take long for another bunch of bees to jump right in and get a gang together. Sam is coming tonight to collect them and take care of them. Well done Sam! Hope they make lots of honey for you.

Butterfly Days

There seem to be more butterflies than usual this year. And they seem to be here earlier too.

 Yesterday I saw my first monarch and then a eastern tiger swallowtail on my lilacs.

I just love the quality of the light in these photos. They scream spring!

More butterflies. Over at Natalie's house, I happened upon a black swallowtail. It's already been an amazing year for butterflies and it's still early.
A few days ago I posted about not knowing which butterflies were which and my brother-in-law John sent me this website. Check it out! Worth re-posting: http://littlebrownjobbies.blogspot.ca/2011/02/butterflies-of-southern-ontario.html

What's That on My Mop?

My string mop was leaning up outside the house to dry (for about a week now!) and from the corner of my eye I noticed something moving.

 Sure enough, it was a butterfly, sunning its wings in the morning sun.

It took me many tries to get a good photo with is wings fully opened. Isn't it a beauty?
I looked it up and it might be a Satyr Comma (Polygonia satyrus ). Anyone out there know their butterfly i.d.? Help!***
***Thanks to John S. from Ottawa who dropped me a line and it seems that the little guy  is an Eastern Comma. To see a great site of difficult to identify butterflies, go here:
http://littlebrownjobbies.blogspot.ca/2011/02/butterflies-of-southern-ontario.html
Thanks John!!

Amazing Dragonfly

After my lunch in the park the other day, I noticed something on the end of my antenna.


This amazing dragonfly had landed on the very tippy end of the antenna and was sunning himself, giving me the opportunity to get this great photo. Check out the neon red wing edges. Wowza!

Bye Bye Bees

Last Saturday, Richard and I were sitting outside and suddenly the log cabin was swarming with bees.


Today, my friend Sam the bee whisperer, came over to remove the bees for me.


He removed the outside board and batten and then used a circular saw to get through the particle board.


On one side of the particle board there were a few nice honeycombs.


But on the other side of the wall, there were tons of bees and lots of comb. Sam was surprised that in only five day they had built all that comb. They are industrious bees!


Sam took some of the honey comb and tied it to hive racks.


Then he slid the honeycomb into the wooden bee hive.


He carefully took a stick and a dustpan and knocked some bees off their hanging comb and onto the dustpan...and then knocked them into the box where their own comb was now hanging.


As he removed the wax combs, he dropped more bees into the wooden box.


Sam was so wonderful with the bees. He didn't get stung (and neither did I!)


Most of the comb he had to throw out. He suggested I melt it down and make a candle or two.


A couple of the combs had honey -- the most DELICIOUS honey I have ever tasted! (And fresh too!)


After removal of the combs, Sam vacuumed up the bees with his homemade bee vacuum. Very cool.


He said that 70% of the bees were in his vacuum.


The rest were tucked away in their new hive and would soon be joined by the other gals in the vacuum when Sam got home.

Thanks Sam! That was a fun day. Check out Sam's fabulous bee website: Sam'sWildBees.com

Cecropia Moth

On my way into work yesterday, I walked toward the back door and noticed this amazing cecropia moth sitting on the door jamb.


He looks like he's been around the block a few times, but isn't he a beauty?

Hummingbird Moth

I love this little critter.


It looks like a little hummingbird but is really a moth, who flies around in the daytime (moths are ususally nocturnal)...


...and pokes at my phlox, looking for nectar. To see more about the hummingbird moth, click here.

A Diversion...

On our way home from Ithaca, NY, we turned off Interstate 81 at Pulaski to visit Selkirk Shores State Park. We had a short hike through the woods...


...and then continued along the shores of Lake Ontario to a pier where folks were fishing for salmon. (Apparently they stock the Salmon River there with a million salmon!!)


A couple of horseback riders took their horses for a wade in the water.


I spotted a Monarch butterfly sunning itself on the sandy shore.


I couldn't quite give him a hug but I gave him a little lift instead.

Flutter By...

I went for a nice, brisk walk along our busy road yesterday and on my way back, noticed a dead Monarch butterfly on the shoulder. I picked it up and loosely carried it home thinking it would be perfect glued to an artist trading card. I was designing it in my head.

I stopped for a cup of tea at a neighbour's and because it was so windy, brought the butterfly in with me and laid it on her kitchen counter. About halfway into the cup of tea, my neighbour said, "Hey, your butterfly is climbing up the TV!" It was alive! I picked it up and took it out the back door, wanting to set it on some flowers but instead it flew out of my hands and landed on a spruce tree.

I'm guessing that when I first picked it up, it might have been hit by a car and was just winded, lying on its side on the gravel. Then it got its second wind, once set inside and it recovered. My neighbour's theory was that it knew that I was going to varnish it to an ATC, so it decided it better get the heck out of there!

Hummingbird Moth

I love these tiny moths that look like teeny, 1" hummingbirds. They even hum! They are attracted to the sweet smelling phlox that grows in my garden and today a pair of them were hovering around the flowers. To read more about the hummingbird hawk moth click here onto Wikipedia's info on Macroglossum stellatarum .