One thinks of kittens in the spring, but new batches of kitten arrive through out most of the months, like this kitten born in early summer or my former house cat, Dutch, who was born on this day in August.
Summertime Kitten
Picture of the Day for August 2, 2016
With several nests of orioles, apparently most of the babies survived as there is a dozen or more young orioles lined up on the porch waiting, not always very patiently, for their turn at the feeders and I have trouble keeping them filled.
Young Oriole Eating
Picture of the Day for August 1, 2016
Rolling hills covered with Purple Prairie Clover would be pretty to see, and many animals eat them for food like pronghorns. It is nutritious and is “considered one of the most important legumes in native grasslands on the Great Plains.” The pretty plant is used for re-vegetation on reclaimed land, preventing erosion and fixing nitrogen in the soil. It also had a number of uses for Native Americans.
Purple Prairie Clover
Picture of the Day for July 31, 2016
When the rainbow appeared the other night, it was bright and colorful before it faded but when it reappeared a few minutes later, the sun was setting and creating a pink hue on the clouds. The rainbow also picked up the pink color, obscuring the normal range of colors and created a pink arc in the sky as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Pink Rainbow
Picture of the Day for July 30, 2016
While not the typical red barn coloring, this combination of a gray barn and brick building still offers a pretty scene of an era disappearing.
Gray Barn
Picture of the Day for July 29, 2016
The dragonflies don’t always spend all their time around the pond and seems like they been hanging around the flowers more and more lately. A green bodied dragonfly would blend in better than this blue bodied one so a bird might get him.
Dragonfly in the Flowers
Picture of the Day for July 28, 2016
My yard might be full of chipmunks, but so far, I haven’t spotted any thirteen-lined ground squirrels. They seem to be more common in the southern part of the state than in my part. They rarely drink water, getting it from their food instead, which ranges from vegetative to animal matter like insects, mice, small birds and each other. They come out of their tunnels on warm, sunny day so unlikely they were out yesterday in the rain. The thirteen-lined ground squirrels do have 13 stripes – seven dark separated by six lighter stripes.
Mister Stripey
Picture of the Day for July 27, 2016
Every time I have been mowing the lawn this month, I have been watching an area just into the edge of a field looking for some purple pink color and yesterday I was rewarded. Last year I had spotted the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid, which I hadn’t seen in the area for more than 30 years, so I wasn’t sure if it would sprout up this year again but it did near last year’s plant. The dancing petals look like they sliding down a water park slide when their arms raised up and have a fun time doing it.
Orchid Blossoms Flying
Picture of the Day for July 26, 2016
While there are certain types of insects that I really don’t like, including mosquitoes, ticks and wasps, other types don’t ‘bug’ me as much, even if they destroy my garden. But I expect them to stay out of my house and I don’t want to find them on my kitchen table like this caterpillar. And while he might be cute with its furry and spiky look, he would be more appreciated outdoors (and could be a snack for the birds).
But he might not become a snack as his protection works well as this Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar often rests and feeds on the top surfaces of leaves during the daytime. The word “tussock” in its name refers to the clumps of hairs that is thicker or longer than the rest.
Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar
Picture of the Day for July 25, 2016
These birds found a good feeding spot as a male Ring-necked Pheasant and one of his babies plus a Red-winged Blackbird picked at the fallen seed.
Birds Feeding
