A face almost appears in a close up view of the tail feathers of a peacock. To gain attention of females, the male feathers are covered with small crystal which reflect different wavelengths of light depending on how they’re spaced, resulting in bright fluorescent colors.
Peacock Feathers
The day was cool for the beginning of August but the flowers caught some sun before the evening showers watered them again.
Yellow of Summer
With the rain cooled temperatures, this batch of three kittens may need to cuddle to keep warm and it is hard to tell their bodies apart from another.
Pile of Kittens
With the weather this spring, a lot of the corn wasn’t “knee high by the 4th of July”, but now most of the corn stalks were over my head and it is tasseling and silking. And the corn silks look like a hair wig as the silks blow in the wind. There is one silk for each potential kernel of corn, and if a silk doesn’t get pollinated, then there will be a missing kernel.
Corn Silk
The milkweed plants and the field around my pond today had a lot of varieties of butterflies floating through, including Monarchs, Tiger Swallowtails, Giant Swallowtails, Red Admiral and Mourning Cloak. There were probably more species, but they weren’t as large or showy to spot as I was mowing lawn. This Black Swallowtail has a wingspan about 4 inches across so more noticeable than the little Spring Azure with a wingspan of about an inch which was flying ahead of the mower.
Black Swallowtail
Many of the baby birds have left the nest, even the second batches, but some of the young still want their meals delivered by their parents like this young Rose-breasted Grosbeak, who was crying in the tree limb trying to get some attention.
Young Grosbeak
The sky had a small hint of color as the sun set on this last Sunday in July, ending a nice dry weekend for outdoor activities.
July Sunday Sunset
This old wooden barn still stands proudly in the summer sun even if retired without milk cows in the stalls in the lower part of the barn or the silo being filled.
Semi-Retired Barn
At first glance, this moth is often mistaken as a hummingbird as it hovers above the flowers gathering nectar. The hummingbird clearwing is a moth of the Sphingidae (hawkmoth) family which have a wingspan around two inches, if you can glimpse the moving clear wings as it darts from flower to flower, like this milkweed blossom.
Hummingbird Clearwing Feeding
It is not all fun and laughs at a county fair – not when I hear kids crying because they didn’t get to go on another ride or eat more junk food. Even some of the critters looked upset too, like this chicken, who apparently didn’t like its picture taken.
Upset Chicken
