The Middle of the Week.........

They batteries of a camera are crucial to a great shot.  I didn't get it.  Our cardinal pair succeeded in having at least two offspring this year, maybe three.  The young ones who are learning now to find their own food like to eat from the leftover birdseed trays of my cockatiels.  It has dried fruit bits in it that the indoor birds really don't like. I had this wonderful shot of these two sitting side by side on the bottom shelf.  It was the picture of a lifetime.  The camera didn't think I needed that one as it shut down because the batteries had reached their lifetime. They were dead.

I had earlier shot pictures of the small female on the top and I didn't know that the male was a few levels below her.  When I was editing the photo I was surprised by my accidental shot.  It does make me a little bit happier that I did get proof that the guy was at the feeder at the same time.

I could hear the young male practicing his calls last evening as he put out his territorial call in the mock orange bush next to me. It was not a strong call but it was the call.  He was gleaning seeds from the bush as it has leftover shells with seeds in them.  The Chinese elm tree also seemed of interest to him.  He may have been just picking off bugs. The young cardinals do take on the exact colors of the mail but they are smaller.  I suppose by the next spring they are full grown.

 I posted another photo of this painted lady butterfly on my Photo a Day blog.  The coneflowers are in various stages now as there are older dead flowers now among all the fresh blooms.  The round parts of the flowers are all different in colors right now.

I let Button outside last night and the smell of phlox was in the air.  The wind was gentle from the southwest and I could get a fresh smell of them without going outside.  I am really enjoying the phlox this year with so many blooms and some stems still have buds on them that are not yet opened.

When I first saw this butterfly I thought it looks beat up and in bad shape.  I realized as I looked them up on the net that they have a lot of variance in their colors.  I think this is actually a red admiral but the dominate brown color on the inside of the wings makes it look far less colorful. Both red admiral and painted lady butterflies have assorted but similar patterns on them with varying colors.

I would never imagine that I would have so much opportunity to take pictures of these swallowtails.  I now have too many photos.  I keep taking them thinking I might get that next perfect photo.

A blog that I follow gave me information saying the swallowtails are mating right now.  That may be why the females are not around anymore as they are off laying eggs in the trees. 

Earlier in the season I was able to shoot photos of these monarchs with their wings opened.  I have a lot of them at the begning of the season.  Now I have many monarchs and they just land, close their wings, and eat.

This is going to be very difficult to photograph.  The center is very dark and the flower is always tipped downward. There is actually a bee on the flower but it is too dark to see.  I lighted the photo some to help it to be seen but I didn't want to loose the color of the red-brown petals of the flower. You can see another bud on the side that will open up and maybe my chances of a better photo will be in the future.






Lots of chores to do today and will get back to the frame job.  When it is so nice outside I really don't want to be inside.  I bought glass for my frame job so I have not excuse not to get on the job and finish the work.  I see some people are getting way too much rain right now.  Others are having high temperatures.  Our normal temps are not around when it is so cold in the morning but by late afternoon we are back to being hot.  I can't work outside with the sun and heat together. I had a record of 8 photos posted today.  I guess I could stop talking.  Thanks for checking in on my posting today.