There is quite a bit of activity in the garden these days. Large numbers of birds (gold finches, house finches, starlings, and more) are passing through and the year round residents are trying to fatten up for winter. The collage below is of one of the many male juvie downy woodpeckers that were from at least 2 different families nesting in the woods behind our house. He is showing off his red crown while trying to decide between the humminbird nectar or the suet block. Hmmm. Why not have some of each?
Another comma butterfly was seen too. Or could this really be a question mark? Can someone help with the ID? It spent a long time getting moisture from a bit of dead wood and sunned for a while on a hosta leaf, letting me get very close for these photos even though I was not able to position myself for a better angle.
Hummingbirds are also passing through in large numbers. The ones that spent summer here are very territorial and try to protect "their" feeders from the new arrivals. I even saw one chase off a dragonfly that wandered too close to the feeder. The dragon was bigger than the hummer! The hummingbirds have what we call "hummer wars" where they chase each other all around the garden and through the tree branches. It reminds me of the chase scene in the first Star Wars movie.
Hope you have enjoyed your weekend too.
Lovely shots Wilma.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the 'Question Mark', but I googled it, and it certainly looks like it to me..
Great shots of the Hummingbirds. I'd love to see these.
It`s a Comma butterfly of some sort Wilma, but i`ve no experience of any other than the european ones.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics btw.
You are getting too good at these collages Wilma.{:)
ReplyDeleteKeith - either way, it is a striking butterfly. Glad you like the hummingbirds. They are very entertaining to watch.
ReplyDeleteDean - I think the comma is the same on both sides of the Atlantic, but I don't know about the question mark. Glad you like the pics.
Roy - thanks, Roy. Sometimes I make a collage because I can't settle on a just a couple of representative shots. ;-)
cheers all,
Wilma
Nice set of collages Wilma. Amazing how those tiny Hummers dart in and out of the feeders.
ReplyDeleteFrank - thank you. They are always fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteYour butterfly is a Gray Comma (Polygonia progne). Nice photo set of an often overlooked species.
ReplyDelete