October butterfly in a Saturday backyard

October butterfly in a Saturday backyard
Originally uploaded by chacal la chaise.

Seeds that blew into the yard have taken over spaces originally created for pine trees. These interloper native plants are now huge and blooming. As I shot the images, I suddenly realized the butterfly was not the only insect feeding. Alongside and above me a host of honey bees, bumble bees, and the biggest black hornet I've ever seen were feeding, too. Their humming and buzzing all around me, I decided to finish capturing these images to let them feed in peace before they took a shine to me.

I have a hardworking fellow come help with the shaping up the hedges. i told him we'd work on getting the backyard in shape after we do the front. And because these big backyard interlopers are blooming now (and they really are ugly to me,) MJ and i decided to cut them back after the first frost, or when the bees disappear from the yard.

Later, I'll go outside again to see who's there today. Last week, when he was working on the frontyard hedges, my yardman was accompanied by the biggest yellow swallowtail butterfly we'd ever seen. Yesterday, I saw a tiny yellow warbler on his way south to Peru. Warblers, according to our Peterson book, terms warblers as "birdlet," which is a perfect name. This little warbler (by coloration a male) is a little bigger than a zebra finch. i'm hoping to capture a better picture of him today, too.