Butterfly Mornings

Butterfly mornings

Butterfly mornings

Catch me there

Gonna get me there

If I have to climb all the mountains on the moon

I'll be in butterfly mornings

Butterfly mornings

And wild flower afternoons

The last two days have been a gift. . . . rain fell and the thermostat dropped.  I had been worried because I hadn't seen many butterflies this summer, but all my worrying was for naught.  

I also saw a black swallowtail but wasn't able to catch him on camera.  

At one point I just stopped what I was doing and sat and watched.  A pair of hummingbirds were feeding from the "hot lips" salvia.  A Towhee flew up and perched in the butterfly bush just a few feet away.  The little black-capped chickadee came to the feeder when I was close enough to reach out and touch it.   The bees were happily buzzing nearly everywhere I looked.  There was a cool breeze and even a little drizzle.  It was a piece of heaven.

Wishing you "butterfly mornings and wildflower afternoons".

Blooming and buzzing

No flowers, no bees;

No bees, no flowers.

Blooming and buzzing,

Buzzing and blooming;

Married and still in Love.

- Mike Garofalo

This week is the fourth annual National Pollinator Week, a week that "has grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles."  Did you know that bats and beetles are pollinators?  I didn't!  The Pollinator Partnership website has a wealth of information about pollinators, their importance to our ecosystem, and how to plant a friendly pollinator habitat, as well as information about how your region is celebrating National Pollinator Week.   You may be interested in entering some of your photographs in the photography contest.
Bees are plentiful in my garden - they buzz around me whenever I'm weeding and watering.  They especially love the Sunny Border Blue Speedwell.

But seeing a butterfly is much more exciting than seeing a bee!  This was the first Tiger Swallowtail to visit my Nanho Purple Butterfly Bush this year.  (Though I did see one on the Pagoda Dogwood at my family's lake property in May.  For those pictures click here. )

A painted lady paid a visit in May.

I hope more butterflies will be visiting and pollinating this summer - the thrill of seeing them never goes away!