Tiger Swallowtail - 2014

There have not been as many butterflies in our area this summer so I was delighted to photography two enjoying my deck garden in August and this week. In August, the butterfly weed and marigolds were the big attraction. Note how battered the edges of the wings look in this view of the feeding insect (with the butterfly pot decoration overhead).

I’m always surprised at how hairy the area where the winds and body overlap looks…at the powdery blue…at the delicacy of the whole wing.

From the side, the body looks robust compared to the legs and the proboscis. This insect spent quite a lot of time with the marigolds - so maybe the flowers will produce a lot of seeds.

This week the draw for the tiger swallowtail was the zinnias. When the wings are held vertically they are folded a little as well. Their ribs show more.

It was a breezy day so the insect would flatten itself to maintain its stance on the flower. The wings look very symmetrical when they are fully extended.

Notice that the edges of the wing are battered in this one too. This butterfly spent quite a long time at with the zinnia - flying away for a few seconds and then returning - and I’ll keep the seeds that develop over the next few weeks.

Good to be Home

I enjoy travelling….but I am always glad to come home. It takes me a day or two to recover from being away. This time I got back in the late evening so about all I did before sleeping was drink water to recover from the dehydrating effects of the plane flight and the time it took to get through the traffic jam all around the airport even though it was 10 PM at night! 

Getting back to ‘normal’ at home started the next day. I was pleased that my husband had managed to water the deck garden enough for the zinnias and marigolds to be better than when I left….and there were new peppers and tomatoes growing.  A hummingbird came up to visit the plants while I looked through the kitchen window. What a good ‘welcome home’! After breakfast, a trip to the grocery store was the first priority.

Then I tackled the normal ‘after traveling’ chores of unpacking, laundry, and putting the luggage away. I sorted the laundry and put the bag of birthday presents I had purchased for our cats on the table.  Evidently the smell of catnip from the toys had pervaded the dirty clothes because the cats enjoyed messing up the piles!

Now that I have been home for 2 full days, things are settling back to normal. I am catching up on Coursera videos and have gone through most of the snail mail. There is a pile of reading waiting and plenty of CSA veggies to eat before the next share is picked up on Wednesday. I’ve got some volunteer work scheduled for this week. The situation is just the way I like - at home.