Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) with its copper colored cap, just a tiny bit smaller than a Song Sparrow, and just a tiny bit larger than a Chickadee.
Male and female look alike. A delightful summer resident.
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The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) has an impressive range including Europe, northern Africa, Eurasia, in North America northern Canada to Central America, Hawaii, New Zealand, and a few of the Caribbean Islands.
The Red Admiral has a wingspan of 1 3/4 to 3 inches. Their larval host plants are all members of the Nettle family (Urticaceae).
As adults, Red Admirals feed on nectar, they also seek moisture from mud, dung and even carrion.
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A Sachem (Atalopedes campestris), dining on the nectar of Goldenrod.
And another Sachem getting nectar from Apple Mint.
There are more than 3500 species of Skippers recognized around the world, about 275 in North America.
Skipper is the common name for the Butterflies in the family Hesperiidae. Each Skipper in this family has clubbed antennae which has a hook on each, a chunky body, and a quick darting flight. In other words, Skippers are Butterflies, just a little different from the rest.
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A Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis). A medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of 1.5 inches to 2 inches. This one (both pictures are of the same Checkerspot) is on a Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus).
The host plants for these Checkerspots are all composites including Black-eyed Susans, Sunflowers, and Wingstems. As adults they dine on nectar, moist ground, and scat.
Odd things to dine on, but then I’m only a human, butterflies are quite different.
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Looking as if it’s dressed to go out to a festive event with those striking colors, this is a caterpillar of the Brown-hooded Owlet (Cucullia convexipennis).
At this stag in its life it eats Asters and Goldenrods, and I’ve captured this one eating away on a Goldenrod.
As an adult it will become a very drab brown moth which eats nectar, fruits, sap, and whatever other sweet fluids it can find.
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An unusual flower color. Of all the flower colors, blue constitutes less than 10 percent. These blue flowers are Tall Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), native to eastern North America.
A plant that grows with a central stem, that is usually unbranched, to a height of 3 to 6 feet. Part of the common name, bellflower, takes me by surprise. The flower is quite flat as opposed to a bell shape. Nothing new, I am often baffled by colors that are included in common names. I guess there are others that see things differently than I see them!
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Oh my. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are everywhere up here. They’re an invasive plant, native to Korea, Japan and China.
The Wineberry is technically not a berry but a hollow cluster of drupelets called an aggregate fruit. Whatever the name, they are delicious, whether on your morning cereal or made into some sherbet to have for dessert after dinner.
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Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) attracts many pollinators. This one, a Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia).
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A Confusing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus) wanders on an Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) collecting pollen. In my wild imagination though, I am thinking it is examining the Fabinacci spiral arrangement of those cone florets. Surely it is that smart.
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I first started getting photographs of the little Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on June 30, ten days ago. It was the first day I noticed mom and dad Carolina Wren going back and forth, back and forth. You can go back to look at those pictures at: brendaclem.com/feeding-the-babies/.
Today things were a little bit different. The three nestlings often would put their heads out the entrance hole. Sometimes just one, other times just two, and on occasion all three, though there was barely room. And there were times when one would stick its head way out, looking quite grown up except for the down feathers showing up here and there, reminding me of a little old man.
Perhaps they fledged this morning, before I started looking for them. No heads poking out, no mom or dad coming with breakfast. No action at all. I’m pleased they have taken off. Relieved that they have survived the intense heat. The sun beating down on that tiny bird house every afternoon concerned me.
Carolina Wrens fledge about 12 to 14 days after hatching. They become self-sufficient approximately four weeks beyond the big event of fledging.
I’ll be watching for them. Maybe I’ll see them getting lessons at the birdbath on how to care for their feathers by cleaning them.
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