BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

Saturday, July 17, 2010

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

(JULY 17, 2010) Last night on PBS there was a program out of North Carolina about butterflies and moths. I had often wondered what the difference was, and the expert lepidopteroligist (one who studies butterflies and moths - a new term for me, too) made it rather vaguely clear what the differences were.

He said that one of the main differences is that moths come out at night and butterflies come out during the day (well, he qualified that by saying, in most cases this is true). He also pointed out that the antennae of the butterflies have small balls on the tips (well, he qualified that by saying, in most cases this is true).

What I saw this morning were butterflies, I'm 100% sure.

They were out in the day time and their antennae had small balls on the tips.

As the butterflies flittered among the flowers, Sadie seemed to be enthralled by the beauty. I just kept snapping pictures.

Later in the day Sadie and I went to Angler's Park after the heavy rain. We had walked about a half mile and saw large puddle. Sadie danced across the puddle and a butterfly, just like the ones we had seen this morning, flew up. Sadie immediately jumped at it, missed, jumped at it again, and missed again. This seems to be a day filled with butterflies, and when a day contains butterflies, it proves to be a beautiful day.

(CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE THE ANGER OF THE BIRD MORE CLOSELY)

At about the same spot we had seen the butterflies, there was a mockingbird that wasn't too happy that we had stopped to watch the lovely insects in the tree. As often happens, mockingbirds are a bit temperamental - they have been known to dive-bomb passers-by and will, at least fuss at someone who has wandered too near the nest. This morning was no different, but this morning I captured the intolerance the bird showed for the two sojourners who had wandered too close to a nest.

We moved on since we didn't want to irritate it any more, and Sadie, who had once been dive-bombed by a mockingbird flying close to her head, was a little anxious and relieved when we finally continued our morning adventure.

Beautiful butterflies in a mimosa tree and an angry mockingbird in a poplar tree made for another good day on the Riverwalk.

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"DON'T TRADE YOUR DOG FOR AN ELEPHANT"

(JUNE 19, 2010) This morning we saw some lovely sights as we ventured to the Riverwalk at 6:15. The mother mallard and the six babies were out at Dan Daniel Park and the flora and fauna were plentiful. But, one comment made by a regular Riverwalk biker/walker stayed on my mind as we ventured forth. He said, "One bit of advice: Don't trade your dog for an elephant." What was the meaning of that? I pondered that question throughout my walk until I saw a water moccasin swimming close to the shore.

EXPRESSIONS

(JUNE 1, 2010) Often we see expressions in animals that are similar to humans. Sadie sometimes swallows a moth she has been stalking, and the look on her face says, "Sheesh. That didn't taste very good." The picture above shows some interesting expressions on the faces of a goose family. There is the gosling looking up at the adult with respect,, the other goslings looking over the adult goose with an inquiring look, and the adult in the background showing stress. Within this one photograph is captured many emotions.

SHALL WE GATHER

(MAY 25, 2010) People gather each morning to walk or ride bikes together on the Riverwalk. In addition, there are many "gatherings" on the river each morning among the wildlife there. The waterfowl gather to communially dip in the river or fly off together to graze in the rich meadows or just sit on a log in the middle of the river - watching. There is another type of "gathering" that goes on as well. Look closely and watch the swallow and the bluebird and the robin and other songbirds gather nesting for their homes or food for themselves and their off-spring. Look closely and see the insects gathering whatever they need for sustenance - the small bug drinking from the rain water "gathering" on the leaf or the bee gathering nectar from the budding flower. All of this is the age old activity of gathering by the river.

THINGS ARE DIFFERENT

(APRIL 14, 15, 2010) There have been many changes on the Riverwalk over the past two days. The search for the young 5 year old who fell out of the boat near Dan Daniel Dam, the small flowers that were once there are now gone because of the cooler weather, and the river has gone down because of the drier weather. However, amongst these changes there are some constants: the same people we see every morning on our walk are there, the river continues to provide a home for wildlife, and robins can be spotted along the trail.