Chatt Flitters

Elusive Blue Morpho
takes a break, and let me pose by him (below.) Later, one landed on my sleeve, but he did it at the same time we were already oggling a little butterfly that had landed on mom's shoulder (above).

So before I could gather everyone's attention by yelling --in an inappropriately loud and excited voice--"I have one too! I have one too!" he flitted away. But there really WAS a morpho on my sleeve. I promise! (Top photo mine, bottom two courtesy of Joe)

Last flight of summer

Looking out
the window

Joe saw this monarch resting on the patio this morning. I had to inspect.


He was very docile, hardly moving as I probed with my olympus. Though not tattered, his wings show signs of wear. You can see they are drying out at the edges and in the next photo you can see faded streaks. His antaene look a little rumpled and forlorn too.

His furryness surprised me.

Then when I thought I had taken all the photos I wanted, he closed his wings and flopped over on his right side. I thought it would be sad to have his little body on the patio, so I carefully scooped him into my hand... thinking to take him to one of my potted plants. But once in my hand, his wings popped open again and he heaved himself to the fence, where he clung precariously for a few seconds. I took this shot and then left him alone.

Weekend critter blogging

This snag was completely covered in woodears. Sorry the photo is blurry.
Joe and I went hiking in LBL today because the weather cooled down to the mid-80s. But the humidity hasn't let up at all, so I think my camera was having a tough time focusing through the thick air.



The trail we took was also thick; with spiderwebs and little frogs. There were the regular LBL olive-greenish frogs and then I spotted this red one. Is he a mutant? Er, is he a toad? I confess I don't really know the difference. I guess he's a toad and the next one is a...


Stripy shy frog... debating whether to blow his cover and jump back into a nearby puddle with his friends. Speaking of frogs- check out this zany picture.


It was breezier by the beach. Joe and I sat on a log, where I noticed some fossilized river critters.


And some fluttering river creatures... They loved these flowers.

Cleveland

My visit with Joe and Mom Parrino to the Cleveland Botanical Garden near my Alma Mater, Case Western Reserve University, was full of excitement. I used to frequent this little green oasis when I was an undergrad and when it was free and walking distance from my dorm. My senior year they began construction on a butterfly rainforest. Happily it was open on July 3rd.

Roy Peter Clark over at Poynter (all you journalists know who I'm talking about) just gave an example of a great journalist who recorded the names of 55 of 56 butterfly names while reporting for a story. (or something silly like that) I on the other hand, only remember one name, the Blue Morpho, and I'm not even sure how to spell it. Joe's mom and I spent all our time swinging our lenses around trying to capture this elusive creature that much prefers gliding and flitting to resting and sunning.

Blogger has not been cooperating with me of late. For a week I couldn't post any photos. Today it decided to work for a little while... there are a few other shots that didn't make the cut though! Maybe it will be in a more obliging mood tomorrow!