Well said, Ann. This is my favorite thread too because it's like Baskin-Robbins! (Note bird reference ).
I applaud Melanie for the tremendous job she does as moderator. Her expertise with raising butterflies leaves me in awe, and I've learned a lot in the short time that I've been on this site. It's educational - and highly entertaining. I'm happy to contribute to the plant database, LOVE seeing everyone's photos, enjoy the stories about your gardens - both triumphs and tribulations - but mainly I log on because....well, it's fun. Great group of people here.

ALLLLLLL-most caught a clear shot.

Perovskia

It's a nice shot anyway.

I like it!

Yes Debra it's a very nice shot, let's all go for ice cream.

Mmm...ice cream. Well, I think this thread was on number three when I became moderator and I honestly hadn't spent much time in it. Until I became moderator, there were plenty of threads I ignored in this forum. Well, it's more like I had the specific ones I "watched" and every now and again I would remember to go into the wider forum and check out what was going on. Since I'm moderator and I have to keep an eye on all the threads, I check the forum pretty much every day.

I always think of this as the bees and all other insects that aren't butterflies thread. I suppose we tend to focus on pollinators, but I never have a problem seeing spiders, grasshoppers, etc. pop up. And I certainly don't mind the occasional lizard, turtle, whatever cool thing you saw today picture. I post Gopher Tortoises in the butterfly thread! I guess because I look at each thread, I see who posts in each thread. And I know some of the bird people pretty much stay there, and some of the butterfly people stay there. So if you post a butterfly in here, they won't see it. Also, at certain times of year the butterfly thread gets pretty slow for obvious weather reasons, so I'm always happy to see people other than me posting! I just want your posts to get the largest audience who will get really excited and enthused about your post. If you notice, someone posted a thread about a bird egg they found out of the nest and I went ahead and posted the link in the bird thread because I knew they would all see it quicker that way so the member could get an answer. Hey, maybe everyone should start making a habit of checking out the whole forum every now and then!

I just recently saw that the Mid-Atlantic Gardening Forum had its own BBB thread. I posted over there and invited them to come check us out. There were many member names I had never seen before. I'll admit, I still haven't fully figured out what the aim of the "Gardening For Wildlife" Forum is. There's a lot of overlap there so I just tend to stay in my forum and leave them to theirs.

Two more things...First, I've smelled enough caterpillar osmeterium (aka "stinkhorns") that there's no way I'm smelling a stinkbug nymph. I've paid my dues! Secondly, I went on my field trip to Orlando today and I've been up since about 1:00 am. I just ate a plate of spaghetti so I'm going to go comatose for a while. I'll see you guys when I recover!

I haven't seen any dang Gopher Tortoises...

Our resident red fox.



For more photos and the story please see:
The thread "Red Fox" in Gardening for Wildlife forum

Your fox is beautiful!!!

Thank you! We still don't know if it's a he or a she. We sooooooooooooooo want to see kits tromping around. We see it quite often.

On the way to Orlando today we were going along and I saw some roadkill on the side. I thought it was someone's dog ant went, "Aww, someone's dog got - wait, was that a fox?" And Mom said she thought from the coloring it was a fox, too, but the head was turned away so I'm not 100% sure. Glad to see yours in better shape, Ann!

It's been a while since I saw a Gopher Tortoise. We had one build a burrow along the fence of the neighbor's property, but I was so worried because that was only feet from the main road! I think the tortoise figured that out too, because it abandoned the burrow after about a month. My neighbor left it be for a while, but it's filled in now.

Soo exciting Ann--I think it's a he, maybe--kinda thought I saw a bit of a boy part in the other pics, could just be my imagination though--wow that tail though!!!

Yes, ice cream! I fried for hours today and it was the only thing I could eat
So unbelievably hot, in fact I was mouwing ice cream when you suggested it

This weekend warrior thing isn't working so well for me these days--I am just getting further and further 'behind' as I go
Spread 50 bucks of spores to feed the invasion of this year's baby grasshoppers (and no I did not take photos of all the little #@$^@&*$ jumping all around me!)
I tried to get a hawkmoth earlier, but then the cat tried to catch it too, so I gave up on that attempt and went back to work--bees and butterflies (and wasps, and spiders, and flies, and beetles, and aphids) abound, but the camera was in the house. I did manage to kill 8 narcissus bulb flies (and no bees) with the electric fly-swatter-racket thingy--it was satisfying in a way but too little too late considering all the eggs they've already laid and the hordes I missed. It really sucks though, because I love daffodils and they just wreck them

So glad to see all of your photos everyone! someday, I'll get back to taking some and I'll try to get it thru my thick head that this here is the everything but butterflies thread

Take a break occasionally and look at what you've done - not at what still needs to be done.
Grasshoppers? I have every variety. They're all hungry.

If you guys want to see my pictures from today's trip, go here: The thread "Melanie's Merry Adventure to Christmas, Florida" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

dirtdorphins said:Soo exciting Ann--I think it's a he, maybe--kinda thought I saw a bit of a boy part in the other pics, could just be my imagination though--wow that tail though!!!

I thought the same thing Dirt. That last photo in the series -- I keep going back & forth on whether that's a tuft of hair or a boy part. Opinions anyone?

Sorry to say we just have to face it; we aren't young anymore and can't go like the devil like we used to Dirt. We have the heart but the body can't hold up like it used to. I'm still trying to accept that fact & adjust.

Off to check out Melanie's trip.

Hyles lineata


that's okay right? it's not a butterfly ;)

Dunno, but it is colorful...

The hummingbird moths really are stunning! Beautiful photo, Dirt.

Debra, yours is a moth too. Need to go find it's name....
It's an Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella) - Here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

Stellar Dirt, just stellar!

Debra you too. Great shot!