Sunday Snapshot: Red Admirals

Red Admiral on Echinacea ‘Prairie Splendor’

Red Admiral on Persicaria polymorpha

Red Admiral on Daylily ‘Mata Hari’

Red Admiral on Echinacea ‘Milkshake’

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Life in the Garden

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

When I’m walking or working in the garden, I always keep my camera close at hand, because you never know who you might see. The garden plays host to an awesome assortment of creatures. Many garden inhabitants live hidden lives and remain invisible, their presence undetected by we mere humans. Others are more amenable to photography, or at least are engrossed in their own activities and pay no heed to the photographer.

No pesticides of any sort, toxic or organic, are used in my garden. Life is too precious. Plants that don’t thrive in this ecosystem are replaced with more tolerant species. Here is a selection of photographs of garden life. It is by no means all-inclusive. Some visitors are heard, but not seen, so the closing entry is a short recording of a black-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), ho-ho-hoing softly from shrubbery.

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)

White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis)

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Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis)

Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus)

Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Skipper sp.

Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota)

American Toad (Bufo americanus)

Baby Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Dragonfly, Meadowhawk sp.

Virginia Ctenucha moth (Ctenucha virginica)

Yellow Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) with prey

Mountain Ash Sawfly larvae (Pristiphora geniculata)

Bumblebee (Bombus sp)

Mayfly (order Ephemeroptera)

Hummingbird Clearwing Hawkmoth (Hemaris thysbe)

Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris ) female

Cedar Waxwing pair (Bombycilla cedrorum)

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