Eggs!

I took this photo in my backyard yesterday and it didn't really come out great, but when I looked at it closely I noticed it appears she is laying eggs!

Soon, there will be little American Painted Lady butterfly babies flitting around my yard.  Haha!

Fridays at Reynolda Gardens

I have been playing around with the double exposure feature on my Olympus E-PL1.  It's so much fun!

Still Flying...

I was out in the yard last night, not even looking for butterflies and so of course I saw one.  I should try that more often.  This guy looks like he has been through some stuff, but he is still flying! Or should I say she - American Painted Lady. :P

Grandfather Mountain

On Saturday I went on a trip to Grandfather Mountain with a group from Our State Magazine.  There was a whole day of fun activities planned, including "behind the scenes with the animals" and a guided hike.

Cougar.  She was so sweet, you could hear her purring.

Kodiak. A cinnamon colored Black Bear. The bears are trained to put certain body parts up to the fence in case they ever need medical attention. His treat was apple slices. He was so cute!

 Black Bear

 They even have a butterfly garden!  Painted Lady.

Does.

Barred Owl

Screech Owl

Screech Owl - All 3 of the owls were hit by cars and now they cannot fly.

Forrest Gump Curve.  From the movie, which I did not know.  It's from when he runs across the country.  There is no walking allowed on the roads, so I took this from our shuttle bus, and couldn't get the actual curve or the mountains beyond in the picture. Now I want to watch the movie again!

This was taken from the Mile High Swinging Bridge.  Which does not swing anymore (the old one was wooden, and the new one is steel), but it does move!  It's a little scary.  I did not get a picture of the bridge because it started raining (again - also rained on our hike).  At least I got the rainbow!

Fridays at Reynolda Gardens

I noticed this one little skipper that seemed to be staring at me.  

He seemed very interested in what I was doing, so I put my finger in front of him and he climbed on!

I have never seen purple basil before, and this one had a bonus:

Gray Hairstreak

Peek-a-boo!  Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

2 Days at Tanglewood Butterfly Garden

I went to the Tanglewood Butterfly Garden (the free one!) Saturday, but it rained on me before I got any butterflies.  I did see this cool bug.  Cool, but I hope he didn't get any of the butterflies.

Assassin Bug

Then I went back Sunday, and I'm glad I did.

 Pearl Crescent

Spicebush Swallowtail

Teeniest Tree Frog I have ever seen, he was smaller than a nickel.  So cute!

2 Fridays at Reynolda Gardens

Last week my wireless router was misbehaving so I am posting for 2 Fridays.

 Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 This is one of my favorite shots.  I love his antenna!

American Painted Lady

Happy 4th of July!

Well, a day late.  Didn't make it to Tanglewood for the fireworks last night, so I went today to see some butterflies.

My first Long-Tailed Skipper!!  In the picture below you can see the upper part of the body is a beautiful green-blue color.

There were tons of Pearl Crescents today.

My fave of the day.