Fridays at Reynolda Gardens and Sundays at Little Walden

So many cool things to post last week I am behind schedule!

Friday:

Common Buckeye

 The lion head fountain is one of my favorite features of the Gardens.

 Ailanthus Webworm moth on Sedum, got some of this for my butterfly garden, I hope I don't kill it, I don't exactly have a green thumb.

Sunday:

 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 Dragonfly - lucky shot, he was fast!

 Little stone building on the nature trail

I know most people call these Daddy Longlegs, but I have always called them Grandaddy Longlegs.  Probably something my Grandaddy told me when I was little. :)

Sundays at Little Walden

Ahhh, Sunday.  And even better, no getting up early Monday morning!

 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - I never get tired of seeing these.

 Long-tailed Skipper - I used to never see these and this year I have seen them all over.

Baby Deer - so excited to see this little cutie (and 2 older deer) as I was leaving.  Good thing my son was driving so I could take some pictures from the car.

Sundays at Little Walden

Oh happy day!!

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Common Buckeye

Monarch!

This is a male, you can tell by the scent patches on the wings.

What a cutie!

Sundays at Little Walden

Didn't know if I would make it to Little Walden today, it rained all morning.  It cleared up, but no sun.  It was actually a little chilly, but no complaints here!

 Hummingbird Moth

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Sundays at Little Walden

Another beautiful day at the Little Walden Nature Trail.

 Skipper

 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 Teeny-tiny little butterfly.  I believe this is a Least Skipper.

Horace's Duskywing

Sundays at Little Walden

The Tanglewood Butterfly Garden and the Little Walden Pond are becoming a tradition for me on Sundays.  It's so peaceful there I love it.

There were tons of Skippers there today.  They especially seem to like the Lantana.  I should get more for my own garden.

These 2 are the same Skipper.  This is a Zabulon Skipper.  So bright and colorful!  I love when they open their wings.  They remind me of tiny little fighter planes.

I wasn't sure what type of Skipper this was, so I checked by book, then checked on-line, then rechecked my book, and I think this is one is actually a Zabulon also.  This is a female and the first one is a male.

I got a new lens (Olympus M Zuiko 45mm f1.8) for my camera (Olympus E-PL1) this week-end.  I have wanted this lens for a looooonng time!  By itself it is not the lens to use for butterfly shooting, but with my MCON-P01 macro converter, it's not too bad.  It takes some getting used to, I am used to zooming in and out whenever I need too and the new one is a fixed length.  But so far I am really enjoying it.  All the photos from today were taken with this lens.

I even got to use it when I got home and had a visitor in my own butterfly garden.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail