Autumn Skies

Hi there!  From October and November, some glowing colors, pretty clouds and things for Skywatch Friday, a nice place to view sky pictures from all around the world.

10/10/2012 5:47 PM

10/10/2012 5:48 PM

10/10/2012 5:50 PM

10/15/2012 9:39 AM

11/07/2012 Sunset

11/28/2012 Moonrise and Jupiter

Happy Skywatching!

Turpentine Bush

Hello!  Here are snapshots (taken October - November) of a common native plant called turpentine bush and also some of the insects who are attracted to it.  The plant gets its name from the odor of its crushed leaves.

Turpentine Bush (Ericameria laricifolia)

Flower Fly

Longhorn Beetle

Wasp

Giant Mesquite Bug

Lakin Grasshopper

Lakin Grasshopper

cholla cactus, grass and turpentine brush at sunset

Have a wonderful week. :)

Odd Birds

This year two unusual house sparrows have been visiting my backyard, the darker bird with white wing feathers forming a "v" or heart shape on his back and a lighter sparrow sporting larger white wing patches.

I call them Mr. V and Angel.

I first noticed little Angel while watching quail in late May.

typical house sparrow (left), "Angel" (right)

taking a dust bath

My last sightings of Angel were in July:

Mr. V has been a regular backyard visitor since June.

And he's still here today:

I also observed a strange looking phainopepla one day in October.

For comparison, the picture on the left is of a normal colored male phainopepla with all black head feathers.

Notice the white head feathers on this fellow:

Have a good day!

Autumn Butterflies

Queen

Tailed Orange

Checkered White

Funereal Duskywing

Texan Crescent

Texan Crescent

Great Purple Hairstreak

Reakirt's Blue

Reakirt's Blue

Queen

Common Buckeye

~  ~  ~  Have a good day!  ~  ~  ~