Sunday, August 31, 2014

An August Afternoon Butterfly Tour in Americus

Allow me to transport you to my garden for a quick butterfly tour.  If you were here, these are the things I would be sharing with you.  Please understand that our garden is private and exclusive for registered guests only.

(If you want to see larger photos, just click on them.)
In the butterfly bush, there are lots of silver spotted skippers, like this one.

Silver Spotted Skipper at Americus Garden Inn
Another brown butterfly, a duskywing has just appeared.  Check out the beautiful design on those wings.
Duskywing at Americus Garden Inn
No, that is not a bee or a butterfly.  It is a bee mimic, a hummingbird moth, also known as a clearwing hummingbird moth.
Clearwing hummingbird moth at Americus Garden Inn
It looks like a couple of skippers have found each other.  Notice the slight color variation - one is male and one is female.  Love is in the air.
Skippers at Americus Garden Inn
Look at those huge eye spots on the wings of the buckeye butterfly.  They are so incredibly vibrant.
Buckeye butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
A gulf fritillary butterfly on the purple queen.  Wow!  The orange really stands out against the purple.
Gulf Fritillary at Americus Garden Inn
Another buckeye with its wings totally open.  Absolutely gorgeous!  I love this photo.  It is exactly as I saw it.
Buckeye Butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
Another gulf fritillary.  There were so many of them.  They do not look real, they are so incredibly colorful.
Gulf fritillary butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
This sleepy orange butterfly was not very cooperative, so, this is the best photo I could get.
Sleepy Orange at Americus Garden Inn
A duskywing on the salvia.  So easy to miss these brown beauties.
Duskywing at Americus Garden Inn
Do you hear that?  It's a cicada on the bald cypress tree.
Cicada at Americus Garden Inn
A little brown skipper hanging upside down on the lespedeza.  I love the word - lespedeza.
Brown skipper at Americus Garden Inn
Did you notice that small bluish white butterfly?  It is an azure butterfly.  It just landed on the lespedeza and it appears to be depositing eggs.
Azure butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
Can you see it?  Take a closer look.
lynx spider at Americus Garden Inn
Let's take a closer look at the green lynx spider hiding in the  black-eyed susans waiting to jump out an catch a meal.
green lynx spider at Americus Garden Inn
A longtailed skipper just landed in the butterfly bush.
Longtailed skipper at Americus Garden Inn
Another buckeye makes an appearance. 
buckeye butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
A dragonfly has decided to join us on the tour and is posing for photos.
dragonfly at Americus Garden Inn
The silver spotted skippers are almost always hanging upside down, like this one in the abelia.
silver spotted skipper at Americus Garden Inn
Another hummingbird moth is in the abelia.
clearwing hummingbird moth at Americus Garden Inn
A red spotted purple landed on the river rock of the pond.  I placed my hand next to it and it climbed onto my hand.
red spotted purple at Americus Garden Inn
Imagine your hand next to mine, sharing this magic moment.
red spotted purple butterfly at Americus Garden Inn
Thank you so much for allowing me to share my garden, at the Americus Garden Inn Bed & Breakfast, with you.   Come stay with us for a couple of days.  It would be my pleasure to share this with you in person.
Love,
Susan