The Other Critters from Last Week

My chives are blooming again.  Maybe it's because I cut them back earlier than usual, before seeds had formed.  Well, can you see who was glad they are blooming again?  I saw this last Saturday, after I'd already posted for Camera Critters.

I don't remember if I've seen a buckeye butterfly here before.  I was so excited, I almost did another CC post that day.  This is why I decided to go ahead and post the rest of the photos I had exported for yesterday's Camera Critters and didn't use.

I haven't seen this beauty since Saturday, so maybe it was just passing through.

I am continuing to see monarchs and bees every day. 

I am also seeing wasps, cabbage whites, a blue of some kind, and a few skippers.  A book I have says the different species of skippers are challenging to identify.  The club area of a skipper's antenna is bent, which is different from other butterflies.

I tried to find this in my book, but couldn't tell.  Last year, someone on the butterfly forum at ivilliage had a couple suggestions to what kind of skipper it could be, but my memory is not so great.

I still want to see if this is a male or female of the black wasps that love to feed on my blooms.

This was identified here, I think, last year.  I'll have to look and see.  It sure is colorful.

Here's more sharing going on.

The Virginia mountain mint that I divided and only replanted a small clump of is blooming, and the wasps, who were the reason I only kept a small clump, have found it.

This is either a third kind, or male or female of one of the others.  I did briefly try to find these wasps online, but didn't see them that I could tell.

A whole lot of flies were hanging out on the Autumn Joy sedum.

This grackle, may be giving me a "don't take my picture look" but I did anyway.  (When we cleaned out the garage a week or so ago, we came across some sunflower seeds, and Larry put them in different feeders in the yard.  The critters have been very active around them.)

There were a bunch of sparrows all around at this time.  Can you see the ones on the sidewalk?

While I was out taking photos, I heard a thump, looked up, and saw this squirrel, lying on its side, next to the small branch/stick, which apparently, gave way with the weight of the squirrel.  It sure looked dazed.  After a couple minutes, it slowly walked off.

More sharing:

Look what happened to the katydid!  My daylilies must be very nourishing!

Can you see what I call a hummingbird moth?  I think it's a white-lined sphinx moth.  It was almost dark, and I couldn't get a good photo of it.

These were taken the 14th.

I'm not sure why this goofy squirrel was lying flat, but I'm thinking it was eating sunflower seeds.

I've been chasing rabbits out of the garden areas almost every day.  I'm sure they come right back, but it somehow makes me think I am defending my poor plants from them.  This one stopped next door, and tried to look innocent.

I was surprised to catch Heidi trying to catch a fly, or whatever it was.  It's not a dignified photo, so don't tell her I posted it.

Wherever you are, I hope the critters are good ones, and you are able to get outside some.