Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Down Country Paths. #5
As I look out my window, coffee in hand, I see that it is a beautiful, sunny morning, oops, with a few clouds too which suddenly blocked that nice sunshine. Oh well. Hard to get rid of those clouds this summer. And unfortunately clouds tend to keep things cooler. It is also not so good for pictures. Not the kind of pictures I am trying to get anyway.
Colorful flowers are much more colorful in the sun, than under cloudy skies. There is a family of chickadees here this morning. Ned, the nuthatch, is here again too. He will likely bring his family around soon too. The gulls have been here for their breakfast. Baxter, the blue jay, has been back too. He should be bringing his family around soon as well.
Aphrodite Fritillary, wingspan of 2 1/2 inches (about 62mm).
August is nearly here, and that signals the end of summer. Very soon, within the next week or two, the first of our summer birds will start to head south once again. By the end of August about a third of our birds will be gone until next year. Summer is short indeed. But there is so much beauty around during the summer months, much of it is never seen by people, mainly because they do not look for it.
Things that are tiny and yet amazing in so many ways. The last couple of summers I have been trying to photograph these tiny wonders, though trying to identify them is certainly a challenge. There are so many thousands of insects, just in our area, that it is impossible most times to identify it right down to the actual species.
This little green bee has a long name, the Splendid Metallic Green Bee, about 3/8inch (about 8.5mm) long. This is the female.
Unless a person is an expert in the field of identification of insects, it is impossible for the average person to do. Identifying down to the ‘family’ level is considered to be good. There is no book or online guide that is complete enough, not even close, to identify insects any better than that. Sigh. But, the odd time I can identify right down to species since it is something that is actually shown in the guide.
I am slowly building my library of guide books for this area. Sometimes I have to settle for a book that covers a much larger area though. I missed a nice book on moth identification for our area. It was no longer available. I contacted the publisher but they have no plans to republish the book. Sigh.
The Large Lace Border Moth, about 1 inch (25mm) wingspan.
The chipmunks are busy out there now, they were late getting here this morning. It was a bit chilly earlier, only 52F (11C), so they usually wait until it warms up a bit before coming out. Smart critters. Well, I was planning something else to write about today, but got carried away with this. Sigh. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Love your pics. I need a better camera. God’s beauty is all around. 🌻🐝
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Thank you so much! Yes indeed, God’s beauty abounds!😊😸📷
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Steve, you are so right about most not looking for the beauty in the little things all around them. May we all look up and take notice of God’s beauty all around. I’m thankful you are finally getting to enjoy summer your way. Have a great weekend! Tell Muffin hello! 👋🏼 ☕️ ☕️
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Yes indeed Renee, God’s beauty abounds all around us! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!😊😸🌞☕☕
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Thanks you, my friend.
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Enjoy capturing all the small insects and delights that most miss. Beautiful photos! Enjoy the bit of summer. We have a very short summer also, shorter than you in the Far North. I will be happy if we don’t see the white stuff on the ground until the end of September!
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Thank you so much! I love finding beauty in tiny things, amazing how much there is in these little wonders. I keep thinking we will have an early winter this year, but I hope I’m wrong!😊😸🌞📷
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Yes, in the North, winter is always early! Fall starts before the end of August with the colors changing.
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Because of our big lake it helps to hold winter back until early Nov usually, though not always. But go 5 miles out of town and they can have snow on the ground 2 or 3 weeks before us.
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😊☃
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Great clicks
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Thank you very much Sheree! Enjoy your weekend!😊😸📷
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You too
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Thanks Sheree, it has been great!
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I really like the butterflies ! 🦋 you can see how God’hand in designing them ! I do get the monarch butterflies which bless my heart ! Sleep well tonight ! 😴 hopefully Muffin will let you ! 😍😻❗️
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Butterflies are true beauties of God’s creation! Muffin always lets me sleep, until her 1am feeding! Have a good night!😊😻🌛💤💤
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Oh that green bee picture is gorgeous. And what a name it has !
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Yes, quite the name for a little bee! We actually have 3 species of green bees here, but so far I only have a picture of one, though I have seen one of the others.😊😸📷
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Many green bees. I don’t think we have any in my area. I should look it up. 😄
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You just might have them! I am not sure how widespread they are. They like daisies and goldenrod around here, plus Iceland poppies.😊😸
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There seems to be some green bees species in my area too, I looked it up, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Maybe one day 🙂
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They are small and easily overlooked, but keep watching for them.😊😸
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I will now that I know they are out there. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. 😄
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Very welcome!
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