Access Denied!

I wasn't going to blip another Monarch today...really, I wasn't.  But when this little scene unfolded right in front of my lens...well, I couldn't resist.

Juanita was sitting calmly, enjoying a nice sip of buddleia with nothing much on her mind.  Out of nowhere, Jose came charging in and attempted to mount her!  Can you believe it?  Well, our Juanita, probably being the migratory generation of Monarch, was having none of Jose's nonsense.  She quickly rebuffed his advances; whereupon he decided to try one last trick hoping to change her mind, as seen here.  Our gal told him to scram, and don't come back!  Drama in the garden...

Earlier in the morning, two more of my monarch eclosed (#10 and #11, male and female respectively)  They were joyfully released at around 1 PM, in memory of Aunt Millie and her long-time partner Ollie.  They both circled my head before spiraling high up into the trees.

Went out hiking for a while this morning, macro lens in hand.  Found some interesting creatures on my walk and have posted four of them starting HERE on Flickr (a new - for me - lady beetle, a black blister beetle, a gastropod, and a tiny sweat bee).  Still have loads of hummers in the garden and am going through about a quart of sugar-water a day.  The males are already on the move so over the next week, I'll be seeing fewer of them.  Sadly, I think P-Hummie has already headed south - but I'll have his favorite feeder up and waiting when he returns next spring.

Thanks for all the lovely comments, etc on my sexy butterflies yesterday!  
Debbi