Move along ... nothing here for you to see

I was creeping along, stalking butterflies and damselflies in a meadow next to a lake, as one does.  I was so intent on my mission that it took a few minutes before I realized I was being "chipped" at.  A visual search of the tall grasses just off the trail turned up a Song Sparrow who was giving me quite a tongue lashing.  And there I was with a macro lens on the camera.  Not to be daunted, I snapped some shots.  They were awful; in fact, beyond awful.  So, a scamper back to the car, about a quarter mile off.  Grab second camera with 300 lens and 1.7 TC, and scamper back, only to be scolded by TWO sparrows.  Evidently, they had a nest in the phragmites.  Couple of bursts fired then mad scamper back to the car.  Another photo of one of the sparrows HERE on Flickr

Lots of scampering this morning, as you can tell.  Saw lots of butterflies and some other interesting crawlers.  Also saw a pair of Eastern Phoebes (flycatchers) working on a nest.  Skidded back home in time for lunch with Hubs before he had to leave to take MIL to the dentist.  Which left me more time to have a little macro safari in the yard.  Highlight of the safari was me laying on my stomach in order to get an eye-level view of a carpenter bee.  He wasn't impressed.

You may recall that I saw a Black Swallowtail butterfly laying eggs while I was out hiking about 10 days ago.  And that I snipped off a bit of the host plant with an egg and brought it home.  Well, yesterday it "hatched" into an impossibly tiny caterpillar.  Even with an extension tube on the macro lens it was hard to get a reasonable shot.  Right now, it looks like a bird dropping so rather humble beginnings for what will eventually be a stunning butterfly.  You can see it HERE on Flickr

The baby bluebirds are now becoming quite vocal and whenever one of the parents brings food there is a chorus of little peeps coming from the nest box.  It's so adorable I can barely stand it.  Still waiting for the first titmice and downy woodpeckers to fledge - should be any day now if the condition of the parents is any indication.  

Thanks for all the love on my little Red Eft yesterday!  I was hoping to find some more today on a trail that usually has a good number of them in the spring but I came up with zip.  Making me glad I blipped one yesterday.

xo
Debbi