This morning I decided to take a quick drive down Chandler Road and onward to Oakland Camp in hopes of finding the Red Milkweed Beetle feasting and/or mating on Showy Milkweeds. It turns out the country weed eaters beat me to it and practically every one of my favorite spots had been decimated. However, when I drove past the camp toward Gilson Creek, I was beyond the areas where weed eaters go and had some success. I never saw these beetles. Perhaps they're having an off year. But I saw lots of other interesting things, This is a small sampler. The above photo of a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar was taken at one of the aforementioned favorite spots on the road to the camp, but it was barely out of range of the weedeaters, one of the few Showy Milkweeds still standing.
In a field in the area near Gilson Creek, I found a Monarch Butterfly so engrossed in feeding that it let me get within a foot for over a dozen photos. Then I was happy.
Not too far off, I found a stand of Narrow-leaf Milkweed, and there were no bugs on top of the flowers that I could see. I started tipping the flower heads over to see if anything of interest was hiding beneath (it was still cool, early in the morning). I found a pair of Plume Moths mating. Click on the above photo for a closer view. I got over 100 good photos on this morning expedition and I'll select some for the next few posts.
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