GUESTS FOR LUNCH

 It is a gratifying thing to be nice to wildlife.  These turkeys have been coming through my place for a week now and I took some corn down to the edge of the meadow and tossed it about as if feeding chickens.  The wild turkeys have been hanging out gorging themselves for an hour down there.  I'm happy to help them out.  I hope they stay over winter as I can be of service to them when food gets slim pickins.

 

PHASMATODEA (Stick Bug)

 

 I had the wrong camera with me when I came across this beauty.  The Phasmatodea, or Walking Stick is an amazing creature and most welcome at my home.

Walking sticks are herbivores that enjoy dining on the leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs such as oak, rose, rhododendron, ivy, eucalyptus, apple and strawberry. Their feeding activity may be beneficial because they prune foliage, encouraging new plant growth.

The Stick insects have unique camouflage qualities to protect themselves from its predator, the most important thing they can do. Since they are herbivorous, they do not bite or sting humans or other insects. ... You won't die from a Walking Stick Bug bite; their pinch feels like a tiny needle pinch.

 

 

A BUTTERFLY'S WORLD

They are little pieces of floating fluff that stimulates our perceptions and understanding of the term beautiful.  Their world is beautiful and they deserve that wondrous habitat,  fore their place on this earth is sadly limited.

Below is a hummerfly.  Note the plumage on his legs

 

TEXTURES

 

Clear Wing Moth aka Hummingbird moth

 

CLEAR WING MOTH BABIES. Lepidoptera

The babies are four in number and appear in late afternoon when the sun wains and a cooler air prevales. These babies are only just short of an inch long and they are ultrasonic in speed. I don't know why but they alight for two to three seconds on a bloom and they are off. They are a challenge to photograph. Parents are slow and more methodical. The wings of the clear wing babies are covered in scales to protect the soft wing material. The scales eventually are shed and the transparent wing appears - hence, the clear wing moth. aka - hummingbird moth.

They have two sets of wings that allow for super sonic flash forward flight and also a rearward set that allows them to hover with reverse and sideways directional change possible

 

 

THREE NEW FRIENDS - Two are immature bald eagles and the third is an adult