Finishing Off August

The last week of August saw a lot of beautiful butterflies in our garden, and a smattering of birds here and there. Our zinnias are hanging on, so we expect to continue enjoying their color into September. Enjoy as we wrap up the pics of August.

 Good-lookin' male Lesser Goldfinch, close up to the office window.

 Tiger Swallowtail on our purple cone flower.

 And on the marigolds guarding the garden.

 Coming in for a landing on the mother ship of zinnias!

 This morning three female Painted Buntings on the feeder, and not a male to be seen!

 Gulf Fritillary underside.

 And topside!

 Tiger Swallowtail flying over the marigolds.

Prize shot of the Tiger Swallowtail on the purple cone flower.

 Pipevine Swallowtail matching oranges with the zinnia.

 And showin' his blue.

 It was a busy day in the garden, as evidenced by two on the same blossom at one time.

Pics of the Day

Back in mid-August we had a sunny Saturday when a young male Black-chinned hummingbird was really checking out all the zinnias, and the blue bottle feeder. Enjoy this offering from a few weeks ago.

 From this point on he had picked up that dusting of pollen on the end of his beak.

 The stripes on his neck are the tell-tale sign of his male immaturity. Don't say anything!

 We had recently got a bargain gate trellis at a season-end sale, and the big Texas star shows up nicely as the backdrop.

 Always enjoy when the brilliant color of the zinnia reflects on the hummer's breast.

 You may find it hard to believe, but that purple in the lower left is lavender that we planted as a starter this spring and nursed it through the Texas summer!

Look closely and you'll see he's sticking his tongue out.