Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Big Sky, Small Things

Believe it or not there are other things to see at Hasty Brook besides birds.
There is the big sky, so blue it almost makes your heart burst.
A Meadow Frittilary (correct me please if I'm wrong) sampling the sweet clover.

Red Osier Dogwood with its ripe white berries.

Tall Buttercup. I have to love a flower called Buttercup.

A new life reclaiming an old one. There are lots of snags with many cavities in the woods.

A White-spotted Sawyer with its heart-shaped spot. Adults feed on twig bark and larvae mine dead and dying conifers.
I hope someone will be able to help me out on this small shrub. There are a few of them in the sunny area alongside the driveway. The soil there is sandy and well drained. It doesn't quite look like the well-established Serviceberry that grows abundantly in the bushy areas up there.
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27 comments:

KGMom said...

Ahhh, Lynne--wonderful. You make me want to come visit.
Thanks for IDing the butterfly--I had one flutter around my flowers on Sunday and I didn't know what it was--but it was the same as you have pictured.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous shot of the pretty blue sky. That beetle has such long antennae! I have seen something that looks like your photo with the white berries and never knew what they were. Thanks for IDing them for me. At first I thought those might be huckleberries in your last photo but the leaves don't look like the ones I just looked up on Google. I'm no help!

Marsha said...

What beauty you have surrounding Hasty Brook! The berry looks like a blueberry but I have no idea what their foilage looks like.

Mary said...

It looks like a North Carolina Blue Sky!

Such wonderful things in Hasty Brook. Your pictures really bring it to us but one of these days, I wanna see it and smell it. Looks so fresh!

jalynn01 said...

Wow! Nice photos, but I just love that tiny heart on the back of the beetle. It looks stenciled on!! Nice shots!

jalynn01 said...

Wow! Nice photos, but I just love that tiny heart on the back of the beetle. It looks stenciled on!! Nice shots!

Kathie Brown said...

Red osier dogwood; a plant I miss. I learned about it when I lived in Utah and planted some in my yard before I moved down here to Tucson. We are too hot and dry for it here I believe. How nice to see it once again. I hope you take some photos of it once the leaves change color! Beautiful blue skies too! thanks for stopping by to say "hi" to me!

Shelley said...

Great variety - I especially loved the photos of the trees against the blue sky!

Ruth said...

Nice post. All the little special touches that make Hasty Brook so lovely.

Susan Gets Native said...

Aww....a bug with a heart. Who could be icky about that?
(see my post tonight about a totally icky bug)

I wanna come to Hasty Brook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lynne, great photos as usual.
That fritillary is a tough one.
Really, a shot of the underside
would help greatly. I showed this
photo to my brother Ron, who I
consider more knowledgable than I
regarding leps, and his first im-
pression was Great Spangled Frit.
and I had to agree. However, we
can't say for certain without a
shot of the underside. Sorry
Lynne, frits are tough.
Hap in New Hope

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

kgmom- Come on up- any time!

Linda- I'm leaning toward serviceberries although the leaves are a bit different.

Marsha- the berries do look like blueberries but I'm thinking the foliage is wrong. Wish they were though!

Mary- I hope so one day too.

jalynn01- Isn't the heart neat?

Kathi- I'll be sure and check the fall foliage for you!

Shelly- thanks, the blue was so pure that day.

Bird girl- thanks. It was a variety!

Ruth- I try to share what I see and what is so lovely to me there.

Susan- We only have the cutest bugs at Hasty Brook!! You need to visit!

Hap- Thanks for the help on the butterfly. First off, I am helpless at photographing butterflies, so the photo isn't that good. I actually got out my Kaufman butterfly field guide and to be honest I was pleased that I at least new it was some kind of frittilary! You and Ron make a great team!! Does Ron know birds too?

Jayne said...

Even more reasons to love Hasty Brook... such a magical looking place. :c)

Unknown said...

Looks very nice there, love the photos.

nonizamboni said...

You certainly live in God's country and your blog is a fine tribute to all that beauty. Nice photos.
p.s. Transplanted to St. Paul I love Minnesota and all the natural beauty.
Happy day!

Leedra said...

I agree with Hap, I think it is a Great Spangled Fritillary. Hap helped me to id mine, and I did verify it. The Fritillaries are so similiar on top, the underside of the wings is the best way to tell. But my vote is on teh Great Spangled Fritillary.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photographs! I never saw a beetle with such huge antenae!

Mary C said...

I love all your close-up shots, Lynne. Everything makes me feel like there's a lot of peace and tranquility there at Hasty Brook. I'm sure you feel the same way.

NCmountainwoman said...

What lovely photographs. Every one of them. Of course, I couldn't help but notice that the sky is "Carolina Blue."

Anonymous said...

Hi Lynne, sorry it took so long to get back to you. Ron and I spent 3
hours at Madelia looking for the
Swallow-tailed Kite in vain (he
still needs it for MN). Yes,he does
know birds, but about 30 some years
ago he switched his main interest to entomology, esp. tiger beetles,
butterflies, and certain moths. I
have been fortunate to have a very
small fraction of his knowledge
rub off on me! The day was not a
total loss; he managed to secure
specimens of 2 species of tiger
beetle new to Watonwan County.
Hap in New Hope

RuthieJ said...

I love that Minnesota blue sky color this time of year--I wish I could find some nice yarn that exact color!
yummmmmmmm-Serviceberries. You could make some nice jam or syrup if the birds and bears don't get them first!

Heidi said...

Gorgeous sky pics! Ours isn't that deep blue today... it's nice to see yours :D

Mel said...

Hasty Brook is sooo pretty!!
I hope I can visit you sometime, I'm pretty sure you'll have a hard time trying to kick me out of there!

Ecobirder said...

Pretty pics.

tiptoethruphylsgarden.blogspot.com said...

I`m sure it is a huckleberry bush.Your photos are beautiful,the light is captured perfectly in them,found you thru roundtop ruminations,phylliso

kjpweb said...

Very beautiful blog, that you have going here. And for your Fritillary, while I'm pretty sure that it is not a Meadow F. - I think from what can be seen the closest ID would be Callipe Fritillary or Great Spangled F. - both sport the white fringes, that the Meadow F does not show.
Either way - it's beautiful! :)
Cheers, Klaus

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Jayne- You know my door is always open!

Darla- It's my favorite place- thanks for visiting!

nonizamboni- I'm glad you like Minnesota, thanks for visiting here!

Leedra- thanks for the input on the frittilary. I am hopelessly uneducated on butterflies.

scienceguy288- The beetle was huge. It reminded me of a longhorn steer!

MaryC- I do feel peace there.

ncmountainwoman- Carolina Blue? I thought it was Minnesota Blue!!

Hap- Too bad about the Swallow-tailed Kite. That would have been really amazing to see. Between the two of you, you and your brother Ron are a wealth of information. Thank you so much for sharing what you know!!!

Ruthie- We did get to find a few ripe serviceberies to taste- YUM!!

Red- It sure was a blue sky day!

Mel- You are welcome here ANY time. (and Tommy too!)

Ecobirder- Thank you.

PhyllisO- Huckleberry! That's so exciting! Thank you for visiting here.

Klaus- Thanks for the vote on the frittilary! Thanks also for your kind words and for stopping in here.