The weather here is brutal. Hot (mid-90's) with humidity and a thick smokey haze from forest fires. I don't recommend being outside, much less taking a walk in such conditions.
Instead, we'll go back in time to late July when the weather was better...
The swallowtail butterflies are loving my verbena bonariensis. The hummingbirds like it too.
Even when 'spent' the blooms can be pretty.
The meadow grasses are dry and taupe is the main color. The Queen Anne's Lace dominates.
The Iris tenax has fat green seed pods.
The Steller's Jays and chipmunks are fighting over the ripe hazelnuts.
The jays sit on the crossbars of the deer fence and pound the nuts on the fence to open them. Smart birds!
Timing is everything. The thistles are blooming and the American Goldfinch's are raising their babies. The babies eat thistle seeds.
Deer, birds, chipmunks...everyone will soon be gorging on blackberries.
The Elderberry amazes me - it has been in bloom for over two months now.
I never see ripe Elderberries as the Black-headed Grosbeaks eat them while they are still green.
The Big Leaf Maples are adorned with clusters of seeds. Lots of birds, squirrels, and the like will soon be eating and stashing the seeds.
A photo like this makes it easy to forget that it is hot and smokey outside. I hope your weather is better wherever you are.
4 comments:
What beautiful pics. Awesome + they made my day. My very dear friend lives in Spokane + she too is experiencing heat/haze/smoke.
MaryO1230
Thanks for the lovely walk. I'm staying in up here too. Very nasty.
Incredibly beautiful! Thank you.
I don't recall hearing about a year when it was smoky, from you! California, yet... not north! So sorry! Nevertheless, great pictures to enjoy. Thank you!
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