It was raining once again as I awoke this morning. Seems to do that a lot on my days off. The bright side of staying inside the rig most of the day is that I haven’t had to pluck any ticks off of my body! I guess there’s always a silver lining to every cloud.
Blue Flag Iris
Tonight’s photos are from the trip yesterday to check out the Breeding Bird Survey route. Last Thursday, Janice the volunteer coordinator gave me a cloth sack full of field guides that she had put together for each RV volunteer to use. I certainly had time today to use them, so I can actually identify the wildflowers in this post. 
What a great idea that is. I wish other refuges thought to do the same thing.
White Admiral Butterfly
When I take Emma for her first outs in the morning, I hook her up to her tie out and then dig the bird feeders out from the basement bin. As I stood up with the feeders in hand, a small fox popped out of the wet tall grass not 20 feet from me. As Muffy commented on yesterday’s post, perhaps it was coming to control the woodchuck population. Either that or it wanted a quick breakfast of one of the numerous 13 lined ground squirrels. A little movement by me, and it sped off back through the grasses. It was a nice sighting to start the day.
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Tufted Loosestrife
This afternoon, I finally got one of the mosquito traps that Merikay sent me put together. I don’t keep a supply of yeast on hand in the motorhome, and I kept forgetting to pick some up when I was in town. It’s a mixture of water, brown sugar and yeast that you put in the bottle to attract and trap those nasty little things. The recipe called for 1 gram of yeast. I had bought one of those Red Star three pack yeast things. Turned out each packet contains 7 grams. Okay, so how much is 1 gram? I had to guestimate, and just added one big pinch to the mixture. As per the directions, I’ve put the container outside a little ways from where I sit in the evening. Last night, I wore shorts when I went to bring Emma in, and was brutally attacked in less than two minutes. So the control is set in this experiment. I’ll let you know how it works.
Showy Lady’s Slippers
Wildflower wise, this batch of Showy Lady’s Slippers was the best find of the day on yesterday’s excursion. They have just begun to bloom. This is the official state flower of Minnesota, and is the largest and most impressive of the orchids found in the state.
They are just downright beautiful! It’s worth putting up with the ticks, and mosquitoes, and deer flies just to see these blooms.
The last thing I’m throwing into the mix tonight is a website that my son, Daniel, sent me. He thought you readers might enjoy it. I agree. If you have time, check out the rather short you-tube video on this rainforest moth cocoon.
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
