My last post was titled Golden Joy. Now those sunflowers are all mature seeds. I am continuing the "gold" theme with two flying critters that also deliver joyful reactions.
One principal source here is cone flowers. Top on the list of seed eaters found on them are the Gold Finches. The male at left is just pausing. When his crop is full, he'll soar away to feed the chicks. Initially, the female stays on the nest and I only see males. But soon, the demand by the chicks is too much for the male, and both of the pair engage in furious harvesting. Then, in a few days, the chicks fledge and the activity nearly ceases.
Often, the Gold Finches are mostly hidden in the densely packed clusters of cone flowers. After many largely hidden birds, one male chose a nice single stalk to feed on. The camera jumped into long runs of high speed shooting. The result was two "keeper" images out of a sequence of over sixteen.
Another golden flyer is the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. This one was feeding on other cone flowers in a more southern location, where they hadn't yet gone to seed. You can tell that it is recently emerged. With time, they can get pretty ragged on the fringes.
A few moments later, I found a butterfly bush in full bloom. I was amazed to see two swallowtails sharing the same plant.
These golden flyers won't be around long. I'm schedule next week for a short outing to see bugling elk in western Pennsylvania. Autumn is just around the corner.
Paul Schmitt
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