Swallowtail on phlox!

We're approaching the end of the gardening season. The phlox are in bloom and the birds, butterflies and bees are amazing. This is an interesting species. Their wings are so delicate, and all you really see is the yellow as they fly. I'm so grateful to see this one visiting my garden beside the goldfish pond.

Bird watching season isn't over with looming Labour Day, however, the bird population does change. The blackbirds have gone from my feeder, as have the rose-breasted grosbeaks.

As do many of us, I provide bird feeders, as well as encouraging flowers, for my birds.

This indoor plant, a fuchsia, I pop outdoors in the summer. The hummingbirds love it. It's taken some time to bloom.


It is easier said than done, to photograph them. I sit on the back deck, and wait for that tell-tale sound of their wings humming. A cat is usually on the back deck with me. This discourages them somewhat. When I pick up the camera, they get antsy.

Even if the felines are out patrolling the forest, the hummers get ticked off. They would fly halfway between myself and the flowers, and buzz, giving me the eye as if to scare me away. They are happier at the front, with the real hummingbird feeder, but, again, photos are tricky!

Pretty Rufous hummingbird on my horse chestnut

It's orange wasn't visible until it turned its head.

Goldfinch and chickadee share

In the front I have some sunflowers that have gone to seed. The birds are content to share with one another. The sunflowers have been hosting all sorts of bees and wasps. They now lean over, heads drooping with the weight of the ripe seeds. The cycle of life, and the cycle of the season, is nearly complete. Days shorten, temperatures moderate.

Eastern tiger swallowtail on phlox

Swallowtail likes the petunias as much as the hummingbirds!

Bee in balloon flower

Finally captured the illusive Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on my property

You'll recall my struggles with the yellow jackets.
They are GONE!

The little twerp has been teasing me, popping about, in the meadow, on Oliver's Lot, after our wildflowers beginning in June. Finally, I got her.

Unfortunately, if you watch the video, so did Daisy.

It started off simply enough. I was looking at the pond, admiring the new fencing around the primrose. The white have flowered and gone to seed. The much more aromatic pink have now blossomed. I love the colour.

Geraldine is a happy girl. We had 48mm of rain.

Checking out Geraldine, to see if she was OK after a cold night (10 C.) in the pond, There this flighty butterfly was feeding.

I spotted it, and grabbed some great photos of her long proboscis reaching deep into the flower. They are yellow on the underwing, and the body yellow, but on the top, much darker.

Papilio glaucus Linnaeus, 

first identified in 1758.
The wings flap separately, and their furry bodies are amazing. It truly flutters, and in the video, you'll notice that she only uses her forewings, the hindwings remain still. They are quite separate. Her antennae are quite different from the nocturnal moths, long, smooth, with a bulb at the end. It is used, primarily, for smelling; pheromones in mates and plants, semiochemicals; navigation; locating food and avoiding predators.
Her abdomen is yellow on the bottom and black on the top.
There are many places to find out more information, just ensure that they are a reputable source. Any affiliated with a university, or those with "gc.ca" = government of Canada.
Also, on-line to track them. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is widespread throughout the eastern U.S. It reaches into Canada only in southern Ontario north to the Bruce Peninsula, the Rideau Lakes and Grenville County in eastern Ontario. 
Specimen collection data
and dynamic map

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I've been trying to capture this beauty for two months. Finally, it landed on my flowers. Unfortunately, Daisy was nearby. It did get away from her! All was good.