Daisy is a busy girl playing tennis!

We've been enjoying tennis, at all angles.

 

She's pretty good with curling, too!

Another walk on the wild side with busy felines

Dorah watches Daisy from above

 A long week, it was glorious to grab the camera, call the cats, and take off into the wetland.
With the end of summer, the mosquitoes are cold, and hiding. I took the cats down to the forest, the wetland and the island in our wetland. I built a bridge/ladder so that we could cross it. I never thought that the cattails would grow up between the slats, requiring a bit of work to flatten them, and create a path for my feline buddies.

There are some mauled, dead logs where our bear has moved and ripped apart a massive trunk to get to the bugs inside. The fur from the deer someone ate last season still remains on the ground. Otherwise, I could see brown, green, and growing things.
Everyone is frantically feeding in preparation for winter. The mushrooms are growing in the 166.5 mm of rain we had in August.
All is damp and smells like rich, healthy forest.

The big event, this trip, was Daisy going up the tree. The look on Buster's face seems to be 'tsk-tsk', as he looks upward. She is so wee, the runt of the litter, yet she can pull herself up high. She rappels down, tail first, like a hydro workers, using her strong claws.

Cannot see it, but a dock spider lives
in here. It hid as we approached.
Daisy had one on her ear.

She's like a little dog, keeping right with me. Buster and Dorah hang back a bit, chasing the leopard frogs in the grasses requires some attention. And dignity. Prancing light-footed up a tall tree, not so much!

White baneberry, or Doll's Eyes
I shall add it to my list of outdoor poisonous plants

Someone built a lovely nest.
I had noticed it until now!

We crossed the bridge to the island; 'shrooms are large, fruit is ripe. The 

Daisy ensure that everyone is following me.

Three cats made it across the bridge

Buster paces on the island

 Grooming is required, even as she climbs...

Buster gazes upward

at the Daisy climber

She is gleeful up the tree!

Dorah just sits and waits. Why IS Daisy up so high???

Daisy was the first back across the bridge.
The cattails are a brilliant green.

In the meadow, Dorah races to pass Buster

Dorah runs up the hill to the house.
The old man rests!

Daisy is my curtain climber, climbs trees, too!

Daisy up the tree from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
My curtain climber likes the trees, too. The other two cats couldn't be bothered, but Daisy had a mission of some sort, proving her inner bigness??? We'd gone for a walk in the wetland, to visit our island. Buster gave her a peculiar look. Dorah, Daisy's twin, just rested and waited until Daisy chose to come back down! We lost a lot of trees on the island in last year's drought. They make for great climbing.

Few Monarchs but lots of Milkweed tussock moth caterpillars!

The milkweed pods are huge.
Soon, they will be flying like snow.

.

Fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillar

They are everywhere.

I spotted only a single Monarch this year.  Their population is estimated to be down by 80% due to 2012 drought. The Milkweed tussocks are cleaning up! It doesn't harm the milkweed, as they have happily produced seed pods. They are ripe with seed pods, hanging heavily from the plants.
Our fields are densely populated with milkweed.

I was fascinated with them. I took a walk yesterday and spotted four of them all lined up, efficiently grazing in a row. Daisy and I didn't have the camera. They make me think of my macrame days, when we made anything, or the endless rug-hooking we did.

These moths lay two broods, especially in a good year like this one. With luck, the Monarchs will come back, too.
The caterpillars look like they aren't real, made of wiry wool, with lovely orange, black and white colouring.

Isn't it sweet?

My attempt at a drawing.
Interesting moths.

I scoured my files to find a photo of a Milkweed tussock moth, and failed. Instead, I decided to draw one, rather than steal an image, based on a series of photos on bugguide.net. The white moth I have has spots, which these guys do not posses. The specimen images seem to be more of a buff colour, but ID.net says they are grey.

I'm sure the ones in some of the photos are dead, as it is tough with some moths to poke it enough to peek at the underwing. I've been getting more bold with them, and pulling out the Tiger moth's orange underwing. My large Imperial moth, 4" across, who sat on my front fence for 24 hours, was quite brave.

This might be close!
Bipectinate antennae

Either way, it is late in the season to see them. I played outside in the lights in the dark and couldn't spot any. 

They have cool antennae, with little feathery bits on either side, which means it is a bipectinate antennae. It can be pectinate, with feathers on one side, or filiform (none at all). Butterflies have a clubbed antennae.

Imperial moth,
is the diameter of my finger.
The same feathers on the head!

This one is close to the Tussock
but not quite.

They are fuzzy-wuzzy headed things, feathered almost, with a soft gray colouring, depending upon the photographer. The underwing and forewings are not coloured much. Their hidden bodies are a bright golden yellow, and yellow band with a dark spot. 

I submitted my post to Paint Party Friday, hoping to be further inspired and motivated to sketch a bit more. 

Art show in the Enchanted Forest!

Lovely property
at the end of a dead end road!