Butterflies and Birds!!

Before I left Webster, I did catch a migration of American Lady butterflies which were all over my neighbor's butterfly bush.  She has thought they were young monarchs but taking pictures revealed that they were really American Ladies.  This is the back view.  They are quite a bit smaller than the Monarchs and aren't as pretty.

This is a side view of the American Lady.  

There were tons of these Gulf Fritillaries taking nectar from the flowers down at Ft. Fisher on one warm sunny day.  The butterflies definitely prefer the sunshine and warm temps!!

This is the side view of the Gulf Fritillary.  You won't see these in Webster!

This is a Clouded Sulfur Butterfly which is very common down here and also gives butterflies their name!

This is a Silver Spotted Skipper which I spotted at Greenfield Lake.  Lisa also got a picture of a Long Tailed Skipper.

Shockingly I managed to see two birds that I haven't seen before in my first days down here!  This is a Red-eyed Vireo.  I probably have seen these before but never got pictures good enough to identify.  From my birding friends, this is evidently a bird that is hard to photograph.  It was hiding in the branches of my next door neighbor's bush just as I was exiting my car.

This is the back view.  It is kind of a greenish color and really blends in well with the foliage.

This was my second new bird -- a Brown Headed Nuthatch.  This was a picture that my daughter took at Greenfield Lake.  It is also upside down as he was hanging from the branch.  I couldn't get a good shot, only one good enough to identify the bird!  Exciting to find two new birds in two days!

There  were two Anhingas hanging out still at Greenfield Lake.  This is the female up high in a tree off in the distance.

This is the male Anhinga which is also called the "piano bird" because of the patterning on his wings, obvious here.

I did see a couple of other birds at Greenfield Lake which were probably Yellow-rumped Warblers but couldn't get a good enough picture.  This is a Palm Warbler that was hanging around.  There was not very good light so pictures weren't so great!!

Lisa's house always provides photographic opportunities.  This was one of the many frogs she has rescued from her pool.  It is a Southern Leopard Frog. 

Lisa took this shot, up close and personal.