Mailbox Monday: Hand-painted Iris

The Magic of Millions of Monarchs

Saturday was the Monarch Butterfly Festival at St. Marks. We have yet to go to the festival as we prefer to go when the crowds are not there. We went down on Sunday. Our older son and his toddler son went with us. The butterflies are rarely on schedule for the festival, but this year they came in with a cool front and were there on the coast by the thousand, if not the million I named in the title of this post.

I counted fifty individuals and estimated the rest and came up with 400 that we saw. They are feeding on the sweet nectar of the blooming saltbush that grows along the dikes.

They have come hundreds of miles already and will fly across the Gulf to Mexico; their progeny will return in the spring, though not as dramatically as the fall. Their numbers in the spring are hardly noticeable.

I spent my time Sunday enjoying our grandson instead of trying to get the perfect butterfly picture. The pictures below were taken a couple of Octobers ago.

The Weinermobile!

...."That is what I'd truly like to be  DRIVE!"  Even if the base looks like an El Camino.

Is it somewhat ironic that the store in the background is a Whole Foods?

Mind the Handrail

The handrail to the visitors' center at the lighthouse was alive with fall webworms.

It had attracted the attention of this colorful lubber grasshopper that was on the prowl for a snack.

This Bronze Has Brass

We have had a hatch of bronze frogs in our little pond by the front door. We are happy to supply them with all the mosquitoes and other flying bugs they care to eat. We love to see them come out and sun on the rocks. They are so brave that our toddler grandson has even touched them.

Bronze frogs are distinctly southern frogs and their call is described as resembling a plucked banjo.

Mailbox Monday: Trick or Treat!

This is a manatee pair decorated as zebras for Halloween.

So clever!

A White Line

The birds are migrating and the egrets have arrived at St. Marks by the dozens. We were amused at how they lined up along the shore, spacing themselves out to fish. But don't they look like opposing teams, ready for the big game to begin? Maybe the tri-colored heron is the referee?

 I caught a black skimmer in the act of skimming.

And it is Florida, so you know there is going to be at least one Gator there!