Visitors in the Garden

 It has been really hot lately, and I am not out much during the day. In the evenings, when it cools down a bit, the kids are out in the garden with me making quite a bit of noise, so what few feathered and winged visitors we occasionally see leave in a hurry. Still, I managed to capture quite a few.

 One was a beautiful bog fritillary on a verbena bonariensis plant.  

It spent a lot of time going through the flowers, but never came back...

Another was a baby dove. A pair of doves made a nest under our eaves this year. I came upon the baby one morning when it was just beginning to fly. It flew down into the courtyard and couldn't quite get back up to the nest, so it decided to play dead and let me get quite close...

Our neighbors have 12 beehives, so we have lots of honeybees.

I like to think about the honey my neighbors graciously share tasting of the herbs the bees visit in my garden.

Our old tree was regularly visited by woodpeckers. Now that there is only a stump left, it was a relief to see them coming back occasionally. I wouldn't want them to go away for good....

I wasn't really interested in the insect below, but I found it distracted me by sitting there and staring at me, so I stared right back.

A California towhee checks out my garden regularly. I often find it walking along the perimeter of my house carefully looking for bugs along the foundation. 

And finally, a regulation shot of our hummer. He is almost a family member, and our garden would be a much sadder place without his insistent loud chirping.