Waxwing Courtship

I was torn today on what to blip - I was thrilled to finally get a shot of a pair of Cedar Waxwings doing their courtship feeding; but I also got a really interesting shot of a sandpiper perched in a tree which is something I've never seen before.  I finally decided on the waxwings because I'm kind of a sucker for pictures that tell a story.

The weather was perfect today so I headed out to one of my favorite hiking trails and managed to stretch out a 2-mile walk to nearly 2 hours!  Nothing aerobic about that - but I was having such fun taking photos and just enjoying the beauty around me.  

I also came across a Black Swallowtail butterfly laying eggs so I snapped off a small bit of the plant with one egg on it and brought it home.  It's now in a butterfly enclosure where I'll raise it.  I love the caterpillars of this species so I was thrilled to be able to collect an egg.  I could have taken more, but one is fine.  Once the egg "hatches" I can feed the cat parsley until it turns into a chrysalis.  Should be fun.  And it will get me warmed up for Monarch season...

One other photo from today HERE on Flickr - a very tiny katydid nymph in my garden.

Grabbed a sandwich from a local deli and went over to have lunch with MIL.  We had a good time and some laughs, as usual.  

Rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  I'll finish editing my photos from OR finally!

By the way, thank you for sending my black bear to the front page!  No more signs of him/her although something was on the patio last night eating the oranges and knocking over a few pots - probably raccoons.  

xo
Debbi