Delicious!

It's impossible to get an accurate count of the hummingbirds in the garden now, but I've been able to count up to 8 at one time, which means there are probably double that.  Not only are they chasing each other, but yesterday I watched one chase a hapless chickadee up into the trees; and today another one went after a titmouse juvenile.  And although the hummingbirds are about a tenth the size of these other birds, the hummers strike fear into the hearts of all.  Actually, it's hilarious.

Things on the sunflowers continue to be fascinating.  I've found several more treehoppers guarding eggs with ants waiting in the wings to tend the young.  You can see and read more about this fascinating symbiotic relationship on my blip from 10 July  I will probably try to get a decent shot of this interesting behavior for my "sunflower biodiversity" series.  

Things in the Monarch Nursery are going well.  I have 7 chrysalises, and this morning 4 more cats had assumed the pre-putation J position.  One had chosen a bad place to j-hang so I had to carefully remove his silk pad from the surface and move he and his pad to a better spot.  I've done this enough times that it shouldn't make me nervous, and yet it always does.  They are so fragile and helpless and my human fingers feel so big and clumsy.  

A reminder:  please let me know if you would like me to release a monarch in memory of someone who has left this mortal world.  It is a personal goal of mine to let each butterfly go in honor of someone who was loved.  You can either leave me a comment below or email me (see my bio) and I will add names to my list as I receive them.  

I believe I'll spend a little more time outside this afternoon, enjoying the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and insects in my garden...

Cheers,
Debbi