TATTERED and TORN

I was so excited to see this beautiful butterfly returning over and over to the impatiens. Once I downloaded the shots, though, I see her entire lower right wing and tail are missing. I wonder what happened - whether a predator attacked her, or perhaps she was blown around in a strong wind and ripped her wing on a branch. Their wings are so delicate that it shouldn’t be a surprise if they aren't in good shape this late in the season. It seems this would make it difficult to fly, but she seems to have figured out a balanced stroke to compensate for this damaged wing. Even though this butterfly is far from perfect, I decided to go ahead with this for my blip because it clearly shows the butterfly’s tongue.

After my drought of blip subjects yesterday, today was only a bit better. I also had a good shot of a grasshopper on a sedum blossom. If you check it out, note the geometric markings on his back leg, and the huge knee hinge for awesome hopping. (The butterfly pic had better color, so the grasshopper will appear on Flickr instead.) Otherwise, I haven’t seen any birds at all today. I wonder what is keeping them away. I can smell the skunk in the area, so perhaps they don’t like to eat with that odor around. (Skunks are nasty & stinky for those who thought it was cute. - See Aug. 20)