(This post originally published in August, 2010)
Here are a few more images made in the Prairie Meadow the other day.
This first image is a Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) that let me get extremely close to it:
A short distance later, I ran upon one of the many Large Wood Nymph Butterflies (Cercyonis pegala) that inhabit the area. In the meadow, these butterflies are most often found among the foliage of the plants, or on flowers that are “hidden” among the foliage, rather than on the uppermost flowers. And when walking on the wooded trail to get to the meadow, I find many of them in the woods:
Another interesting find is the large number of Cicadas that are found in the meadow. Most of them are found on small sumac shrubs. As I walk by, it is amazing how many will sound off and fly from their roost:
One of the many wildflowers that are in bloom right now is the Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), at least this looks like the right identification to me (if I am wrong, please correct me). This is a wonderful looking plant that is growing ~6 feet tall or so:
And the last image is a wonderful white Caterpiller that I found on one of the wildflower plants. Actually, there were 3 of these little guys on the plant. My identification guide does not show anything similar so I have not yet been able to make an identification of it. When I came upon these caterpillers, I noticed that they were covered with lots of dewdrops and were not moving about:
That ends the wonderful day in the meadow. I have since been back to the meadow and will be highlighting some more images in an upcoming post. Also, I have quite a few interesting wildflowers that I have photographed over the growing season that I will be sharing. Many of these were quite unique and it took me a while to properly identify them. I’ll be sharing them soon!
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