Here goes nothin'

I have had a dickens of a time getting captions lined up with photos in this post and am throwing in the trowel, er, towel.  Further down in the body of this post was a photo of a Question Mark butterfly which would NOT stay with the caption.  Now it has disappeared and I don't know why.  I apologize but life goes on.  Forgive me and I promise to do better.  Next time.  (maybe...)  As a reminder: click directly on any photo to get a larger version with better detail....


Rush hour here at Gardenista....

I have mentioned here enough times by now how I stink at identifying butterflies and other critters in the garden.  However I am driven to keep trying.

Dun Skipper

Whenever I see a butterfly that I know I have successfully identified in the past and just can not for the life of me recall the name of, I feel frustrated beyond measure.

Cloudless Sulphur

It is, I suppose, the insect corollary to the dull rage I experience when I see a plant I know but can't remember the name.


American Lady

Even if the plant is thriving, it feels to me a garden failure when I can't wander about carelessly tossing off the common and botanical names of everything in sight.

As an example, for some reason, for years I had the hardest time remembering "verbena".  I recognized it as "that damned plant I can never remember the name of".  Go figure.  I've got it firmly in my head now, except for when I don't.....


Onward.

Tawny Emperor

Like others I have noted a wealth of red admirals in my gardens this year.

Red Admirals

Most of them seem to be congregating first around the fallen loquats around one side of the house, but they all eventually find their way over to the flowers.

Today I went out a bit earlier than usual and found a few other locals hovering.



Common Checkered Skipper

I'd hate to get anybody confused...that is MY special territory, OK?

I need to be the best at SOMEthing.  So if you see anything misidentified, please correct it in the comments and I'll owe you one.  If I remember......

Inch wormy thing

Similarly

I really enjoy trying to get photographs of the butterflies visiting in our garden beds.

This morning I nearly stepped on this beauty, out fanning its wings on the front walkway.Even though I walked close by, it seemed unconcerned and stayed put for over an hour. That made me think it might be newly emerged, perhaps drying out its wings before taking off to eat.As it turns out, I probably suck at identifying butterflies nearly as much as I do hummingbirds. It always seems the ones I capture with my camera are never quite the same as the ones used as poster children for a particular type.I think this is a Gulf Fritillary. Maybe. Perhaps a Julia Longwing which is a more southerly cousin not quite so common in these parts. If you know, feel free to comment. Otherwise, here you go...some sort of fritillary, captured as it prepared to enjoy the slightly cooler September mornings.