From Mount Shasta to Bend
It was a big day for butterflies. We saw some along the hwy from Klamath Falls to Bend and more in the mountains west of Bend.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1270766
I liked the way the butterfly was holding its wings at an angle. Lesley was using a macro lens with fairly short focal length. Not really the right tool for butterfly photos but when an opportunity presented itself, she took the shot before the butterfly moved away.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1270767
We saw pine drops on Mount Shasta in the morning and along the highway a hundred miles north in the afternoon.
Pine drops_Pterospora andromedea_P1120258
In a wet spot, we found veronica in bloom.
veronica_Unknown Scientific Name_P1270775
We had some extra time to kill before we had to be in Bend so we explored some roads in the mountains west of Bend. A patch of wooly sunflowers caught our eye.
western wooly sunflower_Eriophyllum lanatum var leucophyllum_P1270782
westernwoolysunflowerEriophyllumlanatumvar.leucophyllumP1270782
There were butterflies and other insects visiting the wooly sunflowers.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120265
Below the butterfly and the flower, I can just see the legs another insect on the left aide of the stem.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120269
An ant posed for me on this lupine.
lupine_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120293
Farther on, we stopped to looked at some yarrow plants. There is a butterfly on the left flower head and a wasp like insect on a flower head on the right side.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1270795
The butterfly and wasp(?) cooperated by visiting the same cluster of flowers.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120273
This butterfly wasn't large and the other insect (native bee?) is really tiny.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120274
I included this photo to show the number and variety of insects visiting the yarrow. Behind the butterfly, there are two insects flying. At the left edge of the photo, another insect is visible on the yarrow.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120272
The soft colors in soft light of these penstemon flowers appealed to me.
penstemon_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120296
A different penstemon species in different light.
penstemon_Unknown Scientific Name_P1120309
Most of the time we are trying to photograph a butterfly before it leaves. This butterfly wasn't going anywhere.
butterfly_Unknown Scientific Name_P1270799
A striking flower but a nasty non-native invasive.
russian knapweed_Acroptilonrepens_P1120281
