Butterflies, Moths and Spiders, oh my!

Recently there has been a new visitor to my backyard.

It's rare to see a different butterfly in my garden. So after an appropriate amount of

gawking I looked it up and discovered it's a dark female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Actually, they're usually yellow and I see them almost every day.

I would've never imagined that they were the same butterfly.

She does look classy in her little black dress though.

Then there is this stranger. At first I thought it was just another bumble bee

but then I realized it has transparent wings and acts like a hummingbird moth.

Last summer this was one of the several hummingbird-like moths that dropped in.

It's wings were way to fast for my old camera.

Another one from last year, with blurry wings. Love the fur cape.

I didn't want to leave out the Red Admirals since they stop by nearly every day.

 After looking through my photos of flyers I noticed that while all the

butterflies were on purple flowers, the moths were on white ones. It's just an

observation, as usual I haven't been able to find any information explaining it.

Looking out the window this morning I saw another new arrival.

Finally, two Morning Glory flowers! I'd given up on them blooming this year.

Then there are those OTHER critters that are everywhere this time of year.

Occasionally they do inadvertently cause cute things to happen.

I didn't even notice the heart made out of pieces of dead plant caught in the 

web until I looked at the photos. The spider was hiding under the petunias.  

After Halloween last year I forgot to put away the witch broom and it ended up in the

umbrella stand near the front door. I just noticed that a spider has decided to camp out

 in it. Creepy, as well as clear evidence of my lack of interest in cleaning, sorry Mom.

Speaking of Halloween, I spotted these guys at the local garden center. No actual pumpkins yet.

Ok, is it ever too early to start thinking about Halloween? I prefer handmade

decorations especially for fall but just couldn't resist these measuring spoons.

Not that I'm wishing away summer now that it's finally here!

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend!