A new bug, it's a Rosy Maple Moth!

I made another discovery while I was out there over the weekend. I spied little white and pink moths that I have never seen before. I looked them up and found they are called Dryocampa rubicunda or, Rosy Maple Moth. It's funny how you can go all of your life and think you've about seen it all, at least locally, and yet still be finding new and unusual critters out there in the world. I saw several of these neat-looking moths as they sat on wildflowers in the park. They were always on bright yellow flowers, of which there were two types they seemed to like. I saw some other cool bugs out there that I'll look up and then post as soon as I can. Oh, by the way, I found a really neat web page with great photos of moth caterpillars.

A case of mistaken identity!

Uh - oh...!

My little purple bird may not be an Indigo Bunting after all! I saw more of the little purple birds this past weekend while I was out at Prairie Ridge, one of the Darke County Parks. It is right across the street from Tecumseh Point, also part of the Darke County Parks system, where I saw the original little purple bird. I got a real good look at them and thought they just may be Purple Martins instead of Indigo Buntings. So I looked them up. And, lo and behold, they're Purple Martins! I watched them for quite a while as they chased each other from the high treetops across the bright blue sky and sat up on the high power lines singing away. They have very beautiful songs and are quite acrobatic in flight. I understand they eat a great amount of mosquitoes, so I was glad that they are are there. There's quite a community out there devoted to attracting them.