Weaselhead

Saw this small wildflower on a walk in Weaselhead yesterday morning. "The genus is named after Mount Parnassus, a mountain in central Greece, which in mythology was sacred to Apollo."

Such a bright sight! These Red Long-horned Beetles also like Goldenrod, another yellow wildflower. Actually, these beetles are very tiny - easy to forget when one crops and enlarges any photos of them!

There is a tall Annual Sow Thistle plant at the far end of the green bridge in Weaselhead. Quite pretty seen from this slightly different angle.

I have been hoping and hoping that one day I would see one of these Police Car Moths. Today was THE day! I love the black and white "stained-glass window" pattern on the wings. "It is a member of the Tiger Moth family, in a subgroup that flies by day. They are easy to get close to, being clutzy fliers thatbeat their wings floppily in the mid-summer heat. Generally poor fliers are also bad tasting, and that's why they can afford to make themselves easy targets for birds. The Police Car Moth really does look like an old-fashioned police car. It is black and white, with two little orange "lights" on the top of its thorax. Wingspan is about 50 mm." Taken from "Bugs of Alberta" by John Acorn and Ian Sheldon.

This is such a pretty colour that I thought I would rescue this part of the image and crop away the blurry part : )

The seedhead of the False Dandelion is smaller and much whiter than that of the Dandelion.

Saw this bright red Dragonfly on a walk in Weaselhead yesterday. Even better than this was the Police Car Moth I saw.

This tiny member of the Buttercup family is widespread in Alberta. Is found on silty mud flats, shallow water, stream banks; lake, pond and river edges; and moist meadows. I felt very honoured to be asked if I would give permission for this image to be used on the Harvard University website, ARKive. "A vast treasury of wildlife images has been steadily accumulating over the past century, yet no one has known its full extent - or indeed its gaps - and no one has had a comprehensive way of gaining access to it. ARKive will put that right, and it will be an invaluable tool for all concerned with the well-being of the natural world." Sir David AttenboroughWildscreen Patron www.arkive.org/seaside-crowfoot/ranunculus-cymbalaria/ima...

Took this photo of a Prairie Crocus gone to seed, a few months ago, in north Weaselhead.