The Great Impostor!

How deceiving appearance can be! This morning after the fog lifted, I noticed a swarm of little things flying over the Bayou. Termites! My goodness! This could not be good. I slipped on my shoes and trotted myself down to the marsh. Wow! There sure are a lot of them! I tried to decipher the source of this swarm..there had to be a beginning somewhere and I was sure hoping it was not my house! Geez, they were everywhere! Maybe they were not termites..that would be a blessing! If only I could catch one then I could identify the little culprit. They could be swarming ants..they do swarm and do have wings at times. Please let them be ants and not termites..I do not know why I would rather this except perhaps the ants won't decide my house looks like supper. I set out to capture one. These were rather elusive critters. The air was full of them but none could be found on the ground or any tree trunk..strange. I would have to nab one from midair. I must have looked like a wild woman as I bounced around the yard waving my hands. Finally! I caught one!..not in my hand but in my hair! I removed it carefully so I would not squish it beyond recognition. What was this?! This is not a bug! My termite was quite misidentified. This was not even a flying ant! This great impostor was a seed! A little fluffy seed that was being blown around by the slight north wind. I should really learn to wear my glasses more often..perhaps then my neighbors would not have the impression that they live across the Bayou from a crazy woman. My discovery made me happy..almost giddy..this was not termites! Seeds will not eat my house! Still curious as to the source, I now went on the hunt for a plant that was spreading its happy little self all over my yard. Near the pier, I spied a bush that until now, I had thought was covered with white blooms.(As I said, I really need to wear my glasses more often!) These were not blooms any longer but seed pods that had burst open and were spewing their cottony insides into the wind. It was snowing fluff!

I am sad to say that our siege of Monarch Butterflies is dwindling to a mere handful as they continue their migration. These, too, have been replaced with impostors. The Gulf Fritillary is visiting the same wild ageratums that the Monarchs frequented. They are much smaller but have the same orange and black coloring that is the trademark colors of the Monarchs. Their markings are different and not as elaborate but I think they are beautiful. Fritillaries are not as "people" friendly as the Monarchs, though. Monarchs have no fear of humans and will use a shoulder or head as a resting spot. Fritillaries, on the other hand, are a bit more fearful and tend to shy away. Still, as with all butterflies, they are welcome sights in my garden!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

I suppose I should rephrase the title to "The Good and Beautiful and the Bad and Ugly! The good and beautiful part refers to the many, many Monarch Butterflies that are migrating through the yard this year. I have never seen so many here. The yard is literally full of them. I know I lightly touched upon this in an earlier post, but..my goodness!..there are butterflies everywhere! At first, they seemed to prefer only the wild ageratums as a dining hall. And I do believe this would be the cafe of choice if I just had more ageratums! But now the marigolds, goldenrod, petunias and cosmos are covered. My yard has been turned into an orange and black Monarch World! Today as I went to the garden, there were butterflies on just about every flower but the garden was in desperate need of a good watering. As I watered I had to be so careful as to not spray them for fear of damaging their wings. I slipped the hose down low beneath the ageratums, up came a virtual cloud of orange and black fluttering wings. The swirling mass of Monarch engulfed me..what a thrill! I had butterflies all around me! It is strange the feeling that can overcome you when you are in the midst of something that is pure happenstance. This was one of those times. Nature performs magic that no magician could ever pull from his hat. The wonder of it all, the awe from witnessing an occurrence such as this is amazing. I truly wish that instead of a water hose, I had been holding my camera. Not that I could have ever captured the effect of a hundred or so fluttering butterflies, but it would have been fun to try!

Now for the bad and the ugly. Since Katrina, we have been inundated with Black Widow Spiders. I have even endured the bite from one of these nasties and I can honestly tell you that it is not fun. I thought we were about to eradicate them by simply smashing the adults and egg sacs. Well, today I discovered that not only do we have the Black Widow, we also have her evil sister, the Brown Widow. Oh, great! Just what I needed. There is some argument as to the potency of the Brown Widow's bite. Some say that it is not as potent as the Black Widow while others claim it is just as bad if not worse. All I know is that I do not like either. They have to go and I will fight them if I find them. This one was living under an unused flower pot. Looking for a nice pot to use as a home for some more basil plants, I turned the pot over and UHOH! The battle began! War was waged and after tirelessly fighting, I emerged as the victor! Spider and egg sacs were demolished! I know that for the next few days I will be extremely leery of where I put my hands simply because I saw this one. Then after the newness wears off, I will go right back to my careless ways. I will say that one time being bit is quite enough. I really have no inclination to try that again!