Finally, bugs

[vaneramos]

This will be my final post about the cottage, at least until next visit, just to spotlight three photogenic arthropods we encountered over the weekend. And what fun I'm having with the macro function on the Canon PowerShot A620.

Is it just my imagination, or are butterflies particularly numerous this year? Last year I heard tales about the disappearance of monarchs since frost killed them in their Mexican wintering grounds, but this season they appear in abundance practically everywhere I see wildflowers. And never before have I seen Limenitis arthemis, the white admiral in the second photo, in such great numbers. By the dozens they sun on the cottage road, flutter over back country meadows near Meaford, or sip nectar in a forest clearing at Little Tract. Besides the question marks I've already photographyed, many other species, more demure, keep eluding my lens: fabulous fritillaries, dark wood nymphs, lovely hairstreaks and tiny blues. They all seem to abound as never before.

Meanwhile frogs, more homely but just as beloved, are unquestionably declining, not only in journal reports but in my own awareness. For the first summer in memory, no bullfrog calls at night from the shore of our cottage bay.

What does it all mean? Whatever humanity's impact upon this tender planet, nature is never predictable. Some things wax, others wane. Everything changes. It's hubris to suppose we can manage it. One thing is certain, there will always be beauty, even if we don't survive to appreciate it.

I leave early tomorrow to take Brenna home, then djjo and I are escaping from things for the weekend. I'll be back home and in touch on Monday.