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The teasel is nearing the end of bloom. Wild bergamot seed heads This morning my friend Elizabeth accompanied me on my walk through the sanctuary.  The butterfly garden did not have much action, as the wild bergamot, the main attraction, is fading quickly.  The seed heads are attractive purple orbs, but they no longer lure butterflies and bees or hummingbird moths in the numbers that were present a few days ago.

It was a beautiful morning in the sanctuary. We photographed droplets of dew, dragonflies, and wildflowers, chatting as we walked about the camera club we both belong to, the Frederick Camera Clique.  We thought an outing to the sanctuary to practice macro photography would be a good field trip.  I wish I'd had my macro lens on my camera today, because there were lots of great closeup opportunities of bugs and water. Water droplets line up on the grass.

Milkweed bug on a milkweed pod. Milkweed beetle

We saw two different types of red and black insects on the milkweed plants, which have finished blooming and are now forming pods.  The photo on the left is a milkweed bug; it feeds on the leaves and stems of the milkweed.  It will not sting or bite.  They can, however, kill the milkweed plant, which is beneficial to monarch butterflies.  The insect on the right is the milkweed beetle.  They, too, are harmless to humans and feed only on the milkweed plant.

A cabbage white sips a dogbane flower. We had a good walk this morning, and now another friend has visited the sanctuary who had not been there before.  I'm sure she'll visit it again.

<Thanks for reading my blog entry, which is part of a personal photography project to bring attention to and to benefit the Fred Archibald Sanctuary in New Market, MD.  The sanctuary is owned and managed by the Audubon Society of Central Maryland.  Copyright 2017 Cam Miller.  All photographs are for sale upon request.>