You Look Like Crap!

And that's a compliment. That is if you are a Pearly Wood Nymph moth doing your best to imitate a fresh and gooey bird dropping.

This morning I noticed what looked like bird poo on my garbage bin lid. But before I made steps to hose it off I did a double take.

The splayed feet add a clever splat illusion ...

... but a wayward antenna spoiled the ruse.

They like to lay their eggs on wild grape leaves, of which I have aplenty. 

Likely overlooking the fake poo, the male Baltimore oreole is busy feeding his youngsters with insects, berries and the occasional beakful of grape jelly.

An oreole child coaxes for more after receiving a small insect from dad.

Grape jelly is part of the desert menu.

On my desert menu these days are sweet and flavourful wild strawberries. They are small but absolutely delicious.

Who could resist these tiny but flavourful sun ripened beauties?

My honey bees are ignoring the alsike and dutch clovers that are currently in bloom. They must be harvesting even more tasty nectar elsewhere, such as from the abounding wild blackberry and raspberry blossoms. But regardless of what other floral attractions beckon, I can always count on seeing a few customers on my garden's Anchusa flowers.

A honey bee enjoying her favourite tipple of Anchusa nectar.

A couple of nights ago I had a special treat. My yard light's motion sensor tripped on, causing me to look out my window. Imagine my surprise when a lovely fox strolled up the path and casually sauntered off into the night. He was a real beauty. So I decided to set up my night cam on the deck to see if it would come back. Bingo! 

Such an elegant visitor to my backyard!