Upon returning to Illinois after spending much of the summer in the Sunshine State, we welcomed the refreshing cool breezes and the profusion of wildflowers on the prairie. Yellow now predominates, in the flowers and in the plumage of the most common bird that nests among them.
American Goldfinches bounce over the prairie, twittering their flight song, repeating phrases ("per-chick-o-ree") synchronized with each dip in undulating flight:
Male Bobolinks have shed their distinctive black and white breeding colors and have molted into golden basic plumage, quite identical to females in appearance:
Greenish-gold Tennessee Warblers are heading south for the winter:
A lowly grasshopper on a milkweed leaf reflects the light as would a replica made of precious metal:
The Chickweed Geometer moth adds a regal touch of purple:
Sunlight suffusing through the turning leaves of the canopy provide a golden backdrop for a female House Finch...
...and for this Chipping Sparrow:
An Eastern Wood-Pewee is bathed in golden bokeh:
The plumage of a Cedar Waxwing is best described as burnished gold:
Butterflies are becoming scarce as gold. I suspect that the widespread use of insecticides, out of fear of West Nile Virus, may be a factor. Great Spangled Fritillary (my first):
Back-lighting accentuates the gold tones in the wings of a Monarch butterfly, another creature threatened by human activity, particularly loss of habitat and host milkweed; I have examined hundreds of milkweed plants the past few weeks and have found no caterpillars:
Pearls come in every color of the rainbow. This is a Pearl Crescent:
One of the namesake hills in nearby Hickory Knolls woodland is a mound of gold:
We spent a long Labor Day weekend in Door County, a narrow peninsula in northeastern Wisconsin, about 275 miles (440 km) north of our Illinois home. It projects out into Lake Michigan (seen here), flanked by Green Bay to the west:
On our first morning the yellow of goldenrod pierces through the fog that has rolled ashore:
The fog mutes the reflections of the dock at the marina:
A Bumblebee collects pollen from a Purple Coneflower:
A Clouded Sulphur contributes to the color scheme:
An inquisitive Red Squirrel clings to the stringy bark of a White Cedar, which a predominant tree in coastal areas of northern Wisconsin:
Back home in Illinois, Agramonte, our granddaughters' golden Tibetan Mastiff, greets us at the driveway:
