• Tuesday-What'sUP August 5 - 11:07 pm

When I received an email from Donna MacIntosh, saying she had added new photos to her Pasty Guest Gallery, I was excited. Reason being, Donna has a keen eye for capturing the critters in her backyard and after checking out today's photos, you'll see what I mean. She spots them doing silly things, like this chipmunk perched atop a stone kitty. I'm betting this little guy was proud of himself for working up the courage to pounce on top this cat.

Donna also has photographic patience and a quick draw with the shutter, being able to capture two birds at once. What's that old saying.... a bird in the hand is worth two at the feeder? ;->

Getting up close to the Baraga backyard bugs is another knack that Donna possesses and she shows off this skill with her last two photos. The moth-like creature is very similar to a Hummingbird Sphinx moth, but has some different markings, so I'm not quite sure what it is. The same goes for the last insect from Donna. She zoomed in so close, it's hard to tell if it's a giant bug or magnified many times over by her telephoto lens! It kind of reminds me of a mosquito, but has fancier looking wings, so again, I'm just not sure who this bug could be.

Cute chipmunk!

Very cool pictures. I wonder how long that chipmunk would last if that was a real cat.

I just noticed that the birds match the color of the feeder that they are perched on. I guess even the birds want to be en vogue these days.

As cute as the chipmunks are, the ones that tried to live in our yard learned very fast that our two Scottish Terriers made them un-welcomed.

How does she do it? I can never catch that stuff. How about some of those psychadelic dragonflies, Donna? I try and fail but love them. Great pictures.

The bottom image looks like a crane fly.

Love the pictures. Surprised you didn't get a lighthouse up there for National Lighthouse day.

Mary says: There's a lighthouse in the "Decade" slideshow over on the What'sUP page. It's the Ontonagon Pierhead light, taken by Z-Man back in 2005:

Brooke said: "How about some of those psychadelic dragonflies?"....

Will this do Brooke? It's a Libellula Pulchella, just sent to me by Brenda Leigh.

Yes, the bottom one is a cranefly. These things look like HUGE mutant mosquitoes but they are not !! Craneflies spend 2-3 years of their life as a steam insect along with mayflies, stoneflies, and other assorted macroinvertebrates. Then, they hatch out and fly away to mate, lay eggs, and die.

Ohhhh- I love all of today's photos but the chipmunk one is adorable!

Yes, Mary thats it. I love the different colors you find.

In response to yesterdays former academy student, Dwight Russel, go to pasty's main home page and click on the bridge cam link and you will see the old academy as "we saw it". That ought to bring back some memories. I passed the word along that you are looking for a word from others.

Pretty lighthouse photo, Mary. It looks to be exactly like the Charlevoix light. I love lighthouses that rest on 'legs'.

Margaret, Lighthouses have been my hobby for many years, and I never knew that there was a National Lighthouse Day until I read your post. I was curious about it, so I looked it up on Google and here's what I found:

National Lighthouse Day
August 7th
It was on this day in 1789, that Congress approved an Act for the establishment and support of lighthouse, beacons, buoys and public piers. In Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the signing of the Act and the commissioning of the first Federal lighthouse, Congress passed a resolution which designated August 7, 1989 as National Lighthouse Day.

If it's true that it doesn't take place until August 7th, maybe there is time to feature some more lighthouses later in the week. It was the beautiful lighthouses in the Keweenaw that brought me here for my first visit, and I keep coming back to see them again and again. Thanks for the information.

Ah Mary, I didn't go there first. Thanks for the memories

One afternoon after work, I pulled in my yard, and heard something hollering at me! It was that chipmunk perched on the cat statue in front of my door! Oh he was hollering at me! I walked up slow and did get a couple of pictures of him.

The picture of the birds is from my kitchen window. You don't see the 4 empty feeders that are hanging on the other side! :D

The moth was on the sidewalk on the way in to work one morning. I took a couple of pictures, and at the suggestion of my coworker, moved him to the grass to prevent anyone stepping on him. I looked later and he (she? it?) was gone...

And...the last pic of the cranefly..that was hanging out on the door to the garage one morning. So, of course I had to take a picture of that one too!

It's so much fun...I love my digital camera! And I just get lucky with the pictures...

Thanks!

Closest I can tell from my Little Golden Guide to "Butterflies and Moths" the 3rd pic here is "Great Ash Sphinx" moth or AKA "Pen Marked Sphinx"
3.8-4.5" (page 86) Possibly could be the "Apple", "Laurel" or "Wild Cherry Sphinx" Tough call, they are similiar and about the same size!
One species of Sphinx moths is responsible for the well known Tomato Hornworm!

Beautiful Macro photo of this moth!

Donna, I put the kitty/chippy as my screen saver.My ole girl kitty saw it and started chittering like she does. I didn't even know she was looking at the screen let alone understand what she was seeing. Thanks

Love the chippy, but my dad would call it a gopher. He has no clue what the difference is between a chipmunk and a gopher. Either that, or he's simply pulling our legs.

I love lighthouses but didn't know there was a day for them. Just the day before this we were at Whitefish Point for the first time. I loved it. Our profile picture is taken there. Absolutely gorgeous spot!

Deb and Ron,

I've been working my way through all of the PastyCam entries I
missed while I was in the UP. Your profile photo is magnificent.
The area around Paradise and Whitefish Point is a favorite with our
family. If you're looking for good mysteries to read about that
area, try Steve Hamilton. I just finished another one by him the
other day--"A Stolen Season." Not only is much of the book set in
the UP, but there are parts set in Toronto as well (which is great for
me).

Thanks Kosk! Our camera actually does a pretty darn good job with photos. I loved it there. The water was so many different colors it seemed. It was an absolutely spectacular view! I will look for his books. Problem is, I'm hundreds behind with the books I already have. LOL