Late Summer Rains and Finding The Rare And Brilliant In Iowa

Another rainy run day.

Yesterday in Muscatine.

The Rains have returned to Iowa, or at least that is what it seems.   It rained this morning and a couple days ago.   With a little luck,  all this moisture will help kick the mushrooms AND tomatoes into high gear.

Instead of boats, they were filling
trucks! 

Looks like Corn instead of Beans.

We visited Muscatine yesterday, and Cheryl found several trees along the highway covered in Golden Oysters!   That is saying something when you are traveling at 55 mph along the road!

  The trees must have been covered all along the trunks.  We still have another serving of all the Chanterelles to eat up, so we are not really in the position to chase down more.

Russulas in a Pan,  Yummy!
Check out how they turn red...

Unknown mushroom cluster in
Woodchips along the playground. 

Speaking of which,   the Russulas were as tasty as ever.   The heat of cooking really brings out their color and flavor. 

I also found my first Bolete in our yard.   Normally they start appearing after spring and all through the summer.  This year.... it has been a little too dry.

But enough about Mushrooms!   Today, after the rain died down a touch,  I saw an Osprey! 

An Osprey up close.

I have seen one before.   They are rare around here. ( at least for me, and I tend to notice all the strange birds.) I saw one in the spring.. maybe a year ago.   I know they like to migrate through areas so it is possible he was not hanging around long.   My picture is pathetic!   (He flew away before my camera was ready.)  So I borrowed a few pics from the internet to show what kind of bird I'm talking about.

An osprey...far away.  ( My own picture...  if I could have captured him on that tree before he took off. 

An osprey in Flight,   Better Photographers,  Better pics. 

We have seen our first Eagle as well.  Perhaps they are beginning to show up a little early for the Autumn months.    We have a few residents, but those are out in Farmland and we know that they stay all year round.  But seeing one near Muscatine was a bit of a surprise this early.

The Theme of this post was supposed to be "rare and unusual sightings"   So I thought I would lump in a few other subjects while I was at it.   Not all have been seen recently, but within the Summer months at least.    The best one would be the Giant Swallowtail!

A Giant Swallowtail. 

See the diff between Tiger and Giant. 

Similar to the Tiger swallowtail,  ( I found a pic where both are present!)    they are yellow and black.  But the Giant tends to have more black and the yellow makes a "X" pattern on the wings.   They tend to stay in the south, but I have seen them here in Iowa several times.   They are always an exciting sight.

A few other butters we have discovered:   The Tawny Emporer.

Tawny Emperor. 

 

Hackberry Buterfly.

The Hackberry:

One of My favorites!  Iowa Buckeye. 

The Buckeye.   Ok,  the Buckeye is not that rare around here.   But they have finally started to appear and they are very pretty.

Dainty Sulfur

Dainty and Tiny Sulfurs.   The Tiny Sulfur is difficult to tell from a normal cloudless sulfur... except that it is very small.   Much smaller than the typical yellow butterflies.

Cheryl near the train
in Muscatine. 

Muscatine Fountain.  Always a
Favorite. 

It has been a huge year for butterflies.   Among all the ones that are rather rare,  we have seen TONS of monarchs,  Red Admirables, Vicroys, Question Marks, Commas, Sulfurs, Red Spotted Purples, and Variegated Fritillaries.    You can't avoid them on the highway where they seem to like to hang out.  I'm thinking the heat and lack of rain has been good to them for some reason.

What would Muscatine be without Tee's?

She really likes the Fountain. 

Other than that,  A few Tomatoes are peeking through and we have been trying to run and Bike when we can.  At this point, I almost prefer rain over sun.  But there is always that humidity.   Thanks for stopping in.