Sometimes, while out walking with Baloo, I find lots of colorful things to admire. Other times, it's the things that aren't quite so colorful that catch the eye. Today, I enjoyed black, white and gold-ish.
I introduced myself to a new moth - and odd moth, since it looks more like a butterfly and flies primarily during the day, sipping nectar from flowers and acting for all the world like a butterfly. It's antlers even look butterfly-like, with the slight thickening at the end, but a close inspection reveals the more feathery construction of moth antlers.
I had to hunt around in my moth and butterfly books to discover the name for this winged fellow, but I was finally able to identify it as an eight-spotted forester moth. It has the obvious eight white spots that gave it its name, but it also has two lovely cream colored shoulder pads (not the technical name, which I learned is, "tegulae"). The other feature that really sets this little creature off is the furry golden-orange knee pads that look something like the pollen baskets on bees, though they don't serve any particular function that I could discover.
Okay, so the humble daisy doesn't really have any black on it, but it does sport the beautiful golden center and gray shadowing in the sunlight. I thought it should qualify for today's theme. Daisies are starting to come into their own, blooming in profusion along trails and out in the fields where we walk.
Finally, I caught Baloo looking as if he was posing in a shaft of golden sunlight as the noble beast in a high-class photography session. He is the perfect specimen of "American Black Dog with White Spot" (and a growing number of white muzzle hairs, I fear). His golden eyes and yellow collar also fit our excursion theme for the day. He isn't really being noble and cooperative -- he is being mesmerized by a red squirrel up in a tree branch over his head, which explains the completely transfixed expression on his face and the fact that he sat still for the picture.
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