Remarkable Butterflies Mating Dance

This week, we had an amazing opportunity to see the official North Carolina State Butterfly. This is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail that is found in 100 different counties in North Carolina. They live along the edge of the forests, garden, tree lines, rivers, creeks and streams. It was amazing to walk out on the deck and witness and then be able to capture their unique sort of courting dance. They began this haphazard kind of interesting mating flight...circling, flapping and fluttering around and around. it began from about 20 ft up in the air until just a few feet off the ground. Then, they flew along the forest edge into the poplar, oaks and hickory trees. Just an amazing beauty to witness over a short couple of minutes. Life on the farm in the Western North Carolina mountains is marvelous.

#Nature #NorthCarolina #Mondaythoughts #mountains #Butterfly

Carolina Wren Just Laid Her Eggs

We just did a video on how this Beech tree was harvested from the forest on our farm and shaped for our garden. Just days later, a Carolina wren found it to be the perfect place to make a nest. They're probably one of the noisiest birds we have around own home that's tucked away in the woods. If you leave anything out, and it looks suitable for a nest, that Carolina wren will find some material and you'll see a nest appear over night. After looking closely at the tiny nest, it appears it found some of the shedding hair from our Blue Heeler as the perfect nesting material to add with the other fine twigs and pine needles. We'll keep an eye on the progress and hope to see a few birds hatch and fly away. Another beautiful day on the farm in Western North Carolina. #nature, #birdwatching, #Wednesdaythoughts

Elusive Scarlet Tanager Visits

What and amazing opportunity The Lord has allowed me to see this morning. For many years, I've tried to film or photograph the vibrant colored Scarlet Tanager. It usually lives high above in the trees and only one other time has it even shown up at our house where I could capture some blurry footage. Today, it appeared to have caught a moth or insect in it's beak and was perched among the fresh new leaves on a nearby maple tree. It's a wonderful time to experience all the beauty of the Western North Carolina mountains. #nature #wildlifevideo #birdwatching #MurphyNorthCarolina #CherokeeCountyNC #Jesus