Dan Vining

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Meadow Fritillary

Meadow Fritillary [Boloria bellona] on Butterfly-Weed [Asclepias tuberosa] photos were taken in our backyard in Fletcher, North Carolina on 24 June 2021. The NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, page 286, says “these aptly named butterflies occupy moist meadows associated with woodlands during summer.”

World’s Only Corn Palace – Mitchell, South Dakota

Images from a visit to The World’s Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota, on 15 June 2021.

Dignity: Of Earth and Sky, South Dakota

Dignity statue at a South Dakota rest area off Interstate 70, near Chamberlain, 15 June 2021.  One of Ward Whiwam’s concrete tipis is also found there.

Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota

Images from a visit to Mount Rushmore National Monument, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, on Flag Day, 14 June 2021.  Presidents (left-to-right):  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.  Executed by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, beginning in  October 1927 and completed by his son, Lincoln, in October 1941.

Ovid, Idaho

We travelled through Ovid, Idaho on our way to Montpelier on U.S. Route 89, on 11 June 2021.  It was a stop on the Oregon Trail.

Thomas Canyon in the Ruby Mountains, Nevada

Thomas Canyon in the Ruby Mountains, near Spring Creeek, Nevada on 9 and 10 June 2021. It is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  It was sunny, windy, and relatively warm when we arrived, but there were snow pellets on our tent when we woke up the following morning.

Snowplant

Snowmelt [Sarcodes sanguinea] found at Emerald Bay State Park and South Lake Tahoe, California on 8 and 9 June 2021. It’s a member of the Indian Pipe (Monotropaceae) family and “is the only mycotrophic wildflower in the heath (Ericaceae) that is not a ghostly white color or various shades of reddish to purplish brown,” according …

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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 3 June 2021.  The Grand Canyon Railway was taken from Williams to visit the South Rim of the park.

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Images from a visit to Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona on 1 June 2021.

El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico

El Malpais National Monument, near Grants, New Mexico on 30 May 2021, part of the National Park system of the United States.  Two areas were visited:  La Ventana Arch and the Sandstone Bluffs.  There wasn’t time to go to the volcano flows.