Perry County, Ohio

Had opportunity to visit my friend Diane Brooks' garden today.  Had a lot of fun gabbing with Diane about bugs, probably too much fun as I neglected my documentation duties to an extent.  Meaning I didn't get as many pics as I should've.  Wanted to get a pic of Diane with her garden but totally spaced it.  Well, I will be visiting her place again in August probably, so I will do better then.
  Both Diane and I were hoping to find Coral Hairstreak.  She had one a couple weeks ago.  Coral's are notorious for nectaring on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and the BW is blooming now, although not quite at peak bloom yet.  So Diane took me to a field adjacent to her property that had a good bit of BW, but no Corals.  No Corals in her beautiful gardens at home either.  Oh well, maybe next time.
  While Diane is a jill of many trades (bugs, plants, koi, etc), she seems to have a special affinity for raising our big, beautiful native silk moths, such as Cecropia Moths, Io Moths, and others.  She currently needs to find homes for over 100 Cecropia eggs!  Her husband has built her some pretty nifty "cat cages" to do all of this caterpillar nurturing.
  When I left Diane's it was with the full intent of buzzing down to The Ridges in Athens, but then some things got in the way.  Got about two miles down the road and had a very sudden and serious need to use the restroom.  About the same time I saw an unfenced field loaded with Butterfly Weed.  So, as I pulled off and raced into the woods to deal with issue #1, I took a look at the cell phone and was shocked by how late it was, already after 1:00 PM.  I decided by the time I dealt with issue #1, I probably wouldn't have time to make it to Athens, so instead I took advantage of issue #2, an unattended field full of Butterfly Weed, still holding out hope for Coral Hairstreak.
  Still no Coral Hairstreak, but I did see some Hummingbird Moths and got good pics of Snowberry Hummingbird Moth.  Also saw Clearwing Hummingbird Moth but it was less cooperative for photographing.  At the BW field I did pick up one new species for the BBY, Common Wood Nymph, although I could not get a pic of it either.  So, all in all, a most enjoyable day.
  Also had the opportunity to ride through New Straitsville, Ohio.  At the entry into town it declares itself an "ATV Friendly Community".  Not sure what that means.  It also proudly advertises its Moonshine Festival which takes place Memorial Day weekend.  So, a bunch of drunken, sad, Appalachians on ATV's.  Hmmm?  Kind of a scary thought!

mystery skipper at Diane's place

Sign at emergency restroom parking lot.

Snowberry Hummingbird Moth