new critters

The largest of the butterflies I see, monarchs, regularly float through our yard, but this is the first time I caught one long enough on a cosmos flower to get a shot.

I also found a few new garden friends in the yard. Isa discovered this preying mantis on a tree branch. It was about as long as my finger, and kept scooting away from me, so it was hard to get a picture.

So we do still have mantids in the yard! I'm so glad of that.