It has been a hot and very dry summer, at this point a major drought for the Northeast. I have been taking a lot of photographs and not writing. Time to share some of these. Figure 1 is an image of a beautiful monarch butterfly., shown here dining on the nectar of its favorite flower, the swamp milkweed. Soon these butterflies will begin their migration from the north and central US and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico, a distance of thousands of miles. Last month the monarchs were officially declared endangered. it has been estimated, sadly, that their population has dropped between 20% and 90%. What greater symbol of summer than these majestic, long distance fliers? For my generation they represent all the trappings of an idyllic summer. For the next generation they may become a rare sight, a symbol of what was once and is no more.

Canon T2i with EF 100-400 mm f 4.5-5.6 US ISM lens at 180 mm, Aperture ISO 1600 Priority AE Mode 1/640 th sec at f/7.1 with no exposure compensation