Look closely.

The gardens around Cape May Bird Observatory's Center for Research and Education may look a bit worse for wear, but if you walk slowly and look closely, there is much to see. If a recently posted critter photo wasn't taken at my house, chances are it's from the CMBO property.

Here are a few more:

 

Partridge pea, growing like, well, a weed.

But oh-my-gosh, it's a native!

I can't get enough of hairstreaks (another Gray), and they can't get enough of the mountain mint.

Hah! One of two skippers I can ID without a blink: silver-spotted.

No idea beyond that maybe it's a moth (maybe) and it's handsome.

Boneset. Ya gotta love the name. And it's pretty. And native. And look who was sitting quietly in the background hoping to be overlooked:

Maybe an inch long, perhaps a hair more. That's a boneset leaf it's on. Remember how I said I hate to ID dragon/damselflies but they do have the most fantastic names? "Fragile Forktail." JKRowling couldn't do better... (Many thanks once again to Mike Crewe. Who needs an id book when he's as close as an email?)