Saturday the weather was sunny and beautiful. I had a dinner appointment later in the afternoon so I decided to do some birding close to home. So I took a trip to
Dodge Nature Center in West St Paul, MN. I have not been to Dodge since I was a kid and it is really is a shame. The property has a diverse collection of ecosystems which includes grassland, wetland, and
deciduous forest. They have a few ponds, a working farm, and mews for educational raptors. I really enjoyed the farm pond trail which is a boardwalk that takes you through the
cattails and over the pond, with several stopping areas with sitting benches. During my trip I saw a few different birds, I will post those pictures in a later post, as well as reptiles and small mammals. There were also a lot of insects, I took a few pictures of some of the more interesting ones which I found.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmohu-K1LvWQ5236apBYd3jNEutGCph6WedICfjUZ_QZ228ShGSHACAnpk7k6WFQ0sLinXaQjG8o5cw1OAixWses13PL-_tB9nrvqHIjBrajuVpSkFbQAp5iZxCR-A8Ry0D4nGHi2K_VF/s320/MN07+cabbage+white+butterfly+222_2422.jpg)
There were quite a few cabbage white butterfly flying about near all of the flower gardens.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwUjHd78RtpJKR4dQP0xjhqAj65jLtp2R0r7kvEXN5KbPou0TNVbopHmgsWyIFxzfi73x9EX6kpJPP9TMC9MeJcxMR_6udE5oQRSjowR-Yx_1Z9gOl4gYWqIdD1G3R0w20xQz1sGNnv1g/s320/MN07+cabbage+white+butterfly+222_2423.jpg)
It is easy to distinguish between male and female in the cabbage white by counting the number of spots. Males have 1 spot, like the first one pictured, and females have 2 spots, like the one right above.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO88OGFCJnQUiKT4nZXYYC9cA9DfLe4ULtDBkVFjc5YH2FkDoO31Cfy-NjHq9M5TSpeXjUYDxjidI6MJmCFe33z2s58_yO2XKuYAU5GKPEI-EIInS5pW2rgCTDm4deu2gN4Oi6ncc4YxWI/s320/MN07+pink-spotted+lady+beetle+222_2608.jpg)
I found this pink-spotted lady beetle on a rock in the farm pond next to the boardwalk. I really like the contrast in color between her and the green algae around her. This would have been a better shot if I had my macro lens, which was in the car, instead I had to stand a ways back to get my 100-400mm lens to focus on such a tiny subject.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBk4yWidhdffvy2L8mv3njJ2yrctSsveggGCKIYyIpK38Z_CcNYXk0G1bM8xwpw27_k5ZAuEXGmv-VTW5DrMTVjxBnyz8kmRYEhg1uUoPBS6S5VCr8HhiEPKRj53-yvGG6Y9xLf9M9gJOW/s320/MN07+white-faced+meadowhawk+female+222_2429.jpg)
This female white-faced
meadowhawk was flying around the farm pond.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviikxoEXR1RVNlXeSB7NoakcFxmzDT_DaC6Zqo4KFyj_6wSMd8krwHCiLjOR-fIYebFXFPcZfKtAHus8V0kyWL9Ekmk0LtaxpeWTMOUsxSEX6nsNAVSIPerEU8gxi7l1Q-Ui7r5jgjgEl/s320/MN07+white-faced+meadowhawk+female+222_2445b.jpg)
I was not quite sure that she was a white faced until she turned around.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgiuLyMehTnI6yPUNv1YYWVa20-SMt5luecimQsXBgrsrEUVvR5XDiPsaNRVdC7j4oX0MYGQZ7qIEC_y2X8ERVsSfzjF5wWXG5c2NJxHa_-3kw2y8OKrGwskWiYBaf8ossRj4WDX_5GfZ/s320/MN07+white+face+meadowhawk+df+233_3391.jpg)
Later on I found a white-faced
meadowhawk male out in the fields. It is pretty easy to tell the difference between male and
female by the color.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLyzhuy3EWIPzwkWiTBlN53m0h7JciClaKxHQFw51rV0wDgt7mgI4pU_DKenQBuI88xmNoIHBzmxOkwjFcZOmzER99gUwjJA3RDg4wfpXtLXaaWZhTpJXbE73dqG2-jhW1WvCE-3efhdi/s320/MN07+grasshopper+100_0136.jpg)
There was quite a healthy population of grasshoppers. There were also plenty of mosquitoes but I am usually too busy
swatting them to take their picture.