The glory days are over for this Lotus flower. Everyone is always taking pictures of the beautiful blooms (myself included) but I also find myself drawn to those who have long since lost their luster. There is still beauty in the decay though.

What a difference in 5 days.
This year most of my photography friends and I have been on a quest for sunflowers. Many of the early plantings were washed away with all the spring rains that we had. But I’ve managed to find a few patches here and there on the Illinois side of the river from St. Louis. This beauty is from a fairly large field just east of Alhambra.
While I was at the Watershed Nature Center this morning I was watching some birds at a feeder. As I turned around this is what I saw. Thankfully the standoff ended peacefully.