Red, White, and Purple Majesty

Happy Independence Day, America! It just so happens that Sat. my sis and I took a drive into the mountains; up, around, and over Horse Mt. in particular...and found a lot of patriotic colors from nature...

The firecracker flower...does it get more 4th of July than that?!

Ok, so beargrass grows wild just NE of my hometown...who knew...

A red thistle...it IS this scarlet color for real...the stems are icy green-white...covered in a white network of webbing...

A wild iris, cream colored...lots of these on the mt.

Ok, gotta throw in the dark-eyed Oregon junco...it does have a white underside...I haven't found the Oregon junco in S Dakota like the other dark-eyed juncos...

As we came down the E side of the mt., we had this view further east...and it was the epitome of purple mountains majesty...

Indian paintbrush; again, who knew it grows so close to my hometown...*sheepish smile*

Mountain (aka Pacific) dogwood...the center is actually the petals and what looks like large petals are bracts...it wasn't in its prime but still neat to see, just on the east side of the mt.

The shot of the day...the swallowtail appears to be white, not yellow, so I was hoping it was a zebra swallowtail but I think it's a pale tiger swallowtail...on Western wallflower...

The acorn woodpecker, too far away for a good shot, has a red crown and white belly, wing patches, rump, and cheeks...this fellow isn't found in much of the US and is an exciting lifer find!