Cabbage moths are waiting for me

I looked out my window and a cabbage moth is waiting for me.  They sure do make the garden come alive when they do their ballet.  I also spotted an orange butterfly.  I hope to have my camera ready next time so I could try to ID them.

The buds are starting to swell on the magnolia tree, roses, flowering quince and lilac.  I noticed that not all the buds started up.  I wonder if this is a way of preventing the loss of all the flowers when the inevitable freeze comes.

The milkweed seeds have taken flight and are looking for a home.  Even though the pods and seeds are beautiful these plants have become pests and I have to weed them out of every bush on the place.

We used to have a flock of pigeons in our neighborhood but now there are only 3 left.  I wonder if the west Nile virus also effected the pigeon population as well and the chickadees.  Could be the red tailed hawk and eagles that have been hanging about had something to do with their demise.