LLAMA TRAIL PART #2

Mary has asked about where the name for the Llama Trail came from. Here is an aerial view taken about 10 years ago of our home. Behind the barn you might be able to see a dark pond, and behind that French Creek.
To the right of the barn is an A frame chicken coop. What you can't see is the Llama Trail. It skirts the Northeast perimeter of our property way to the right of the picture. I chose that name because I love llamas and used to own 3 of them. I used to walk them on this trail, and although I no longer have them the name for the trail still sticks.
The Pond trail connects with the Llama Trail and runs behind the barn from right to left along and behind the back yard. You can't see it either. The third trail we call the Creek Trail goes down to the Creek connecting with the Pond trail way to the left of the picture and out of view. We no longer have the Motorhome. Too expensive to gas it up! All the lumber out behind the garage is for building a wood shed to house our winter supply of firewood. For the first 10 years we lived here we kept it outside. That was a real panic when it got wet and froze. Now it's inside and dry. The trees have all gotten bigger, and you can barely see the house from the road anymore. This Ladybug was on a mission and crawling along really fast.

Thistle from above.

As I walk along I see hundreds of Touch-Me-Nots.

Then I hear 3 flocks of Canada Geese honking. They spend lots of time in the fields eating grass.

All of a sudden I hear that familiar AWK of the Great Blue Heron. Knowing I'll never get close to him I didn't even turn on the camera, BUT would you believe it he landed in the top of a tree, and just sat there. Even though he was far away, and it was foggy out, I felt fortunate to at least get this much. I've never seen one in a tree before.

Now get a look at these guys! They appeared on my feeder yesterday. There was 5 of them, and they all came together. They look like young Cowbirds. Pretty cool !

Mourning Dove- Young and Innocent.

Mourning Dove- Mature and Wiser.

VIEWS FROM THE LLAMA TRAIL

This is the first of a 2 part walk I took yesterday on our llama trail. These are just some of the sights.
I originally posted this group on the 26th, and the"babies" were really small. I'm wondering if this is the same family now all grown up? It is on the same Milkweed plant. Goldenrod

A gall on the goldenrod. Inside this gall is a fly larva.

Fly larvae will hatch from the eggs in about 10 days. The larvae will immediately begin to eat from inside the stem of the goldenrod. The saliva of the larvae has a chemical in it which causes the plant to grow abnormally, creating a ball-shaped "gall" that the larvae live in.

Sumac close-up.

I don't know what this is, but it's about the size of a golf ball.

Wild grapes high up in the tree.

It looks like the mice have moved in for the winter.

Another Jumping Spider. This one didn't jump on my camera. He is very tiny about the size of a BB.

Last but not least I dug up these potatoes for supper . It's just like opening a Christmas present. You're not sure what's in there.

More pictures from the Llama trail tomorrow.

SkyWatch Friday

The ever changing weather. A storm had passed, and the blue sky was upon us.
Thanks to Tom, Sandy, Klaus, and Imac for hosting this fun site. Click on http://skyley.blogspot.com/ to view more wonderful photos.

Yesterday was a blur of a day. The weather was yucky all day. Clouds, rain, drizzle, and no sun. To top it off the temps. never got out of the low 60's.
I did save a Song Sparrow from succumbing to the cats furry. She flew into my computer room window and fell to the ground. I went out, picked her up and held her for a minute. I put her up on the bird feeder and she sat there for a long time apparently really stunned. Finally after about 5 minutes she flew away. Rose of Sharon

We have so many apples this year. These are Northern Spy. I will be making lots of sauce and pies.

The funeral for our neighbor who passed away on Sunday was yesterday. Our son was a paul- bearer, and he and our daughter-in-law didn't want the girls to attend the funeral, so another neighbor took them to the park. They had such a good time playing at the playground. This park is very old and is still very well maintained by the city. There are lots of pavilions for picnics too. Mostly many acres of Hemlock trees.

Jalyn in front, Natalie, another neighbor, and Becca.

I didn't get out yesterday to take many pictures. The weather wasn't too good with very dark and cloudy skies. I had planned to can tomatoes too, but didn't get at that either. Looks like today will be busy. We also have to go to visiting hours for a neighbor who passed away last Sunday. It is already raining with the left-overs from hurricane Fay, so weather wise it won't be so good today.
This sunrise a few mornings ago was beautiful. More signs of Fall. The leaves on my flowering Crab are shedding.

The field corn is ready for chopping.

Another youngster. Male House finch.

Last week when we went to the Amish bulk food store we saw this horse and buggy. We were already too close by the time we spotted it so Gary had to take 2 shots to get everything, plus I didn't want to stop for fear someone would see me taking pictures.

Now, this is a really bad shot, but I was walking by the window when I see this hummingbird and if you don't get it when you can sometimes the opportunity is lost. You all know what I mean . LOL

The last Rose of summer ? ? At least the Japanese Beetles didn't eat this one.

Good Morning to all. I'm getting a late start this morning for some reason. I had lots of laundry I wanted to get done because I'm going to can more tomatoes this morning. It's fairly cloudy right now and really cool again. It was 44º when I got up at 6AM.
This Chipping sparrow youngster is still begging food. He must be from a later brood. They are just so darn cute!

The sunrise this morning was spectacular!

It was all gone in about 7-8 minutes..

Yesterday morning this Mourning Dove was sunning itself on the edge of one of the bird feeders roof.

The Gypsy Moth egg case. See earlier posts from last Saturday Aug. 23rd for photos of the Moth laying the eggs. I will most likely destroy this batch as the Gypsy Moth does great damage to our trees in this area. Some of the trees they will defoliate are: Oak, Crab apple, Beech, Willow, Birch, Hawthorn, and Sweet gum all of which are local.

RUBY TUESDAY

It's that red day again. Welcome to Ruby Tuesday.
Tomato time is my favorite time. I love tomatoes, and I will be canning up many to last us through the winter months.
Thanks to mary/ the teach for hosting this fun site.
Click on http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to see more RED.

Good Morning. It was only 37º here at 6AM, and so it begins. All the signs are sneaking up on us. Getting dark earlier in the evening, and staying dark later in the morning. Cooler temperatures. Leaves turning. gardens dying out and so on. I don't think I'm ready!
On my walk yesterday afternoon I came upon this jumping spider. He wasn't friendly at all. As a matter of fact he kept lounging at me while I was trying to take his picture. . He has some kind of fangs in the front that he kept opening and closing. At one point I lost sight of him, and next thing I knew he had jumped on my camera! I blew him off, and he scurried to the ground. Vines growing up a big willow tree.

We have lots of these ground ant mounds. Must be that's why the Northern Flickers hang around here.

More of these cute little Milkweed Tiger Moth caterpillars munching on Milkweed leaves. They move very fast.

Katydid. I almost missed this guy with his camo color.

Thistles

I was so focused on this black and orange insect I failed to see the little red ones till after I downloaded the photo! Maybe they are babies ? ? There is another insect peeking over the top left of the milkweed pod too that I didn't spot. It's a good thing I'm getting my new glasses today! LOL