It's Thursday, and a hot one!

I decided to take some shots of a few of my roses that are blooming now. I see the Japanese beetles are hot on the trail, and will soon be eating everything in sight. Thank goodness for photographs. At least I can still see them when the flowers are at their best. I've tried the beetle traps in the past, but my experience is that the traps just invite more beetles to the area. I try to pick them off the plants and into a can of kerosene.

Last but not least, look what I caught yesterday... DOUBLE TROUBLE! Oh my,   I didn't expect this. Well, I was able to successfully and VERY quietly cover up each trap, load them into the back of our son's truck, ( didn't dare carry them in our van :~( ) and transport them to the woods about 8 miles away. I let them go free, and neither one even thanked me!! LOL But at least I didn't get skunked!!
It's going to be a hot one today. I got all my laundry done yesterday, some windows washed, and now I must water the garden today. We have had no rain and everything is getting quite dry.
Have a wonderful day all, and stay cool.

It's Thursday



I don't have too much to add today, but I did see this bunny rabbit in our back yard. This is the first time in many years, and I think the coyotes have either moved out or have been hunted because I don't hear them anymore.

I also saw this mama doe and her fawn racing across the field by our house. I think they were on their way to the creek for a drink of water.

Back on Lake Erie, I have taken so many pictures of this light house. It is no longer in operation, but I still can't resist more. It is especially beautiful in the winter when there is lots of ice hanging from the pier, and the lighthouse itself.

Mowing our trails is a great place to spot Forget-me-nots. They are everyplace.
Another beautiful day for us. I hope you all are enjoying it as well. Take care.

Macro Monday

This time of year the poppies are in full bloom, and this particular one is my favorite color. I have the orange ones, and a few white ones too.
Happy Macro monday, and if you will click on over to http://lisaschaos.com you can see lots more close-ups.

It's Thursday

This shot was supposed to be last, and I don't know how it got here, but I was taking pictures yesterday in a muddy drainage ditch by the railroad tracks and found these tiny polliwogs( Tadpoles). Not sure what kind of toad/frog they are from, but they are pretty small and fairly young since they don't even have their legs yet..I'm thinking they might be from Tree frogs/ most folks know them as Spring Peepers.
Have a wonderful day. I'm going to finish planting my garden today. It is much cooler here and that makes for a much more enjoyable time working outside.

We had a beautiful day for watching trains yesterday. These Canadian Pacific locomotives rolled by around noon pulling a very long freight train. We don't see Canadian Pacific locos very often, so I was ready with my camera.

Along side of the railroad tracks is usually a muddy ditch. Here are some of the goodies I found in and around that ditch..
The Daisies are in full bloom as are the red Clover..

I got lots of shots of this Angle wing butterfly too. He was flitting here and there, but always came back to the same spot. Right on the  mud.

Yellow Vetch grows close to the ground.

I really don't know what this is, but I liked the shape and the green and red colors. Again something growing along side of this muddy ditch.

It's Thursday

Back at the Malek park in Conneaut, Ohio you can see several Canada geese resting in the shade. It was a very hot day.

I found this Bullfrog sitting on the shore of one of the ponds. There is a small piece of Duckweed behind his left eye that looks somewhat like a heart.

Mr. Baltimore oriole in the foreground, and Mr. orchard oriole in the back.

A closer shot of the Orchard oriole. He is so dark. and always sits on this side of the feeder in the shade.

Mrs. Baltimore oriole.

There seems to be an unusual high number of Spittle bugs this year.
Spittlebug, common name for members of a family of plant-feeding insects, the nymphs of which cover themselves with a protective frothy material that looks like human spittle. Spittlebugs, like their relatives the aphids and cicadas, suck plant juices with their needlelike mouthparts. Although the bugs' feeding can distort or stunt herbaceous plants, they are generally harmless. Nymphs and their spittle can be washed off of plants with a forceful stream of water. About 850 species of spittlebugs are known worldwide, and 23 species are distributed throughout North America. They can be found on a variety of plants. Copied from the Internet.

We have lots of wild Phlox too. They attract plenty of butterflies, but on this day I didn't see any.. Just so beautiful.
We're in for a week of very hot temps. It will be a busy holiday on the roads and at the beaches on the area lakes.

Macro Monday

It's time for Macro Monday again, and my Rhododendron bush is nearly in full bloom about 2 weeks early this week. The Bees are here in great number too.
Have a wonderful day, and if you want to see more close-ups click on over to http://lisaschaos.com

Sunday

I have been filling this peanut feeder twice a day, and these guys have been getting more than enough to eat believe me.

This Grackle looks a bit angry don't you think. At least this keeps them off my other feeders.

Walking the dog the other evening I saw a couple Barn swallows sitting on this wire. We have had a family that built a nest on the driveway light up over our garage, but I see there is a hornets nest up there this year, and we'd better remove it before it gets any bigger. So far the swallows haven't been back.

The Tree swallows have decided that the big gourd hanging on the end of my clothes pole might just be what they are looking for to raise their family this year.. They don't especially like it when I hang out clothes, but that's OK, they'll get used to it.

Somehow this orange Azalea escaped the frost we had last week, and is going to be beautiful. We did lose almost all of the apple blossoms though.

Last but not least I still have a pair of Titmice that come every day to feed. Last year the raccoons raided their nest, and they chose another site this Spring, but I haven't found it.
Have a wonderful day all.

Tuesday, Tuesday

First, we were fortunate not to get any bad weather today. Whew! It did get up to 81 deg. and it was very windy, but sunny most of the day.
I took a walk yesterday on the creek trail and saw several Skunk Cabbage.

Also saw lots of beautiful violets, both purple, and white. I know where there are some wild yellow violets farther up the creek, but it's been a long time since I saw them, and the creek has changed it's path, so it's impossible to walk there any more.

We also checked on the Great blue Heron rookery, and I only saw 2 birds setting on the nests. I mentioned before, that last year about this time there was a violent rain storm in the area, and several of the nests were blown out of the trees. It does look though that these nests have been beefed up.

The temperature had dropped from 81 deg. this afternoon to 54 deg. now this evening. I got the grass mowed today, and if it's nice tomorrow, I'll do all the trim work, and weed whacking.
Have a great day everyone.

Thursday

Yet another gorgeous day, and I've noticed that the Coltsfoot flowers are all in blossom. Ever since I was very young, I've looked for these flowers very early in Spring.

Some of the Pussy willows are looking a bit spent.

We happened upon a fairly good sized wet lands, and off in the distance I spotted some birds in this old dead snag.

When I zoomed in I see they are only Pigeons, but you never know.

Have a wonderful rest of the week, and do get out there and enjoy this awesome weather.

Tuesday

Last Sunday afternoon when we went to check on the eagle nest, granddaughter Becca took this picture of the small stream nearby the eagle nest. Last Spring this area was all flooded at least 3 ' up these trees. 

At home the Daffodils are beginning to bloom. This particular one is in the woods.

On my trail walk yesterday I did spot this Chickadee making a nest in this old dead tree. He let me take a few pictures, and didn't seem very afraid.

Back in our driveway, Azreal seemed really interested in something by our van. I went out to check what it might be, but found nothing.
Another gorgeous day here. There are some storms off to the north, and hopefully will miss us, because. I have laundry to hang out.
Have a wonderful day everyone.

Monday

We  went for a ride this afternoon, and passed by this yard loaded with these beautiful flowers. I have no idea what they are, but what a sight.

As I mentioned so many times, I just have to take pictures of Canada geese when ever I see them.

With granddaughter Becca along, we went watching trains, and were not dissappointed.

We also checked on this Bald eagle nest, and found an adult sitting hopefully on eggs. Last year a fierce storm showed up one night and blew the baby chicks right out of the nest. I hope they have better luck this year, but I am worried about this early spring.

We found the most beautiful wild Violet flowers today. I've never seen any this dark color.
Happy Monday everyone.