Finally some rain!

On a walk in the Erie National Wildlife Refuge today we saw lots of beautiful ferns.

We worked all weekend and got our woodshed 1/2 full.

A surprise!  I found a frog on the end of this log when I really was photographing the Milkweed seed floating down the creek behind our home.

A family of House Wrens have set up housekeeping in my Bluebird house, and the parents are so busy bringing home snacks for the kids.

It looks like the Mourning Doves are ready to nest again too. We got 1/2" of rain today. A very welcome sight during the night.



CATCH UP

Passing by a group of folks going for a horseback ride. I remember those days when I rode my horse daily.The Baltimore Orioles have brought their "kids", and this is a young male.

The Thistles are beginning to bloom.

Down on the creek, the Green Heron appears to be stalking something in the water.

I went out this morning to hang up some clothes, and noticed lots of Spider webs glistening against the sun.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week-end. Sorry if the sentences are all messed up. I can't seem to get the hang of this new order of things on Blogger.

Just Stuff

In the hot sun, this Robin tries to cool off. It's been a good year for the birds. They are everywhere, and in great numbers. A pair of Barn swallows rest on the wire during the afternoon sun too.

Another daily visitor to the grape jelly is this male Orchard Oriole.

One morning last week very early, as the sun shone between the trees, you can see the flowers of this Hosta. This is the first time in a long time that we haven't had a killing frost after these plants have leafed out.

Earlier last week when we went over to Ohio, there were 2 Canada geese families, that kept begging for food as I walked around the ponds.

Lots of spent Cattails.

We're in a real hot spell now, and the field corn is growing by leaps and bounds. Have a great rest of the week everyone..

Ruby Tuesday

This might be one of the strangest Ruby Tuesday's ever, but amid all the mud and muck, the springing of new plant life occurs . The Skunk cabbage still flourishes. Even with a small bit of red for us to see.
Happy Ruby Tuesday everybody, and click on over to http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to see what Mary has done with this meme.

Fruitful Friday

I took so many pictures Friday, and if I don't post some of them now , I'll forget! I hope you all don't get bored.
I discovered this cute little lavender flower growing around the base of our Norway Maple tree. I must have planted it last summer, but I don't know what it is.
EG of http://eastgwillimburywow.blogspot.com/ has said this is Lamium. THANKS EG!
Some moss that was growing on a rock in the same location. Moss is very interesting if you get up close and personal. It might look like a miniature forest.
This is a shelf fungus on a stump on our Llama trail. The tree had been cut down years ago by the beavers.

I'm going to tell you a short story, I hope, about the Goldenrod Gall fly. The Goldenrod Gall fly is a parasite that lives exclusively on Goldenrod plants. The fly's entire life and death is centered on Goldenrod. The females lay their eggs in the spring on the plant's stem.. After about 10 days the eggs hatch. The larvae create saliva that has a chemical in which causes the plant to grow abnormally forming a "gall" that the larvae live in. In the Fall the gall turns brown and the larvae will dig an escape tunnel to leave the following Spring. BUT Downey woodpeckers, and Chick-a-dees are 2 birds who seek out galls to break them open and get the larvae out for a tasty meal.

On my afternoon walk I also found a couple Buttercups in bloom. Brave little flowers they are, since I've heard that 4 letter "S" word mentioned for next week.

This shelf Fungus is as big as a dinner plate. I'd really like to paint on it, but it's not on our property.

A close look at some Lichen that was covering a fallen branch.

Remember earlier this week I posted the Beaver dam out on the creek behind our house, and mentioned that if we had any rain that raised the creek, that the dam probably would wash away. Yesterday we had 1" of rain, and already the water is over the top. Will it hold or not? Stay tuned for more up-dates.

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. I believe these 2 are babies from this year. They show up every day at dawn and dusk.

The Mrs. checking out something on the ground.

Burdock. My poor old cat Maggie has Burdock in the fur on her back. She'll need a haircut!

On a trip to Chautauqua Lake the other day, we saw some Northern Shoveler ducks. They are new for me, and probably were migrating through the area. I had to take these through the van window, so they might not be that clear but I couldn't pass it up.

Most of the males were snoozing. I think there were 6 males.

This juvenile male came a little closer.

Another week-end is upon us. I hope everyone stays safe and has a restful few days. Hope your weather is great too.

Be sure to check out my post for Week-end Reflections BELOW.

Macro Monday

This is the "Hen" of Hens and Chickens. They are green all summer, and turn red in the Fall.
Thanks to Lisa for keeping this meme going. Click on over to her site to see more close-ups. http://lisaschaos.com/

More Catch-up

I like photographing dried seed pods, and this one if from a rather large variegated Hosta. The entire pod arrangement is 4-5" long. On my daily walk with the dog I'm beginning to notice buck rubs on several of the smaller trees where the deer travel. Early in the season bucks will rub on trees to remove velvet from their antlers. As the rut ( breeding)season progresses bucks will take their aggression out on the trees by making rubs while all the time strengthening their neck muscles.

The Beavers are hard at work again during the night. This small Aspen tree has been cut down by them and dragged away to the dam some 50 yards away..

I took this Friday, and by Saturday morning the dam appeared to be finished. You can see the short span on the left between the grassy section, and the leading edge of the dam. This was closed Saturday morning. I won't tell them, but if we have any heavy rain, and the creek rises, this will all be washed away in a matter of minutes.

I might add, this dam is built by Bank Beavers. These are Beavers living along a river or creek and generally make burrows with an underwater entrance in the creek bank. They are constantly at work repairing their dam, and the sound of running water stimulates them to keep it closed.

With all this warm weather( at least 4 days this week) I found several branches on the Forsythia bush that had buds, and this one even had a open flower.

I always manage to find a Sea Gull with a deformed leg.

We all plan to take a trip tomorrow South of here to visit a huge greenhouse that transforms some of the greenhouses this time of the year into rooms filled with decorated, animated Christmas trees. We're packing a picnic lunch, and of course my camera. Stay tuned for hopefully some special pictures.

Macro Monday

For Macro Monday I found this Thistle that had gone to seed. We didn't have many Thistle plants this year and I don't know why, but I sure do love the Lavender flowers.
Thanks to Lisa for hosting this meme. Just click on her site http://lisaschaos.com/ to see lots more close-up shots.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

More photos on a very cloudy damp day
A Meadowhawk Dragonfly. I haven't seen many Dragonflies this summer, and this is a new one for me.
A old stump with lots of growth.

This one is out of order, but this evergreen in our neighbor's yard looks like an early Christmas tree with all the Wild Cucumber growing on it.

Moss on a piece of bark.

There are the Wild Cucumbers in all stages of drying. This one still is intact. With all the rain we've had these are growing all over most of the vegitation.

This one is drier, and has opened up the bottom and released it's seeds. They all look like bells don't you think?

I picked one up to show the seeds. There are 4 compartments and the seeds are the size of a watermelons.

The ever present Earwig.

Cloudy, rain, fog, and just another yucky day. Some sun promised for tomorrow.

Just Stuff

Just playing catch-up. I have so many pictures that I never get to post. Here are just a few
This airplane flew rather low over the field across the street. In case I forgot to mention I found another Monarch caterpillar. I had this one for 2 days and he attached to the jar lid last night. We'll check in 10 days and get pictures. I've asked the granddaughters to name it. Stay tuned...

It's mushroom season, and this one growing under our pine trees.

I discovered this beauty right by our front steps. I have a very good mushroom ID book, and can't locate it in the book!

It's time to find some great dried weeds too. These are the seeds from the Wild Parsnip plant. It is an invasive plant that can give you a nasty rash if you come in contact with the "juice".

One morning this spider web was strung from our "kids" Jeep antenna to the car body.

A somewhat rare sighting this summer of a Monarch butterfly.

Another dried weed seed pod.

More seed pods.

On our trip last week-end to Deer Park, there were 2 very beautiful peacocks. This is one, and I'll post more pictures on Saturday.