Up, up and away!

Sometimes it pays to look up.  This morning I saw maybe 40 hot air balloons!  The National Balloon Classic starts July 28 in Indianola.  This must have been a "warm up"...

Quite a few pictures here...didn't know which to leave out.



Black-eyed Susans

A hearty wildflower and member of the sunflower family.  Rudbeckia hirta

I saw these two flowers along my fence in the back yard.  After a Google search, I learned Black-eyed Susans can have anywhere from 8-20 florets.  So here are two example and definitely a different number of florets...yet only about 20 feet apart.  More trivia...the state flower of Maryland.

 

Somebunny help me!

My morning started with rescuing a leopard frog from our deep window well.  Not uncommon.  I've pulled toads and frogs and even voles out of there.  For some reason I looked out our basement window today and for the first time, I saw a baby bunny down there!  To me it was eye level but as you see by the second photo it's maybe 5 feet down.



I was able to rescue successfully using my coffee can and garden tool technique (definitely scared).  I popped it back in the grass and off it went!

Caution. Nature at work.

Bumblebee at work this morning...

They're getting bigger

I've noticed two fawns in the woods over the last few weeks.  I've caught glimpses of them romping around in the woods but have not captured a picture with both in it.  I got these images last night...

The Day After

Suffice it to say people were excited that fireworks were legal this year.  The air quality the next day was very poor in much of Iowa due to hazy conditions combined with lingering smoke from the night before.

These pictures are not that dramatic but are interesting for the way the sun was cutting through the haze.  One is behind our house and the other is on my morning walk.

 

Hanging baskets

Here are some close-ups of the hanging baskets in front of our house.  We tried something new this year.  They are called calibrochoa. 

 

 

On this next one, look close...

Happy Independence Day!

 

 The picture above is from this morning.  Took Russ on a walk.  He was feeling the humidity...

 

 

 I figured the fireworks would scare most of the wildlife away last night but I did get these images of a "prairie wolf" (coyote).  Looks like it is looking for the rabbit that got away...