One more frog for good measure

 I just posted about the variety of frogs we have and I end the night with this....about the size of a half dollar....

Vole Rescue

 Kyanne kept going to the window well but I didn't see the usual suspects so figured she smelled a raccoon from the night before.  I took another look and she was on something...time to retrieve a vole...

I got it out with my coffee can (with gloved hand!) and chased it under the deck.  It tried coming back out but Ky was on it again...

July brings frog and toad rescue season

 Catching up from July...here is the annual roundup of frogs and toads in July.   This is at the bottom of my five foot deep window well.  I think this is the most I've seen at one time.  It was after a big rain...

This is not a rescue but I always marvel at the variety of frogs we get...

A Splash of Color Appeared (and it's an invasive species) "Dame's Rocket"

 I noticed some tall purplish flowers behind my fence this year.  I wondered where they came from.  We may have had a few before but not like this.  Back in 2019, I did grab flowers similar to this from my mom's house and planted back there.  They didn't do very well.  I knew they were not phlox because they were taller.  Turns out they are called Dame's Rocket.

Fast-forward to this year and I likely kicked this off OR the seeds just blew in (read below for how prolific they are).

(from the web)

Dame’s rocket, Hesperis matronalis, is a fragrant, edible member of the Brassicaceae family of plants, which includes arugula, broccoli, and mustard. Native to Europe and Asia, it was originally brought to the United States as an ornamental plant.

As with many introduced varieties, its seed spread beyond garden borders and naturalized in surrounding woodlands and meadows. Unfortunately, it is an aggressive grower that competes with native plants, threatening natural ecosystems with its spread.

Classified as invasive in many regions, H. matronalis is especially vigorous in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the US.

Many plants can become invasive under ideal growing conditions. Be aware that if you allow seeds to disperse from this plant, it will spread readily under ideal growing conditions.

It looks like a native garden phlox, Phlox paniculata, but to be certain, count the petals.

H. matronalis has four, but phlox varieties have five. In addition, dame’s rocket has leaves that alternate along the stem while phlox leaves are arranged opposite each other.

Dame’s rocket is a biennial, which means it blooms in the second year of growth. After pollination and seed formation, it is a vigorous self-sower.  It is believed that this plant was introduced to North America in the 1600s, so it’s had plenty of time to make itself at home.

The flowers may be magenta, pink, purple, or white. In addition to botanical species, which has one row of petals, there are cultivars with two.  Bloom times range from May to August.

H. matronalis is a fairly tall plant with stems that range from one to three feet, or sometimes four feet in height.

Deer don’t bother with it. That figures!

Introducing "Bozo"

 I have posted here before that my favorite mammal is a woodchuck (groundhog).  This stems from my childhood and part of my childhood was spent checking out book called "Bozo The Woodchuck".

My grandson Jacob is quite the artist.  He likes Pokemon and some fans of Pokemon like to create their own characters inspired by that style of drawing.  So I asked him if he would draw a groundhog for me and explained the significance.  Here is what he created and I love it!

Carolina Wren

 I saw (and mostly heard) a Carolina Wren...but I didn't know it at the time.  I was out with Ky like I always am when she goes out in the yard.  It was a fairly still afternoon and I heard this song over a few houses and it caught my ear.  I thought "now what is that?"

I watched it fly into the woods and I was really trying to get eyes on it.  It was a small bird but I could see it was roundish and had a longer bill so I ruled out a type of finch or sparrow.  It moved three different times singing the entire time.  I pulled out my phone and recorded what I was hearing.  Not being sure if it would pick up I found myself mimicking the song in case.  It did record so I was able to play back.

I sent the audio file to my nephew Jon and after ruling out a Pine Siskin he landed on Carolina Wren.  I matched up my recording to something on YouTube and we had a match!

So no picture of mine...just a nice story about collaborating with a trusted source :)

Here is a picture from the internet...

Click the link below to go to a page with video and audio...

Male Carolina Wren

Night and Day

 Here is a night image and a day image.

Getting a coyote on camera over the last 10+ years is not very common even though I know they are in the area.  People are getting more and more daytime images of coyotes in the metro.  I would think backing up to the woods I would see more but always grateful when I do.  And they don't seem to stand around like the deer so getting a good image is hard.  This one appears pretty big.

And here we have a doe passing through this morning...