Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

Bonus bee

"Where did they go?"

Ray, a drop of golden sun.

"Move along..."

Night buck

Getting closer to a good picture of this guy...

Deer this morning

I was out with Russ and I heard what sounded like a branch breaking.  I've learned that sound means deer are in the woods.  So I wandered up and saw three does and a buck.  It's the buck I've seen recently and have been trying to get a decent photo of him.

Here's what I saw...



Leopard frog rescue

Rescued two leopard frogs the other day.  About a week ago, I pulled out four at one time.  Very powerful legs.

Here they are in the window well and then back in the grass...

Here is a molting cicada Russ and I saw this morning

 

 

Shhh. I'm hiding...

A survival instinct.  Maybe not the best hide and seek player but a good effort...

 

Mississippi Kites

My brother Dean told me they have a pair of Mississippi Kites nesting in a tree next to their backyard.  They are rare to occasional in Iowa but becoming more common in that part of Kansas.

Here is a picture from the internet...

 

 

Impressive bird.  Here is a picture from my nephew Jon...(thank you for sharing!)

 

 

From Wikipedia...

 

The Mississippi kite is a small bird of prey. Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air. It is not uncommon to see several circling in the same area.

Their diet consists mostly of insects which they capture in flight. They eat cicada, grasshoppers, and other crop-damaging insects, making them economically important. They have also been known to eat small vertebrates, including birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals.  Their call is a high-pitched squeak, sounding similar to that of a squeaky toy.



Mushrooms or toadstools? Or both?

Went for a very short walk this morning due to the heat.  These pictures are from the house on the corner down by our mailbox...part of the older neighborhood.

I've Googled mushrooms and toadstools and I'm not really sure what I'm seeing but I thought they were interesting.

Looks like flying saucers!

Who's down there?

I've been seeing these holes around the neighborhood.  Maybe they've been there in years past and I didn't notice them.  The hole is obviously too big for ants and I've never seen chipmunks leave mounds like this.  So after looking online, these seem to be classic gopher (or pocket gopher) holes and mounds...

Heading home or on the hunt?

When I first saw these pictures I figured this coyote was heading home because the sun was coming up but if you look at the last picture, its head is down so maybe chasing a rabbit?

I was excited to get some pictures with daylight...

Close-up of picture above



Smile!

 

Working the night shift.

Saw (a) Buck

These aren't great pictures but you can see this young buck's fuzzy antlers...

Grasshopper



 

On our deck

Secure the perimter

 

I feel safer...

All hail the Monarch!

Always an eye-catcher.  This was outside my bank today...

Eastern Goldfinch (the bird of many names)

The Eastern Goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa and New Jersey.  More commonly called the American Goldfinch or "wild canary" (also "lightning bird").  It became our state bird in 1933.

Thinking back, I have referred to this bird as an "American" Goldfinch in previous posts because that is technically what it is.  Growing up it was always "Eastern" to me.  We just have a regional name along with New Jersey (which named it the state bird in 1935).

It is also the state bird of Washington (as of 1951) but they call it a "Willow" Goldfinch.  Same bird...still an "American" Goldfinch but just the local name given.

I took these photos after work and are definitely the best I've taken with summer colors.  Amazingly I got within 10 to 15 feet.  I've been close to the feeder in winter but I found today remarkable.