Who notices these things?  Jon.  On our walk the other day he saw this huge caterpillar creeping along.  It was about the size of my longest finger!!!

 

I put the Seek app on it and guess what?  It said:  Luna Moth.  Yoo-hoo!!  We love these.  We may or may not get to see it after it cocoons and emerges, but at least we know that they are around somewhere close by.  

 

I hope you get to see them in your travels.  They are fabulous!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend "The Squirrel Man" hasn't been around for a while, so we take peanuts with us when we walk in the park.

 

Jon usually carries about 10 peanuts, and offers them to the squirrels.  Well, this little one took one, then followed us until Jon gave him another one.  Look at the little piggy:  he's got two in his mouth!

 

Life is good on the mountain.  We have enough for us, and enough to share.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

 

 

 

OK.  This is a weird picture, but when I put it in perspective for you, you will get it.  We are on the lower deck looking up.

 

Look to the left on the rafter:  see Momma bird's nest?  Now look to the right and you can see a big fat corn snake.  See that bulge at the back end of his body?  We suspect that is the result of eating a couple of our baby birds.  Hey, it's the food chain, right?  Reality check and frustrating, all at the same time.

 

It took "Corny" a full 24 hours to digest his meal, before he could move on, hopefully to somebody else's yard.

 

 

SORRY!!! 

 

Jon showed me this nest of baby birds the other day.  Of course I had to get up on a ladder to see them, as they are up in the rafters under the top deck.  Anyway, here they are: 4 of them, filling up the nest.

 

Momma bird built the first nest a couple months ago, and felt safe enough to raise another brood in the same spot.  She laid these eggs a couple weeks ago, and when we got home from our trip the babies were already here.

 

How cute are they?!?

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

We went for our walk yesterday, and as we were coming down the hill, I heard a baby deer cry.  I knew the sound, because we've heard it so many times before.  When we got around the curve we saw a tiny fawn in the road.  So we approached slowly.  Momma was there and didn't seem too worried about our presence.

 

She moved away, and we were able to see that there were two babies.  They had just been born.  The fawns were very interested in us, and actually let Sheri touch them.  When we were ready to move on, one of them wanted to follow us.  NO!!!  We had to run away, so they wouldn't follow us.  It was interesting.  We wanted to stay, but knew that they needed to bond with Momma, not us.

 

What a sweet experience for us all.  How often do we get to see nature up SO close?

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

As we were walking in the park, we could hear Mr. Cardinal calling.  Then we saw a flash of red, and he landed in the tree right in front of us.  How exciting to be part of nature.

 

I hope you are enjoying spring in all its glory.  

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

 

We saw this the other day in the blueberry bushes.  In this picture, it looks huge, but it is only about the size of the top joint of your thumb, and about the same shape.  It is the egg case of a praying mantis.  I've told you this before, but each egg case holds about 100 baby mantids.  We love finding these things, because we love praying mantids.  They eat bugs that eat our plants, so we love them.  

 

And I love seeing them:  at first they are so tiny, then get really big.  Very cool insects.  I hope we can be there when they emerge:  that is awesome!  I'll take pix if we catch it.  Wish me luck.  ;)

 

 

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!!

 

Jon suggested that I show you the whole web, because it was awesome.

 

Linda, this is the same one I blew up for that beautiful close up.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

A few days ago on our morning walk we noticed lots and lots of spider webs sparkling with all the moisture in the air.  I must have taken 10 pictures of different webs.  Some housed spiders, some showed off the remains of their breakfast.  

 

When we got home, this one was across the path to our house.  It was about 4 feet in diameter, and that picture was pretty.  But then when I cropped it and enlarged it I saw all these pearls, and the intricate design.

 

I thought you would like to see the close-up.  I love it!!!

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

My friends, Mark and Karen were in the Wild Arcadia Gardens in Bar Harbor, Maine last week and saw this beautiful chrysalis.  Mark was very proud that he knew what it was:  a Monarch chrysalis.  We enlarged the picture a bit;  it's really only about the size of your index fingertip.  But isn't it gorgeous?  Yes, it is.  I call this color "happy green."  And that rim you see near the top, turns gold when it's ready to open and release the butterfly.

 

Thanks Mark, for sending me the picture so that we can all marvel at this beauty.  

 

 

HAPPY FALL TRAVELS!!!