Night Stalker

The trail cameras on our family property capture all sorts of interesting images of critters going about their daily business. I really enjoy seeing what they're up to when we aren't around to observe. 

This handsome coyote was out on the prowl for a little supper. 

It traveled back and forth a number of times, trying to catch the trail of something it was really interested in finding (and eating). 

I also really like the silvery, glowing effect the nighttime photography sometimes creates on the leaves and grasses, as well as the triggering critter. It looks like something that should be turned into a block print, doesn't it? All the play of light and shadow make my carving fingers itch...  :)

It just noticed something! Bunnies, beware! 
 

Asters and Friends

Tiny bumblebees and other pollinators have been taking full advantage of late blooming asters. 

My sister had a bumblebee nest by her front door this summer and we learned quite a lot about the creatures. They didn't bother anyone, but we did have to keep the dogs from snapping the spicy flies. 

At this late date, queen bumbles have left the nest to hibernate over the winter and their non-queen daughters are living out their last days in the fields, frequently sleeping on flowers when its too cold or dark for them to fly. 

In the spring, the queens that survive will build new nests and hope to get a new brood of daughters going to help them create a full and healthy colony before hatching some males and new queens to start the process all over again. 

The clouded sulphur butterflies take advantage of the late bloomers, too. The white female above blends in with the white asters. 

Asters are lovely enough all by themselves, but knowing the important part they play in the survival of late feeding pollinators and migrating butterflies makes them even more special. 

I caught this bumblebee lifting off and heading over to taste a different flower. 

I hope you enjoyed this little field trip as much as I did. :)

More Mushrooms on Monday?

Sulphur shelf or chicken of the woods are very tasty sauteed in butter, especially if you find them as brilliant and fresh as this batch was. 

Aren't they beautiful? That color isn't enhanced - they're really that bright. They're pretty hard to miss while walking through the forest. I noticed evidence of another bloom someone had already harvested - just orange remnants stuck to the side of a log. 

 

Interestingly, on the same big pine snag, about five feet lower and around the other side, a lacy group of aged turkey tail fungus filled the crevices in the bark. I thought the textures and colors were a nice juxtaposition. 

Another set of turkey tail growing on a fallen poplar tree, was a surprising color of green. It looked like that poplar was sprouting a whole new kind of leaf! 

I thought this colorful fellow, growing between the pieces of a rotting birch tree added a perfect touch to a picturesque forest floor vignette. 

This beauty was large and impressive, with an undulating cap and a lot of personality! 

Lots of fungus lately, right? It's what I've been seeing out in the woods! We'll have to see what I can locate for the next blog installment!  

Twenty Swans A-Swimming

I had to look up the collective noun for a group of swans. It's called a bevy. Isn't that just perfect? 

We definitely had a bevy of beauties out in front of my sister's house a couple days ago. We counted twenty in the group. 

They had found something particularly good to eat in the shallows and spent a long time bobbing and milling about before swimming north together. 

A few of them got ruffled feathers from time to time, but there weren't any major kerfuffles. 

One paddled along with its mate holding a foot out of the water. It must have been a restful pose, even though it looked like someone had misread the swan assembly instructions. 

 

And speaking of looking a little silly, there quite a few less graceful moments as they filled their gullets with whatever they were finding for snacks. 

 Obviously, it was a lot of fun to watch the activity. I must have taken a hundred pictures, at least, but I'm not cruel. I only subject you to a few that seemed interesting and maybe a little humorous. :) 

A Mysterious Apology!

I apologize for the delay in posting the solution to the mystery turtles. For some reason, Google (in it's infinitely dubious wisdom) changed a number of blog settings without notifying me. I was having trouble posting and all the responses from mystery lovers fell into a black hole. I think I have everything reset and working properly again. 

So, I'm also sorry I didn't respond to any of your mysterious puzzle answers - I wondered why nobody had said anything. (Thank you, BetsyLee, for notifying me of response difficulties via AQ mail. It put me on the right track to solving all the various issues -- I hope.)

Without further ado, here's the original picture: 

There are two fairly obvious turtles, but at least two others peeking out of the water.  There's also a possible fifth about a third down from the top on the left. 

 I've marked the ones I saw on this second picture. So, who did I miss? :)

 

A Tiny Turtle Teaser

Just in case it's time for another little mystery. Here's a teaser. I'll post the answer tomorrow, but this is one where I might be wrong.  You may do better than I did. :)

How many turtles can you find? I thought there were two to begin with and then... 

Little Things with Wings

Bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other little winged wonders can be real day brighteners. 

I don't know what kind of pollinator is on the black-eyed Susan above, but it was an earnest little fuzz buzzer that caught my eye.  

I've been cheering for mosquito-eating dragonflies since I was a small child. They not only have the most delicate and intricate wings, they're the most amazing aerial acrobats. They hover, fly backward, forward, dart, dive and actually eat their prey while hanging in the air. 

I love the way sunlight makes the wings glitter and the veins are like stained glass leading around the colorful panes of transparent wing. 

Piper and I saw this newly emerged monarch butterfly as we were finishing up an afternoon walk. It was so vibrant in its new colors and completely undamaged by any encounters with the world. I'm sure it will be well traveled by the time it finishes its migration flight, but no less majestic for that. 

We took a Jeep ride (old 1966 vintage), complete with windshield down and no doors, of course, on the family property to celebrate my brother's birthday. We stopped to admire some giant swallowtail butterflies in the thistle patch. 

They hardly ever stop fluttering and it's really hard to get a good picture.  I did manage to get a couple clear shots out of the dozens I took - most were blurry to one degree or another. The patterns on these butterflies are beautiful. The tiny teardrops on the ends of the tails and the colorful orange and blue markings at the base of its abdomen are striking details in an already intricate series of wing markings. 
 

Trail Cam Thursday

I posted a bunch of trail camera captures of whitetail deer families earlier. So, I thought it might be fun to show who else has been caught roaming around in the woods. 

We have some bears. Above is a fairly large boar and I'd rather not meet him while out walking Piper! They usually only wander by the cameras at night, so we get pictures of glowing eyes and silhouettes, but sometimes they're ambling back home in the early morning sun. 

This younger, adolescent age black bear passed the same tree its larger relation walked by in the earlier picture. It's a popular critter crossing (which is why we put the camera there). A small pond sits just beyond the bear and it drains into a little creek that runs through a culvert under the two track trail, so lots of beasties come by for a drink, or use the road to keep their feet dry. 
  

There are also some beautiful bobcats roaming about the woods as well. We sometimes get an early morning picture, but this is the more typical capture. 

This is my personal favorite of this batch, though. This sandhill crane walked past this same camera in the same direction almost every single day to have his portrait taken. We started laughing every time he showed up in the camera roll. :)
 

Can You See It?

It's not really a mystery post, but it's a little hard to spot. If he hadn't moved, I probably would have missed seeing him altogether. He took a step and gave away his location. 

Who is he?  He's an American Woodcock, also known in my area as a timberdoodle. 

Everybody piled into the jeep (old 1966 vintage model with the windshield down and no doors) and took a ride on the family property for my brother's birthday and got lucky enough to see another woodcock. I was able to get better pictures of this one. 

Having green grass as a backdrop, instead of more dry leaves really helps with the contrast and visibility. 

Watching these guys bob along as they walk is such a treat (that's how I know he is a male). Also, if you ever have the chance to go out on a spring night and watch their spiral mating flights, it's an experience not to be missed! You can sneak up closer and closer when they're high in the sky and then watch them do their courtship dance in the dusk after they land. As I said, if you have the chance, do it! :)

Magnificent Milkweed

I was out helping my brother with some chores on the family property when I noticed this milkweed plant in full flower. 

Honeybees were humming around it, collecting pollen and I was trying to get some decent pictures, since it was such a lovely little vignette. 

I managed to capture a few good shots of the flowers with the bees actually in focus. 

I particularly liked the photo I took of this bee from the side as it gathered goodies for the hive, while still showcasing the beautiful, waxy flowers. 

A little while later, I was sitting on the tailgate of the truck, resting for a minute when that very same milkweed flower attracted this handsome fellow. I was delighted both to see him and to manage a picture - also in focus, for a change on those fast-moving subjects! 

I hope you're as delighted as I was.  

Good Morning, Baltimore!

 Orioles, that is...

The baby Baltimore orioles were so cute, waiting for a delivery of grape jelly. They hadn't learned how to fend for themselves and were quite insistent on the goods coming to them. 

They were pretty close to full size, though they had just started molting and putting on the full glory of their orange feathers. Happily, their feeding requirements did allow for some fun observation time, though Mister Baltimore O. was pretty harassed. 

He was very good about taking care of the raucous youngsters, in spite of being a bit frazzled. :)
 

Morning Marvels

Piper and I took a pre-dawn walk at a nearby nature preserve and were very well rewarded for our efforts. 

We chose a trail and had nearly completed the circuit when we spotted this handsome fellow standing in the staghorn sumac as the sun was cresting the treetops. He didn't seem overly concerned about us, but moved along. 

A little farther down the trail, a larger buck with a beautiful set of antlers in the velvet came into view. The first one we saw had joined him and there was a third with a smaller rack as well. 

I realized the reason they weren't terribly concerned about Piper or me had a lot to do with another handsome creature that came trotting from the concealment of the sumac and tall grasses. The deer kept a close eye on it. The coyote stood and contemplated its options for a few moments, decided it didn't like the look of the canine with the human companion and went trotting back the way it had come. 

The sunrise was also pretty spectacular.  Getting up early has its rewards! (Of course, so does sleeping in, but Piper doesn't allow that very often!) :)

It's a Trail Cam Tuesday!

As promised, here are more trail camera fawn photos from the family property. 

This one looked like all the aunties had gathered around to admire the little one, petting and cooing over it. 

Here, the little one looks just a bit mischievous, staying out of mother's reach. Either that, or it broke cover to see where mom had gone and knows it's in trouble for disobedience. 

Boundless energy, right? It looks like mom is being indulgent while her youngster works off a serious case of the zoomies! 

Wait up! Wait for me! I noticed something fascinating by the side of the trail and fell behind. 

And that's the end. :)