Oh, Baby!

It's the season for babies. They're everywhere! On several recent outings, Piper and I have encountered a number of youngsters exploring the world with and without their parents.

I love how the adult geese act as bookends for their offspring, and it's particularly enjoyable to see the little ones line up so perfectly.

Mother mallard, on the other hand, was having a slightly harder time getting her ducklings in a row. I guess it's not too surprising - she had quite a brood to wrangle!

Madame Swan was still incubating eggs or protecting cygnets, but it was fun to see her regally ensconced on her nest. She was so quiet and tucked in so well, we almost missed her.

There is always a doe that drops her fawn in the vineyard down the road from me, so she will wander through the neighborhood with her youngster as soon as it's ready to follow her lead.

This has been a banner year for bunnies. Piper went into full point and stalk mode when she saw these four rabbits. One adolescent and three younger buns.
 

And Piper gets full credit for spotting this little spotted cutie.

She could smell something in the grass just off the trail (through the vineyard) and nearly put her nose on it before I realized what she'd found. I snapped a couple quick pictures and got us both down the trail and away, so we wouldn't disturb it any more than we already had. I'm pretty sure it's the slightly younger version of the fawn in the picture above with its mom.

River Walk

While I was down at our family property a few weeks ago, Piper and I took a number of lovely walks along the river.

We saw that beavers had been hard at work felling trees and building dams.

Everything was beautifully green - lacy ferns were popping up in the woods,

and unfurling along the riverbank.

Piper waded into the river to get a drink and was surprised by the current and sat down abruptly in the chilly water.

It didn't really faze her - she loves the water. She tries to go swimming almost every time she gets near the bay or river. It keeps her coat nice and shiny. 

Wednesday Wind-Up

Here's the final reveal for all you puzzlers. 

First, the original clue with our subject way out in the middle of the marsh.

Then, our zoomed clue, with much more detail available.

Finally here's our magnificent painted turtle sunning itself. It looks a bit uncomfortable to me, though.

It looks like it's balanced on the stick that crosses the far more substantial basking log.

I took quite a few pictures, enjoying all the different attitudes and poses it struck.

It finally turned and prepared to slide back into the water.

Where it slipped under the surface and disappeared from view. 

I hope you enjoyed this small diversion. :)

Tuesday's Teaser

Here's a reminder of yesterday's puzzle clue.

If you want to check the first clue again, before checking the second installment, the subject in question is pretty close to the center of the frame, both vertically and horizontally.

I zoomed in much closer and you should be able to see what's what pretty easily, although the final reveal won't come until tomorrow.
 

Mysterious Monday

People have been enjoying the puzzles quite a lot recently (well, this makes sense, since many of you search for things hiding out in the woods as a matter of course). So, I thought I'd spice up your Sunday just a tad with a little mystery, just in case you aren't out in the woods already. :)

There's something to find in this scenic little spot - somewhere. Can you locate it?

Tomorrow will bring the next installment. :)

Don't forget - you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Walking on the Wild Side

It's always a little bit wild walking with Miss Piper. She's still has quite a bit of puppy energy and loves to stalk anything she sees. She's learning to be a better leash walker, though. It just takes practice... practice... practice!

We started off with a lot of enthusiasm, when this bunny caught her attention right out of the gate. 

A couple miles later, we were up past the wetland area in a big, open field. There's a snag out in the field that birds like to perch on as a lookout for hapless bugs flying by. First there was a bluebird. 

Then, an Eastern kingbird took up the post, before diving after a morsel in flight. 

At this point, Piper was able to relax and sit for me, so that I could take the bird photos (which aren't that good because of the bright backlighting, but I did my best!).

We traveled back through the forest on our way home and this little tease chattered and chipped at Piper. She wanted to chase it so badly! 

So, when we were back out in the open again, I gave her an opportunity to run like the wind. She's amazingly fast and absolutely loves running and playing chase. (She has managed to knock me over twice while barreling toward me at top speed and hitting the back of my knees just right. --Oof!)

That's our small adventure for the day. :)

A Nosegay

Baloo and I often walked through the gardens at a nearby restaurant. While I enjoyed the flowers, he scouted for fallen bits of food on the patio. Well, I took Piper along that old favorite route just in time to see the peonies blooming. 

Piper was more interested in sniffing for bunnies and squirrels than she was in the peonies.

She did sit down while I snapped some pictures, though, which I appreciated!

I guess the sweet perfume of the flowers didn't entrance her like the scent of chipmunk.

But, I was delighted by all the colors and textures, as well as the lovely fragrance.

I hope you enjoyed this little nosegay, too. :)

Field and Fungus

Piper and I discovered a huge bloom of mushrooms (most of them way past their prime) while out on a walk. I haven't taken the time to really try and identify them, but a quick page through my mushroom books didn't turn up any obvious matches.

They were growing on an enormous pile of wood chips. I'm guessing that BetsyLee will have the answer for us pretty quickly! :)

Another dog walker I met on a different excursion said he thought they were edible, but didn't know what they were, either. (I don't eat anything to which I have not been formally introduced!)

These guys, however, are one of the first mushrooms I got to know and love when I was a child. The fairy ring makes a grand addition to scrambled eggs or any kind of gravy. I remember we used to find them in cow pastures or sometimes in cemeteries, before the grounds keepers started using too many fungicides on the grass, killing them all off.

 Piper didn't care about the mushrooms at all, but thoroughly enjoyed the walk down the rarely used trails.

A Small Mystery - Solution

 As always, here's a quick reminder of yesterday's mystery photo.

The camouflage is quite good, so the subject of this little mystery is pretty hard to see. 

Between the big rock pile and the water, there's another, smaller island of pebbles, leaves and shells... and something else. 

If you still haven't spotted her, look on the right hand side of that small island of vegetation.

Did you find her? She was hunkered right down in the foliage, but (of course) she started to get nervous when I trained the camera on her.

I can't imagine she would put her nest there - it would be pretty close to the water's edge and likely to get washed away in a storm. But, what do I know? 

I am keeping my eyes open for when the little ones hatch and begin to run around on the beach, though. I love the tiny fuzz balls on stilts. 

If the adults are killdeer, are the babies killfawn? :)

A Small Mystery

Little mysteries have been popular with my sharp-eyed friends, so I thought I would post a small one to usher in the weekend. Piper and I were walking along the road by the bay and she very graciously sat still to allow me to take a few pictures. Sometimes, she makes it hard to focus. After all, the leash is attached to both of us!

Can you locate the stealthy one? The camouflage is outstanding, don't you think?

A Scavenge or Squabble?

Piper and I saw these three seagulls gathered very close together around a rock that broke the surface of the bay.

Upon seeing us, they broke the band up just a little bit, but still remained pretty tight.

Being a curious soul, I looked up the collective noun for a group of seagulls, and the most common one seems to be "colony", which fits, but there were two others I found much more apt and entertaining.

One was a "scavenge", which is perfect for these birds, since they will do exactly that with any available food source. In fact, I think they were working on scavenging a dead fish just below the surface of the water.

The other apt collective noun was "squabble". If you've ever seen them arguing about who gets the potato chip or bread crust someone dropped on the beach, you'll know this, too, is absolutely perfect. 

These three weren't squabbling, but they were scavenging, and it was fun to watch some of their antics as we ambled along the road.
 

A Tiger Tale

The tiger swallowtail butterfly is a real favorite with both my brother and me.
 

There's just something so dramatic and dazzling about these guys (and these really are all guys - the female of the species is beautiful, too, just in a more muted fashion).

Watching them gracefully glide from flower to flower is peaceful and quite mesmerizing.

They seem to love the dame's rocket (an invasive, but a beautiful flower) that my grandmother started in the homestead yard many long years ago.

At blooming time, the hillside can be completely covered with them (I meant the flowers, but it's also true of the butterflies).

I think one of these beauties might have to end up on a piece of carving material in the not too distant future.

The bold markings just invite it,don't you think. I love the little dots of orange and blue at the base of the wings as extra little artistic exclamation points.