Groundhog

Since we moved in we've had many groundhosg living at the edges of our yard. Hard to get a picture of though. I finally snapped a few that were'nt a complete blur.

American Robbin

A little rain this morning brought out flocks of robbin red breasts (that's what they were aways called when I was growing up).

I love the song of the robin.

Cricket

So much noise out of such a small bug.....a black field cricket?

New Friends

We made some new friends in Virginia and were invited to their house for dinner. They have a wonderful piece of property a little north of here. We got to meet all their animals and sit for a while by their pond with the ducks. Great friends, great wine and a great time!

 

 

 

Bufo americanus - American Toad

I found this toad crawling up the side of my house under a light. I guess that's a good place to find dinner, like the little insect at the top of this shot.

Buckeye Butterfly

I heard a quote earlier this year that has really stayed with me.

If there were no change, the caterpillar could not turn into the butterfly.

When we saw caterpillars starting to make cocoons around our garage door, I didn't know if I'd happen to be home when the butterflies emerged, but today I was lucky enough to catch it - well, mostly due to my husband who came in the house while I was washing the dishes and said, "Come outside and bring your camera"

The butterfly had just emerged and was starting to stretch a bit and slowly open it's wings. It was amazing to see how small the cocoon was and how bug the butterfly was by the time she had fully extended her wings. She hopped around, took a few short flights, got batted around a bit by Snoopy until I told him to stop, and finally flew away. I got this pretty good picture.

I tried to look up what kind of butterfly this is by comparing it to other pictures. I think it is a buckeye butterfly.

Sometimes change can be good!

What kind of spider is this?

This spider has a huge web on the back of my mailbox. I snapped this picture today while he was catching a moth. Anyone know what kind of spider it is? It is an inch and a half or so.

Praying Mantis

Found this praying mantis on my deck tonight. I saw him fly away, which was quite interesting.

Geese

A flock of geese have been showing up grazing on our front lawn for about a week now.

Sandpipers in the meadow?

Today there is a small flock of sandpipers hanging out in our front yard. We are hours from the beach so I'm guessing they must be migrating. I will have to look up their migratory patterns. As we drive down the driveway, they run very fast in front of us then fly a short distance away.