Another "First" for Me

A couple weeks ago we put the trail cameras up in our deer hunting area and we went down to check for pictures tonight after supper (no pictures--in case you're wondering). As we were walking along the edge of the cornfield and back to the truck, I happened to notice a strange green bump on a milkweed plant........can you see it??

Here's the "zoom" shot of a Cope's Gray Treefrog (green phase). How cute is that??

I think they're pretty abundant in Minnesota, but I've never seen one of these frogs before in my life. Be sure to click on the link above to learn more about them. They're quite the amazing little creature.

Miscellaneous Monday

I have quite a few pictures stored on my Compact Flash card and since I didn't have any other ideas for a post tonight, I decided to clean out the memory and share some of these pictures with you.

I'll start with a few photos from about a month ago--over at the little stormwater retention pond I've been visiting frequently this summer. I finally got a good picture of one of the little frogs before it leapt into the water (leopard frog? I think). This guy was really tiny but you can't tell it from this picture......

How about now? Same frog with an oak leaf for better size definition.

I also got this nice picture of an Eastern Comma Butterfly (summer form). This butterfly was loving the moist mud at the edge of the pond.It's hard to get pictures of them as they sit and continually flap their wings--I just keep snapping away and eventually I'm lucky enough to get the shot when its wings are open all the way.

One night last week while doing the dishes, I glanced out the window and there was the Cooper's Hawk--sitting right on the edge of the ground feeding tray (this is the same tray my night-time deer eat corn from). Occasionally I'll see the Cooper's Hawk swoop through the yard and sometimes even find little piles of feathers from a bird it has killed, but I was really delighted to see this one land and sit still long enough for me to snap some (less than ideal) pictures through the window screen. Judging by the color of the breast feathers and dark orange-appearing eye, I'm calling this bird an adult.

My, what big ears you have!!

We saw this little fawn last Saturday night in a hayfield in Fillmore County.

I've started saving water from the air conditioner that I've always previously let run down the drain. I get from 3-4 of these jugs every day and with 8 birdbaths around the yard, this really saves on running water from the tap, plus it's much easier to carry a couple of jugs than the big bucket of water I used to fill from the outside faucet.

When I got home from work this afternoon, I noticed something with black wings flying around in the Swallowtail Ranch jar. "Hmmm, that seems odd, those wings are too small for a swallowtail," I thought to myself.
Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't a butterfly at all, but a wasp! How disappointing. This is one of the parasitic wasps (Trogus species). When I found this swallowtail caterpillar and put it in the "ranch" it was almost completely full grown. Here's what my Kaufman Field Guide to insects says about these wasps: "All are internal parasites of caterpillars but emerge as adult wasps from the pupa of the host." Yuck!! The field guide even shows a picture of one of these wasps emerging from the pupa of a swallowtail butterfly. The other swallowtail caterpillar I found was much smaller (the green cocoon you can see in the picture). I hope that one didn't become a victim of one of these wasps too, but I'll find out for sure if (and when) the butterfly emerges from this green cocoon.

A Nice Wednesday

Well, it turned out to be a very nice day once the wind finally died down. I got home from work and decided I'd better get my garbage can potatoes planted before another day went by. Here's my "potato patch!"

I found these collapsible storage containers at Fleet Farm on clearance for $4 each. They're made of two layers of heavy duty fabric and hopefully they'll work for growing potatoes (I saw something similar in a gardening catalog). I've got them sitting around the cement base of my TV antenna tower. They will get good sun for most of the day and they're far enough away from my garden that any insects attracted to these potatoes won't bother the other vegetables in my garden.

Take a look at this:

OK, the sun was shining on this thermometer a little bit to make it 78 degrees, but our "official" high today was 73 degrees! This is the first time we've had a day over 70 degrees since last October (178 days according to the weatherman). It was so nice to be outside this afternoon wearing a short-sleeved shirt!

After supper, I was sitting at the table watching birds out the dining room window when I spotted this huge cottontail stopping by to feast on some corn. He's a pretty good-looking bunny, don't you think?

While I was watching Mr. Bunny Rabbit, look who else hopped into view....

WOW! Brown Thrasher! That's really big news! (at least for me it is). I had two nesting pairs in my yard last summer. It's nice to see this handsome birdie decided to come back for another summer.

After supper, we went over to the woods to check on whether there were any tenants in the wood duck house I built and put up last spring. No tenants yet, but I took the opportunity to put in fresh wood shavings and hopefully there will be a wood duck moving in soon as I spotted a drake and two hens at the edge of the little man-made pond in the vicinity of this wood duck house.

There were quite a few frogs over by this little pond. Here's a look at one little guy checking me out.

Enjoy the sweet froggy music (and listen for the pileated who lives in these woods too!)

Happy Spring Everyone!