In the Backyard

Here are some photos of some random, but interesting things I've seen in the backyard in the past week or so.

My crow family

The juveniles are big enough to feed themselves now, but still try to beg from their parents every once in a while. Sometimes only 4 will show for a day or so and I get worried that one of them may have gotten shot during Minnesota's crow hunting season, but then the next day all 5 are back again and I'm relieved.

Cooper's Hawk sunbathing

I checked with Susan (the raptor expert) to see if she had any opinions about what this Coop was doing and she said she'd never seen any of her Coop's behaving this way. After the hawk flew away, I went out and checked where it had been laying and no ant hills were nearby, so we ruled out "anting." There was also no evidence of a fresh kill in the area, so I think the bird was just trying to cool off a bit on a hot August afternoon.

The backyard wildflower garden/monarch waystation is in full bloom!

Lost of purple coneflowers, but also Joe Pye weed, Canada goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace, green-headed coneflower, and brown-eyed Susan. It's definitely a butterfly and bee haven.

Common Green Darner (female)

I found this beautiful dragonfly on the swamp white milkweed last week when I was collecting monarch caterpillars. I was really happy she allowed me to get some great photos before flying away.

Newly tagged monarch enjoying her first nectar in the wild

Great Spangled Fritillary on Joe Pye Weed

Hope you're seeing some neat things in your backyard too!

An Evening Walk to the Pond

I haven't been over to the little pond in the woods near our house yet this spring, so after supper last night, Mr. Johnson and I decided to take a walk over there. No development for the home lots or streets has been started yet, although there are some sewer pipes stacked up and a big John Deere digger that's been sitting there since early spring. I count that as one of the advantages of our current economic situation.

We know the deer have started having their babies and I was hoping to see a fawn, but we didn't. However, Eagle Eyes Johnson spotted these tracks in the dirt on our way home, so we know they've started to arrive on this earth. I just love seeing those teeny, tiny hoofprints (less than 1.5 inches long). You can tell this little one was staying pretty close to mama.

I think there are still quite a few deer in this little woods, judging by the number of tracks we saw. Here are some more from a little buck.

Raccoons are pretty common too.

Eagle Eyes Johnson also spotted these turkey tracks near the pond. He never did see any while he was out turkey hunting a couple weeks ago, though.

But the trip wasn't just about animals tracks, we saw some live creatures too. Here's a tent caterpillar.

How about this pretty dragonfly -- a male Common Whitetail. The dragonflies were hanging out on the sun-facing side of that John Deere digger I mentioned earlier. They must have been enjoying some of the remaining warmth from the sun on the metal of the machine.

We did see a couple of white-tail deer, but this one was the only one who allowed me to photograph her--and only from a distance.

We heard and saw quite a few birds--especially several territorial male Indigo Buntings. On my next trip, I'll see if I can't get a couple shots of those guys. Here's a bird I couldn't identify for sure; I think it's an Olive-Sided Flycatcher. At first I thought maybe a Great-Crested Flycatcher because there are so many of them in this woods, and it was about the same size. But once I got home and looked at this photo, I changed my mind, specifically because of coloration and the dark streaking at the sides of its breast. (A positive ID from any of my readers would be greatly appreciated.)

In addition to fauna, we also saw some flora. These little Johnny-Jump-Ups were growing right in the middle of what will be the main street into this subdivision. (I have half a notion to go back over there tonight and dig them up to replant somewhere in my yard.)

I noticed these roses blooming from the edge of the remaining woods. "So pretty," I thought to myself. "Now where did I just see a picture of these???"

Oh yeah, at Heather's blog......I believe it's the beautiful but invasive Multiflora Rose. Oh well, I guess it will be taken care of once the housing development starts here. I commented to Mr. Johnson on our way back home that if we were ever to win the Powerball, the first thing I would do is purchase this undeveloped subdivision from the realtor and just build one house there way back by the pond -- ours!

There must have been a farm or something here at one time many years ago because we see a lot of glass and sometimes other artifacts where the dirt road was been cleared out. I spotted this tiny little cobalt blue bottle just barely sticking out of the dirt and kicked it loose with the toe of my shoe......intact, very cute and a perfect sized vase for a tiny flower.

I cleaned it up when I got home and picked the perfect tiny flower in my backyard.

Now it resides on my kitchen windowsill as a souvenir of last night's walk.

More Miscellaneous

I'm kind of getting into this "miscellaneous" theme and since I've recently purchased more memory for photos, I'm going to take advantage of it! Here are some more "miscellaneous" sights from my backyard......I'm amazed at what I've started noticing when there's a camera around my neck!

Juvenile Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (out on its own already)

Hedge-Nettle (Stachys tenuifolia)

Wild Monarch Butterfly (male)

Twelve-Spotted Skimmers (male)

Cedar Waxwing in Mulberry Tree

Cooper's Hawk feather

Sophie on the loose