Friday, March 18, 2011

a bevy of bugs...and other meanderings





(dogwood...blooming all over town...)

every day, little crawly...
creeping...
flying...
critters
are making their way out of hiding!
the sun's warmth is bringing out new growth on plants...
budding...flowering...and the ground is heating up.

this week...between appointments, chores & errands...
i was able to get some pretty cool pictures...wandering around the yard...
B U T T E R F L I E S!!  
and grasshopper, lizards, woodpecker, inch worm, stink bug...

(the Tiger Swallowtail feeding on an  Azalea)


(fence lizard)

(anole, sunning himself on the side of the house)

fuzzy mushrooms anyone?

(Spicebush Swallowtail...at mud pit, up the road...)

"Butterflies are self propelled flowers."  
~R.H. Heinlein 

oOo
one day...in the late afternoon...when i was out back watering the plants...
i heard the sound the woodpecker makes as he's hopping down a tree, toward the ground.
i dropped the hose, grabbed my camera...and kept my eyes open.
wow! they move so fast! up and down...side to side...backside & front side of the tree....
finally. i got him!  a little blurry, but it was the best i could do.
(Pileated Woodpecker)

(grasshopper...on the Azalea bush)

this is a cardinal.  the picture was not what i expected. 
sometimes it's like that. you see things one way, 
but then the picture comes out totally different.
almost a silhouette.   pretty cool blunder, i thought!
he's singing...i caught him in mid-note!

oOo
about a week ago, sam and i forged our way through the underbrush and
downed trees...out back.  i love to go wandering out there...even though i inevitably  
come home with bleeding scrapes from the thorny vines...and a tick or two.

the maple trees back there are dropping these little seed pods. 
well, they don't really drop...but when they fall from the trees individually, 
they twirl to the ground like a helicopter!
as soon as i saw them...i was reminded of when i was a little kid.
we called them pinocchio noses.
why?
because we'd peel open the end with the seed...and it would be sticky inside...
then we'd stick them on the end of our noses! 
cwazy kids!  the ones we had up north (NY) were way bigger!
or maybe i was just way smaller...

(a Cloudless Sulphur... also on the Azalea)

"Flowers and butterflies drift in color, illuminating spring."  

it's kind of hard to get a good look at this little guy.
i couldn't get too close...and my ZooM doesn't work too good on small things.
but this tiny butterfly has FUZZY ORANGE LEGS!!
(Eight Spotted Forester)

(another green Anole...on the Mock Orange...right out the back door)

yes, they're falling out of the trees! inchworms!
well, maybe not actually falling...but dangling...
slowly lowering themselves by way of their silken thread...
(inchworm on sam's arm)

oOo
ok, so you know about my weird art...and collections...
but i have another obsession i've never mentioned.
poop.
(WHAT?!)
yeah, you heard me. i like to take pictures of poop. scat.
(WHY?)
so we can ID it later. so we can tell what's been here - or there.
so we can see what critters we've missed.
i have quite an array of poop pic's!
well, sam...being the jokester that he is...
suggested i do a post titled
"one crappy post".
ha!   hmmmmm...sounds like a plan.  :D

oOo
i'm still working on those deer jawbones.

oOo
leaves.
their colors, shapes, textures...
intrigue me.
especially when they start to disintegrate...
when all that's left are the veins...the leaf's skeleton...i'm fascinated.
or when they're riddled with tracks of some mysterious insect...or disease...
or a leaf in the early morning...covered with dew...or rain water...
i am captivated!



"Do not go where the path may lead; 
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson 




oOo
another 'yard' plant blooming!
this is a succulent. i have a lot of them...in pots.
they're easy to grow and new ones will sprout  from a dropped leaf.
they have these really pretty little flowers.
(Echeveria Carnicolor)


oOo
ONE more thing.
the first stink bug of the year!
and he's a big one...for a stink bug anyway!
they're so WEIRD...so prehistoric looking!
(stink bug on a Bromeliad)

oOo
uh-oh...i lied.
no, i didn't.
i just forgot to mention...
one LAST thing.
remember - last sunday we went to the races. the drag races.
some of those cars speed down the track at OVER 300 mph!
300 mph, under FOUR seconds...and under a quarter of a mile!

aaaaaah...i hate to admit it...
but i love the smell of NITRO in the morning.
i love how your bones shake when these TOP FUEL cars start up!
you can FEEL the air around you being sucked down the track...
anyway, if you're interested...you can click here to see some race day pic's!

oOo
and so. this is the end.
my next post, which i'm going to try to do some time during the week...
is all about our hike to Alachua Sink...which is LOADED with alligators!
sneak peek -->

((hopefully...i'll get to YOUR part of the world tomorrow morning...))

thanks for wandering...
stay cool. 
have a safe journey...enjoy the ride!
 :] laura

"May you have warm words on a cool evening, 
a full moon on a dark night, 
and a smooth road all the way to your door."
 ~Irish Toast 



21 comments:

  1. Laura, as always your pictures are beautiful! You have such a great eye. I love the grasshopper on the wall and the cardinal pic turned out great and you didn't even MEAN it to look that way!
    For those of us in parts of the world that aren't spring yet, your wanderings are a real treat! stacey

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  2. Oh these are a fine collection of truly great pictures to brigthen the morning and your quotes as well! Thanks!

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  3. I'll be catching up to you soon! Stink bugs I've already seen and yes...they do look prehistoric! Love the butterflies..:)JP

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  4. Fab, fab photo (as usual). Love the leave with the (I assume) slime trail but then I got to the last one. LOVE that on! LOL!
    Sounds like you had a good week-hope your weekend is great too!

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  5. Wow Laura ....I love visiting your backyard....full of fantastic critters and bugs and birds ...I like the silhouette of the Cardinal ...the swallowtail is magnificent and I paticularly love the jaw bone with the light blue which looks like sky and clouds background .....beautiful work Laura...xx
    ps looking forward to the crap post

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  6. what a great capture of the cardinal mid-note

    tra-la-la

    :-)))

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  7. hey! thanks everyone! ok, here it is...saturday morn...still dark out...6:30, been up since 5:15...WANTED to get right to blog visiting...but checked email first...then FB...blahblahblah. here it is, over an hour later...and still not out there, wandering cyberspace...

    THANKS for your kind words...glad you had the time to stroll through...seeya at your place! :]laura

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  8. Heyyyy Laura :D It's been some time eh.. I was busy in uni events.. we had a Halloween theme day the other day n I went as Jack Sparrow.. i was a hit :P just telling :P
    ooook comin to why I'm commenting, ALL those pics are seriously fab... the gator at the end, your shadow n the anole pics :D very VERY cool :D n those jaw bones are jaw dropping-ly cool!
    waiting eagerly for the 'promised crap'... hehehe peace!! :)

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  9. Hi Laura, you are interested in so many things, its always a treat to see what you will come up with. Poops good. Your posts always leave me wanting to talk to you about many things. You must spend a lot of time outside to get all those wonderful photos. So interesting. Love those butterflies. My boys when they were small would pull big rose thorns off and stick them on their noises and pretend they were rhinos. It was very cute. Or maybe it was just because i was their mom.??? thanks for sharing. Peace and love.

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  10. Awesome shots. I like the first Cloudless Sulphur. It just blends right into the plant.

    I never have any luck with woodpeckers either. It's like they can sense you're there. Mine always fly off before I even stand a chance of getting out the camera.

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  11. great blog , loved the cool pics. our dogwood is just starting to peek out. You have a great eye for neat shots and bring it to life in your blog . Love that bloom on the Echeveria .
    Peace and happy blogging

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  12. Wow! you've got wonderful stuff over here, you can make wonderful postcard printing from out of all these pictures, so lucky of you to have a forest just within your easy reach!

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  13. Amused Medic! Halloween! my favorite holiday AND time of year! thanks for ALL the nice things you said!! now... don't study too hard... :]

    lovelight! yes, PooP is very good...to take pic's of i mean! weird, yes...but interesting....those must've been some pretty big rose thorns!! glad you liked the pictures! :]

    VM Sehy! yeah, those sulphurs seem to have VERY fine wings...almost see-through! those woodpeckers! there one minute...gone the next! :]

    Terica! thanks for all the kind words! glad you liked your wander through... :]

    Curious Eyes! postcard printing! never even thought of that! ...maybe when i retire...i have too many things going on in a 24 hour period right now! ha!

    THANKS everyone! thanks for taking your time...looking at all the little things....and then taking the xtra time to leave a note!! MUCH appreciated!
    :] laura

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  14. Aw Laura, your posts are just so gorgeous to scroll through. I love seeing all the cool things through your eyes!

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  15. That little green Anole is like the cutest lizard ever! It looks like spring is full blow right now for you. Love the butterfly and and flower photos!

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  16. THANKS Susan(of Oz) and Kateri!
    yeah, Spring is definitely peeking through...and coming through a little more each day. but you never know...weather's been so weird all over...wouldn't be too surprising if all of a sudden we drop to freezing one night...and OH!! i LOVE the lizards! i'll sit in wait to get a good shot of one of them! :]

    have a great day you 2...or, i guess...night...for Susan!
    :] laura

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  17. I do not believe it!!! I missed THIS post, too! I wonder why your s aren't appearing on my reading list. I'm still listed as a follower!!!

    Something just made me check back after I'd read the post that follows this one...and was gobsmacked to see yet another newbie to me!

    I am going to have to check manually for a while...it's not the first time I've had this happen, either. It has occurred, on accasion, with other blogs I follow.

    I'll be back to enjoy this at leisure...just had time now for a quick scroll through. Your posts are ones I really want to linger over!

    Hugs,

    Des xoxo

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  18. Hey Desiree! thanks for dropping in...i know what you're saying...sometimes the computers...the programs...they just have a mind of their own!!

    i feel bad...because i haven't had the time to just SIT and wander through ALL the places i LOVE to visit...like YOURS!! what exciting adventures...i love all the animals...trees...and can hardly wait for a break this week...to catch up on all i've missed!!

    take care...and i'll see you later... :] laura

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  19. Hi Laura, loved your Inch Worm and thought you may be interested to see what happened in one of our morning coffees ;-)

    http://coffeethisnthat.blogspot.com/2011/03/lauras-inchworm.html

    Cheers, Susan

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  20. You have some fascinating photos! I came here from Susan's place to see your inch worm.

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  21. Susan!! OH...i went there...checked out your inchworm...floating on that yummy coffee!! he looks way tastier than the ones we have here!! :)

    Sandy! thanks for swinging by!! i hope you weren't disappointed with MY inchworm! ha! like i said above...to Susan...HER inchworm looks so much nicer than mine!! i just wanted to gobble hers up!! thanks for taking the time to say HI and leave your kind words!

    have a great day! :]laura

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!