AstroGypsies

OK, these are just too cool! I wouldn’t have seen them if I hadn’t knelt down to take a picture of a Leopard frog face to face! I didn’t have anything for size comparison on me so Mike drove me back later so I could take this shot! Mosquitoes were wicked!

Common Bird’s Nest Fungus (Crucibulum laeve), a family of fungi whose fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled bird’s nests! Often called splash cups, the fruiting bodies are adapted for spore dispersal by using the kinetic energy of falling drops of rain. Members of this genus are saprobic, obtaining nutrients from dead organic matter, and are typically found growing on decayed wood and wood debris. Spores are dispersed when a peridiole is dislodged by raindrops or water dripping off an overhanging leaf. Nature never ceases to amaze me:)

My real goal had been to look for Big Blue! I found three, not where they usually are, and one had been dug up:) Indigo Milk Cap (Lactarius indigo). It is an edible mushroom and is sold in rural markets in Mexico, Guatemala, and China. That blue!

It was quick walking, stop, photograph, boogie on out of there, being followed by clouds of mosquitoes…rats I say! Better than deer flies? Debatable!

But when there is purple fungi that look like underwater coral, how could you not stop, and swat!

…and a beautiful Common Ribbon snake as well! They are so fast! This one was about 7″ long. When they stop, I do as well! Ribbon snakes inhabit marshes or live near the edges of lakes, ponds, and streams. This guy was close to the swamp. They swim well, and their diets include frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, small fish, and insects. ..and of course the frog that helped me find the Birds Nest fungi!

Back at the house we made a cool discovery one morning: an amazing caterpillar! Well, several of them! BIG ones!

This creature was hard to miss, the size of my big finger! Those antennae! Is it coming, or going? A Promethea Silkmoth (Callosamia promethea). The red antennae end is the front, there is a mouth under there somewhere!!! The large one disappeared, and a smaller one moved in right next door on another bush. The raindrops on its red antennae were the icing on the cake! Maybe we will see its moth form next year!

How cool is it when you have a blue and black striped unicorn horn??? On it’s butt, I was informed, I had thought that might be the front end!! Ha! Mike saw Gamora touching something in the grass with her paw and went to investigate…I’m not sure she was pleased we took her new friend away but hey, give everything a chance:)

So many Milkweed and Hickory Tussock caterpillars out there as well! I couldn’t figure out why the milkweed branch was black until I looked more closely at the hordes of them munching away! The grasshoppers are out as well, the cats catch them, eat them, then throw them back up, still wriggling sometimes I think! Is this Jiminy Cricket or what? Ha!

The blooming Goldenrod is host to so many insects right now, and the Goldenrod Crab spider, on a thistle, got quite the meal as the ant waited for leftovers!

Back at the house the False Sunflowers are hosts to an array of little creatures as well!

Crazy little things!

The Only Dragonflies about are the Meadowhawks that I have seen, wait, photographed! I saw a large one but it flew off before I could see what it was!

I can’t leave out the smaller damselflies and some other insect friends!

…and I finally had a long visit with a Giant Eastern Swallowtail! I put the zinnia seed in for the hummingbirds, but hey, glad this beauty stopped by while I was sitting there!

Always something out there! Misty mornings and Hummingbirds and Orioles getting ready for their trip South, so much more to come! Saludos amigos! I’ll leave you with a beautiful rainbow we were presented by the storm Gods last week:) So far my requests to stop the rain every day are being ignored;)