snakes on (an inclined) plane

 All sorts of brambles are flowering right now...

...which inspired me to make a berry cobbler!

Actually, looking at brambles led me to an interesting adventure this week.  We've got multiflora roses growing all along the fence line.  They're invasive, but at least they're pretty in bloom.  I love how they wind around our birdhouses.

I went in for a closer look at this particular birdhouse, and...someone looked back!

It's a harmless young black rat snake.  They, of course, will eat bird eggs, although I'm not sure if any bird was nesting here.  It might just be temporary housing for this guy, and at this size, it's a perfect fit for him!  

On our front porch, a small Cope's tree frog rested before his big nightly solo.  We have so many frogs here, with 2 ponds and a stream and lots of trees.  I don't usually see them on the porch, though!  

I've seen other little fellows, like this praying mantis nymph, just an inch long.

A green stink bug watched from nearby.  I actually haven't seen too many insects yet...other than ticks...so I'm loving all of these visitors right now!

Todd and I are continuing with our daily walks, and the trail is so pretty.  

It's lined with the Indiana state tree, the tulip.  This time of year, they're dropping their flowers.  I love to pick them up and put them in water.

I love the variety of trees there.

Different trees, different galls.  These bullseye spots are caused by the oscellate maple gall midge.

The midge, which looks similar to a mosquito, laid eggs here.  The eggs hatched, and tiny maggots live on the leaf tissue, which creates the raised circles.  

Galls are so cool, and all so different.  Here's another that I found recently, caused by eriophyid mites.

I always keep an eye out for something new, even though we walk the same path every day.  I usually find it!  

Even at home.  For example, Frances paid no attention to the barrier I stacked in the upstairs window sill, to keep him away from the screen.  He wanted to stretch out, so he simply stretched over the barrier and busted out a convenient hole in the screen for his paw.  Ah, that's better!  

terrible cell phone pic!

That was definitely a new one for me.  These cats keep us on our toes!

Have a great week! 

I hear a symphony...

"Whenever you're near...I hear a symphony..."  Diana Ross said it first, but I have been saying it all week.  The Eastern Towhees, so elusive in early spring, are now everywhere.  I just can't say enough about their bombastic "CHA-WHEET" and "DRINK YOUR TEA!"s.

Have a listen.

It's hard to actually catch a Towhee outright, because they like to hang out in bushes and brush.  However, I caught a glimpse of a beautiful female recently.  She's brown headed, but has that distinctive orange and white coloration on her abdomen:  

Most of the time I see males, and mostly in the shade.  Their red eyes are so beautiful in the sunlight, but they move so fast through the underbrush, they're hard to photograph.  Usually I just get a glimpse, like this one. 

They are singing their hearts out now, and so many others are, too, including one mystery bird who runs through a dizzying scale of notes, over and over.  I have my binoculars handy and hope to catch him soon. 

The music continues at night with the frogs and toads.  I was working in the garden recently and saw this tiny Cope's Tree Frog.

Theirs is the predominant song we hear at night:  Cope's Tree Frog

But there's also this guy, who I found in a front flower bed, burrowed in the dirt among the weeds.

He's an American Toad, and also much heard:  American Toad

I would never, never disturb a nesting creature, even if it meant forgoing my only sun bed and leaving a protective patch of weeds in its center.  However, toads lay their eggs in water, so I knew he was just having a rest.  I weeded around him...

...and then built a protective cover of leaves.  I went back the next day and was happy to see that he stayed around:

I also saw a juvenile version in the brush:

!!Creature love!! 

There are so many others.  I caught a glimpse of a raccoon just outside my office window yesterday, climbing a tree.

 Up, up, up...

He watched me from his high perch until I went back inside...

...then climbed back down and ambled off into the woods. 

A White-Tailed Deer (that nuisance!) has been here, as if I didn't already know from my sadly chewed hydrangeas:

 More creatures down by the pond.  So many fish, from the numerous schools of "normal"-sized ones...

 

...to our monstrous three-footers.

 

So many turtles, too.  We just look for the "sparkle" on the water and inevitably, it's a turtle's head popped up.  

Now that summer is unofficially here, we can sit by the water and watch the scene unfold in front of us.

There's still more yard work...

...but we're enjoying the things that happen automatically, without any help from us, like the blooming of the irises. 

So beautiful!  It's no wonder that my baking and craft work has taken a back seat to nature lately, although I may try to squeeze in an extra blog post soon so that I won't fall so far behind on projects.

I hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather and lovely creatures somewhere, too.  Have a great week!