Do you ever feel like someone is watching you?

Flutter by

 The butterflies don't seem as abundant this year.

But I did see a few yesterday that I managed to photograph.

This tiny butterfly has a blue tint to his wings.

I think he's an eastern tailed blue butterfly.

The moth-like silver spotted skipper.

The common cabbage butterfly

The spicebush butterfly on ironweed.

The striking tiger swallowtail on a butterfly bush.

I'll just "stick" this guy in with the butterflies, 

a bumblebee on red clover.

Indigo Bunting

I finally got him!

Leopard Frog

The hot steamy weather seems to be agreeable to leopard frogs.

These guys are leaping across the trail when I walk.

 Can you see him?

Mindless Muskrat

I was standing on the bank of the creek, 

when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.

This was headed right my way.

The misguided muskrat was practically right under my nose.

Suddenly he realized his mistake and he dived for cover.

Diggin' Tators

Red potatoes from the garden

I tried something a little different this year, 

a potato bag.

Here it is, filled with composted horse manure and ready for planting.

The potatoes grew well, but suffered in extreme heat.

There's a spud peeking out of the soil.

 Time to dig tators!

Cicadas are back

The woods are filled with the buzzing of the annual cicada.

They have emerged from the ground, shed their skins

and flown to the treetops to make a racket finding a mate.

Cicadas like heat
and do their most spirited singing during the hotter hours of a summer day.

When I'm in the woods, I can hardly hear myself think!

Rain!

Hope this breaks the heat wave!

Swim with your Horse!

Saturday the heat wave continued, 

so instead of trail riding, a friend & I took our horses swimming.

First, we had to learn that ducks don't eat horses.

Heading in

Testing the water

Taking the plunge

 Holding the mane and letting him swim

 Hang on!

Climbing aboard

Fun in the sun!

Hummingbird Moth

Today's hike revealed this humming bird moth 

feeding on bee Balm.

Unlike most moths, hummingbird moths are seen on clear sunny days.

They are sometimes confused with hummingbirds because of their 

coloration and how they move.

Good Old Fashioned Fun!

From this....

To this.....

Wheeee!

A Day at the Beach - Indiana Style

July heat brings us down by the creek to cool off.

Heading down to the swimming hole

Everyone gets into the swim of things

Chillin'

Finding shells

Shoveling & scooping

Hunting for crawdads

Some of our catches

Building sand castles

Summer memories

Map Turtle

On this morning's walk I ran into this fellow.

A map turtle

He was gracious enough to hold still while I took his photo.

 Then headed back into the creek.

To get away from nosy hikers!

Summertime Shots

More summer scenes.

Blackberries are ripe!

Blue dragonfly

The wood ducklings are growing up.

Tiny toads are hopping everywhere.

I identified a new bloom, the buttonbush.