Foggy Morning

High humidity and lower temps gave us a foggy morning.

The fog gives me a new perspective.

Sunny Trail Ride

The heat and humidity moderated a little,

so we hauled the horses to a nearby park.

Rocky & Apollo ready to roll.

 Janette & Apollo are enjoying the trails

 The summer thunderstorms have left lots of puddles on the trails.

Rocky & I are having fun too.

 

Some of the puddles were more like wading streams, 

but our trusty horses walked in them willingly.

It was a fun morning.

Fledglings

Two sets of baby birds were raised in the barn this year.

This clutch of eastern kingbirds were hatched above a light fixture.

They left the nest June 25th.

 

 Several baby wrens left their nest in the loft on June 23rd.

After hopping around the barn, they finally found their way outside to a very anxious mom.

 

Good luck little fella!

Ick!

Found this large 4 inch leech on the sand near the creek.

ICK!

Fungus Among Us

Lots of rain this week, 

so we have lots of mushrooms.

 Unusual green mushroom

Red mushroom

Chicken mushroom

Brown fungus called Tree Ear.

Witch's butter

Little brown mushrooms

Summer Flowers

 Milkweed

Wild Rose

 

 Black-eyed Susans

 Spiderwort

 Daisies

Larkspur

 

Crawdaddy

Lots of rain this week.

Found this guy on the trail.

On guard, large human!

BIG Snake!

I almost stepped on this black rat snake!

Chain O' Lakes State Park

We visited Chain O' Lakes State Park which has 13 glacial lakes to explore.

We hiked around Dock Lake

 Channels connect 9 of the lakes.

Its a canoeing & kayaking paradise.

There is a one room schoolhouse to visit.

We hiked several trails and found a nest, not very well hidden, in a wild rose bush.

 

And this tiny fawn approached us on a trail!

 

Wary Doe

Old Bones

Found this jawbone on the trail.

Reminding me that not everyone makes it through the winter.

Big Mushrooms

Lots of rain makes big mushrooms.

This one is turned inside out.

Strawberry Time

Strawberries are ripe and its time to pick.

This was Heidi's first time picking. 

She marveled at all the juicy berries.

Liddy is an old hand at this.

Even though it was sprinkling slightly we all had fun.

We love those juicy berries!

Luna Moth

Wood Duck Family

Workin' For a Livin'

I noticed something odd the other day while hiking.

See that floating clump of vegetation?

Its a muskrat carrying food downstream to its den.

 

It dives underwater to get to its den.

 There she is, popping up from underwater.

She's keeping busy.