Good Thing they are Little!

Here's a pretty little newbie resting between bouts with another. The speeds of the chases are incredible; they buzz by like fighter jets. And they hit each other at those speeds with an audible smack. Looks like the game is getting serious.

Wild Daisies

At the edge of a wood, the wild daisies are late summer bloomers. The patch is pretty thick this year due to all the rain.

Morning Sky over Corolla

It's silvery grey and wet this morning. The view is the west side of Corolla.

The Pileated Visits

The woodpecker checks out a hackberry tree with a sweet spot of rot.

The Bloom

Just after midnight we ventured out across the yard to check the bloom. What a beauty! Earlier in the day the flower bud had puffed up like a little balloon. And yes, the scent was sweet and soft and evident 10 feet away!

Night Blooming Cereus

Looking like it is right out of "The Little Shop of Horrors," here is the flower of my cereus cactus. The bud comes off the side of a leaf structure. The flower will open at night and gives a perfumy air. A gift of a rooted cutting came with the advice that I would wait 7 years before seeing a bloom. That was true and since the first bloom it's been a challenge to catch one before it's been and gone. It's such a neat plant and I've heard stories that some plan little parties around the blooming. It did not bloom last night, so we'll be checking again tonight.

Her Secret Garden

A female hummingbird in her summer garden.

Lily Pads

All these beautiful lily pads need are a few frogs.

Sunny Zinnia

A bright spot of yellow from my garden.

Swallowtail

The wild vine climbing along a fence line gives the swallowtail a buffet of flowers.

"Cool, clear, water"

In these hot days of August, a fresh pool of water is a blessing for birds. Our backyard regulars seem to know just when the water has been changed. Here is lady blue between several dips in the bird bath.

Title borrowed from the song 'Cool Water,' one of my favorites.

Back in My Garden

I'm back in my garden after a great weekend away. My suitcase is full of wonderful batik fabrics and other pretty finds. I can't wait to start on a new bag!

Sleeping Beauty

I grow alot of flowers and see alot of bees. It's always a treat to find a bee sleeping away tucked inside a bloom. Yes, sleeping ... can you imagine what it would be like to fall asleep in the perfumed petals?
I found this little guy dozing on a daffodil in April if this year. And like him I'm going to take a little nap. A long weekend. So have a look back while I'm away; there's alot of pretty to review!

Still Working

This is one of a busy bunch of bumble bees that stay around the garden. Luckily we have late blooming flowers and vegies to keep them going, which keeps them coming back and doing the pollination a garden requires.

The Game is On

With all the new hummingbirds hatched out, the aerial acrobats and speed runs play out all day long. I'm sure some of it is serious and some fun for the birds, but it's all fun for us watchers. We plant salvia and hummingbird vine and I keep three feeders going, placed so that one is not visible from the others to keep the dominants from controlling them all. It keeps the game going round and round!

Red Headed Beauty

On morning walks, I pass a section of maritime forest favored by many woodpeckers. I can recognize the call of the red headed woodpecker, but it's much more fun to see the white wings spread out swooping along the tree line.

Preening Tree

Three white egrets spend some morning time preening in a juniper tree in the marshes.

It's time for Tree Frogs

The late summer is the season for tree frogs. They start appearing everywhere and with all the rain we've had it should be a bumper crop! This one is on the reeds of the fresh water pond.

The Brewery Goats

Heading down to Dare County, I caught this group outside at Weepish Radish Brewery in Jarvisburg. Aren't they pretty? They are a bright spot on the highway and fixed county icon.

Being very quiet

The fawn stands nearly frozen, confident that we don't see him.

Hey buddy, where did you get that red hat?

A pileated woodpecker and a blackbird share a bit of time.

One Fine Frog

Back to that fresh water pond I found this beauty, a Southern Leopard Frog. I read that he is quite clever, evading a predator with a jump followed by a sharp underwater turn, leaving the predator looking the wrong way.