Uncommonly beautiful

It's really not fair that such a beautiful butterfly would be called a "Common Buckeye."  I get the eye part, but it doesn't seem very common.

 

Fall

 Fall is sneaking in.  The first trees are turning.

Busy lake

On one of the last warm days of summer, it seemed like everyone was out on the lake, busily boating,

and quietly fishing.

 

Sunbathing

 I took this a few weeks ago before the hummingbirds all left on their migration.  It looks like the bird is hurt, but it's sunbathing.  They lie on the ground with their wings out looking dead in the hot sun.  Then they just get up and fly away.  We've seen other birds-robins, cardinals, brown thrashers doing this but this was the only time we saw a little hummingbird sunbathing.

Arrow leaf

 

This little leaf was growing all by itself in the leaf litter.  It's called Arrowleaf (obviously),  Little Brown Jug (because it's flower looks like...a little brown jug)  and Wild Ginger (which it is not, and as it turns out, is POISONOUS  here)  All that in a little leaf.

Who are you?

 I can't seem to find out the name of this shrub, but it's blooming quietly right now.

Now you see him...

 Even when I knew where he was, it was hard to spot him.  He could be a Cricket frog, (here) or not.  

Sulfur time

 The Cloudless Sulfur butterflies are flying through North Carolina now.  (see here)  They say that they are most attracted to red flowers, but this one likes the yellow ones.

Not a nice guy

 This guy looked kind of mean, but if I had known his name, I would have stayed farther away.  It's a Red Footed Cannibalfly (here)

Sweet Autumn Clematis

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is blooming now, and fills the air with fragrance.  It's not native, introduced from China in the late 1800's.  But it's naturalized itself, and is found all over.

 

Follow the leader part 2

Either they were playing follow the leader or doing turtle yoga.  They had exactly the same position.

 

Follow the leader

The Toulouse geese seem to have chosen their leader.

 

Hummer

This little hummingbird was checking out each spire of lobelia.

 

Bullfrog

This bullfrog looks like he's wearing a leaf.  It matches his spots.

His coloring and his golden eyes make him look like a bronze statue.

 

Dragonfly and turtle

These little orange dragonflies are flying everywhere.  It's very hard to get a picture since it seems like they never settle down.  But here this one decided to rest on a turtle's back.

And this one was sitting in my picture of a feather.

 

Dragonfly season

It's dragonfly season again!  They're flying around all the bodies of water.

 

Blow away

It's the time of year when seeds start to fly.

 

Boardwalk

The boardwalk at Lake Lynn on a sunny afternoon.

 

Heron in the shade

Mr. Heron was taking it easy in the shade of a small tree.

 

Muddy snapper

He looked like an ancient monster erupting out of the mud.  Just an old snapping turtle.

 

Lost things

On a walk around Lake Lynn, we found many lost things.  Someone's new ball.

Someone's old ball.

A football.

A helmet.

And a watch.

When do lost things just become trash?

 

Use at your own risk

 Yay!  The playgrounds are open again.  No children here, but no caution tape either.

Maybe people were just following the sign's advice.

More Ouisi

 And we saw...

We thought this would be hard to find a match...

But it was easy!

A new Game

The game is called Ouisi.  It's a series of pictures, and the idea is to find a way to match the pictures...

We found a new way to use it.  We each get 5 cards and take a walk looking for things that match.

Original picture card

We found...

 

Protector

 This little girl is the guard for our hummingbird feeder.  She watches and chases off any other hummers.  She's very vigilant.

Monarch!

Yay for the monarchs!  This is the first one I've seen this year. 

 

Too early!

 This creature, moving and roaring, is what greets Costco shoppers as they walk into the store.  Halloween is coming a bit early.

Treasure

 Painting and hiding rocks is a thing.  I found these little beauties on a neighborhood walk.

You can tell which one mommy did.  But they're all good.

Last one

 

These fungi grew in a line. 

You may be tired of seeing mushroom pictures, so I'll throw the rest in here...