Theme day: Tools

 

The theme day for July is "Tools."

So, here are the tools I use most often.

A very hungry caterpillar

This plant is a "wooly Dutchman's pipe vine".  It is a host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar.  

There were plenty chewing on the leaves.

Mom was fluttering around close by.

 

Which finch?

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This guy was hard to identify.  Definitely a finch from the shape of his beak, but the color was strange.

Any thoughts?

 

Purple Martins

The air was filled with birds.  Zooming in the sky chasing bugs and then coming back to their nests in the martin houses.

Young ones and their parents sat watching the action.

 

Exploring

This pond, covered in duckweed, was a perfect place to find creatures.

 

Snakes in the grass

Walking along a path beside the pond at Prairie Ridge Ecostation, we found these two.  I had heard that black rat snakes will eat other snakes, but here's the proof.  

The unfortunate snake is probably a brown snake. (here)

The hungry snake is definitely a black rat snake (here),  He watched us closely and shook his tail to scare us off.

 

Inky

This sculpture sits on the corner of Saunders and Commerce street in downtown Apex. It's titled Inky.  It's one of nine sculptures in Sculpture walk in Apex. 

 

Historic home

I was sure this was a historical society house in Apex.  No, it's someone's home.  The house was built in 1870 so it must have a history.  

 

Century

I don't think it takes a century before this plant will bloom, but it's not every year.  It's bloom is over 20 feet tall.

 

Water lily

A pygmy water lily.

 

Djembe

For me, the highlight of the Juneteenth celebration was an African Drummer.  He mixed spoken word, rhythm and blues and his African drum.

 

Juneteenth in Apex

Juneteenth is our newest national holiday!  It celebrates the day that enslaved people in Texas were set free.  For many it is the equivalent to Independence day for Black people.

Apex is a gentrified town outside of Raleigh.  This was their first Juneteenth celebration. 

With face painting,

dancing, and more. 

 The Apex police department was there along with Black Lives Matter.  Everyone had a good time.

 

Tongue twister

This lovely native plant is called a gooseneck loosestrife.  Try saying that 5 times fast!

 

Magnolia

Each magnolia flower only lasts for a day or two, but the trees just keep flowering.  Magnolia season lasts a long time.

 

Two for one

These are two different types of dragonflies, but they were zooming around together and both landed on the same stick.  They must be friends.

 

Neighborhood clean up

This lovely critter was cleaning up a dead squirrel in the neighbor's front yard.  I guess someone's got to do it.

By the way, if you are following by email, the widget I use, Feedburner, will stop working on July 1.  I haven't found another way send it out by email yet.  So June 30 will probably be the last email.  You can always see the posts at:

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Butterfly garden

The butterfly garden milkweeds are buzzing with bees. But no butterflies today.

 

Bee kind

This little rock is sitting in a bee house.  Do the bees recognize their picture?

 

Sculpture

This sculpture sits on the side of a quiet two lane road.  Does this company make gears?

 

Field of flowers

In past summers this area was just a weedy bank of the dam.  Now it's bright with flowers.  Last winter the field was seeded with wildflowers.  What a difference! 

 

New tenants

The nuthatches have raised their babies and moved on.  Our next tenants are a pair of Carolina Wrens.

 

Both Mom and Dad are busy setting up the nest.

Hug a tree

This large dogwood was hugging a smaller beech tree.  Are they friends?

 

Phoebe

This little Phoebe was busy catching flies over the lake.  There were plenty for him to chase.

 

Catch anything?

I don't know if these guys caught anything, but I talked to a fisherman who proudly showed me a picture of a 3lb bass he had just caught.  He released it back into the lake.  Hopefully it will avoid these fishermen's hooks.

 

Osprey

This osprey was flying around the lake.

He landed in a tree, then went back to flying.

He would fly into the wind and then do a strange fluttery thing.

I think he was practicing hovering.

Close but not too close

Mr. Heron landed on the boardwalk, where hundreds of people pass by every day.

He was brave, but not brave enough to stay put when people walked by.

 

Grasses

Delicate

 

Bullfrog

This bullfrog seemed pretty small.

But not as small as his younger brothers.

 

Downy

A young downy woodpecker came to the feeder with his dad.  Dad showed him where the feeder was, and then flew off.  But the young guy ate for a long time.

 

Splash

Mr. Heron went fishing.

He missed that time, but he kept looking.