Nature
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I was at the kitchen sink looking out my garden window at 6:40 this morning cleaning the 3 hummingbird feeders and thought I saw something splashing around in the big bird bath. I turned off my light and could see a 2 year old owlet taking a bath. He frolicked around and was a soaking ball of fluff. Off to the right I see a second owlet swoop in and as the first one got out to shake, he dived right in. Then the first one took off and flew to the closest limb and groomed himself. Starting to get light out and the second one, who was much bigger, took his leisurly time and completely drenched himself. Last spring we had a mom Western Screech Owl and her 3 owlets hanging out in the white oak tree that leads to the she shed. One morning I walked out and my driveway was covered in white poop mounds and when I looked up I saw these 2!! They would watch me as I worked and as I would be in and out of the she shed and at dusk we would watch them stretching before their night on the town. I welcome their ability to keep the unwanted parts of our wildlife in check. I wish they dined on squirrels. That's another day. They would take flight in different directions but be back the next morning. Truly a wonder to call them neighbors!! And now 2 of them are back. We will keep our eyes out. I wish I had my phone with me this morning.
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@RockChalkinTexas-0 OH HELL NO! I will never look at this thread again!!
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@nuleafjhawk owlophobia?
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Ohoh spider. Nah man that things a harmless fly catcher
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@approxinfinity The giant ass spider!
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@approxinfinity dammit - I looked at this thread again.
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Today's photo is of a Viceroy butterfly. I looked him up. He mimics the monarch because the monarch is reputedly distasteful. It is found in open places, where the larva feeds on willow and poplar. I don't have poplar but I do have willow. We are situated on the migratory path for many species. In the spring and fall we can hear the whooping cranes, sandhill crances and geese heading to or from South Texas. We've seen massive waves of them fly over. You actually hear them before spotting them because they are so far above. We watched one year as a couple Vs of sandhill crances descended and took to the lake for a break. Birds are another. Have a pair of Baltimore Orioles come through each year, seeing Robins means spring is on the way and good luck (from my days growing up in Minnesota), but the Monarchs come right through our property and they in years past were so abundant with them filling up the branches on our oak trees at night just like the pictures you see of them congregating down in Mexico for the winter. When I worked and drove every day, I would always wince whenever one would smash into my grill or windshield. I've never seen a banded one. A former co-worker headed up a Monarch banding program back in the 90s and I saw her on the news last year still advocating for planting more milkweed and other beneficial polinators along the paths. The flowers in this photo are of wild sunflowers that bloom late in summer and are there for not just the monarchs, but you can see bumblebees and the small Texas honey bees swarming all over them.
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If I was still looking at this thread I'd say that is beautiful. But I'm not, so I didn't see anything.
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@nuleafjhawk if i were nuleaf id be like “all i see is spider food!” But i’m not. What a cool butterfly!
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@approxinfinity I'm not sure why the pictures are so LARGE when I post them. It does present a different perspective.
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Doesn’t look like nodebb supports dynamic resizing on render and solutions are limited to resizing client side before upload. I could look into making a code change to where the image is configured. Historically i have avoided anything beyond configuration or ui layer (this would involve storing dimensions to db) but im feeling frisky. We will see. In meantime, your only option is probably changing the image size on your device prior to upload
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Nice use of frisky. Don’t see that word enough.
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Today's photo is of a "big" buck for our area. He is one of a long line of bucks that have ruled out here. Mike had a favorite that he just couldn't bow hunt and called him Broken Horns because one of his Surroyal Tines (which is the fourth branch on a separate tine of a deer’s antler) was so noticeable. His heirs also carried this trait. We've seen the bucks during rut. They will come for drinks out of the bucket during the night because you can see their poop around the area, especially in 100 degree weather, but other than that they are mostly hidden throughout the rest of the year. Our does are pretty fat right now and you can always tell when one is going to have twins. We saw twin bucks a couple of years back because of their button antlers when in velvet. We spotted them again last year. I tried resizing.
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@RockChalkinTexas-0 wow that’s a beaut!
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Today's photo is of a Cicada Killer Wasp, who likes sandy ground. I saw where his hole entrance was a couple of years ago after I had laid down small pebbles. They live solitary lives. One morning while watering plants, this happened!!! He was trying to get him underground. I see such carnage! OH MY (in Dick Enberg style)!!!!! They are a check on the cicada population, and in turn, may directly benefit the deciduous trees upon which the cicada's feed. We don't have them thick around here, not like you see where dormant ones who all appear at the same time. The noise would drive me crazy.
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Just discovered this awesome thread of pictures. Although I'm not much on flowers and bugs, I get fascinated by my location along lake Michigan. I'll try to upload a few of my favs if I can figure it out.
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@RockChalkinTexas-0 great picture. I remember cicada killers growing up in Topeka. I always wondered what it would feel like to get stung by one. Never did find out.
