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• Post #4437550

  #Wildlife #Frogs #Iowa I haven't had much for #FrogFriday this year, but on Wednesday, I spotted this one in the yard. It just about has to be a Gray Tree Frog, but the skin doesn't seem right -- too smooth and slippery. But maybe that's because it had been hanging out in the wet grass. Edit: It definitely could be a very young American Bullfrog (see comments). The skin definitely matches better. It may have taken advantage of a rainy night and morning to go on an adventure.

• Post #4381510

  #Wildflowers #NativePlants #Iowa Another walk over to the pond. If I keep this up, I can revive the #DailyWalk hashtag. In addition to the wildflowers by the pond and in the Hillside Prairie, I also saw frogs, damsel flies, monarch butterflies, and a great blue heron.

• Post #4200956

  #Moth #Moths #Iowa I’m going to jump on the #Odyssey bandwagon (even though I might never see the movie…) This handsome moth is called “Antheraea polyphemus” and is named for Polyphemus, the Cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey. It’s all about the eyes! (My son took the photo yesterday outside of his workplace in central Iowa.)

• Post #4168002

  #Birds #BackyardBirds #FediPajareo #Iowa The Chipping Sparrow guards the perimeter of the melon patch.

• Post #4114806

  #SilentSunday #Butterflies #Flowers #Iowa

• Post #4088228

  #Caturday #Cats #Gatos “Cat? I believe this suspect fits the profile.”

• Post #4075858

  #Farm #Rural #Cows #Iowa 1/2 Over the last two days, I dismantled a livestock pen that I had built when I started taking care of a few cows during summer. My friend sold his cows in 2023, and the pen has sat unused and growing up in vines and weeds since then. I forgot to take a “before” picture of the removal project, but I found a few photos where the pen appears in a cameo role. (Continued)

• Post #4023556

  #Gardening #Peppers #Chiles #Iowa #Vegetables New stuff coming on line: Serrano Peppers and Armenian Cucumbers. In Mexico, serranos are a preferred pepper for fresh eating, and I give most of mine away to friends from Mexico. I’ll dry some to make crushed red pepper. The cucumbers are actually a weird form of melon that functions as a cucumber. I first tried these in Spain. They are a typical veggie in SE Spain, known as “alficoz” (or “alpicoz”).

• Post #3999449

  #NativePlants #Wildflowers #Iowa Pasture walk 🙂 (to find and uproot any and all teasel plants — noxious weeds ☹️). But it’s nice to get out there and see what’s blooming. Natives plants: 1. Whorled Milkweed. I’ve got a little group of 4 or 5 plants. I’d collect seed, but I’ve never seen them set pods. 2. Virginia Mountain Mint. This one is pretty common on my land. I think it would be a well-behaved plant in a flowerbed.

• Post #3973095

  #Gardening #Squash #Iowa Happy little squash on the floor of the squash forest:

• Post #3914072

  #Caturday #Cats #Gatos #CatsOfMastodon Tiger + Lilies = Tiger Lilies

• Post #3885570

  #Spiderweb Ooh.

• Post #3840529

  #Insects #Butterflies #Flowers #Iowa #Flores Orange Sulphur Butterfly (most likely, but Clouded Sulphur seems possible). Two shots of the same individual.

• Post #3823580

  #cats #gatos A sultry #ToeBeanTuesday (89°F / 32°C at 6:40 pm).

• Post #3816863

  #Birds #BackyardBirds #FediPajareo #Sparrow #Herbs Chipping Sparrow on dill: Up, up, and more up.

• Post #3746507

  #Gardening #Summer #Iowa #Flowers This afternoon, I temporarily removed the chicken-wire anti-rabbit fence. The weeds had grown as tall as the fence (24” / 50cm). Cleanup completed! I re-installed the fence after taking the photo.

• Post #3671906

  #Birds #BackyardBirds #Iowa Time to spring into #Wrensday!

• Post #3654000

  #ThickTrunkTuesday #Sycamore #Haiku #SmallPoem Every year at about this time, I try to write this poem. Sycamore, July Scattered on the lawn Tattered scraps of parchment scrolls Old and brittle bark

• Post #3449037

  #SilentSunday #Birds #Woodpecker Leafy, green world and... what?

• Post #3413850

  #FlowerFriday #Flowers #Flores #Iowa Triple treat: Butterfly Milkweed at its peak Yellow Asiatic Lilies almost done Purple Coneflowers coming on strong

• Post #3238470

  #Bloomscrolling #Cactus #Iowa First flower on the prickly pear!

• Post #3167544

  #SilentSunday #Iowa Cottonwood, clouds, cows (and fifty shades of green)

• Post #2523239

  #DogsOfMastodon #CatsOfMastodon #gatos #perros A friendly hound dog stopped by this morning. Too friendly for the cat, who scooted up the nearest tree. We were heading to the nearby greenhouse, and when we returned 30 minutes later, the dog was gone, but the cat was still in the tree — in a comfortable spot.

• Post #1995987

  #Birds #BackyardBirds #Woodpecker #Iowa #Fedipajareo Northern Flicker. It's making a cavity in an old stump right by the street, just 100 feet (30m) from the house. Seems like an unlikely nesting spot...

• Post #1920649

  #SilentSunday #Birds #BackyardBirds #Iowa

• Post #1881847

  #Cats #Gatos #CatsOfMastodon How about some #Spanish vocabulary for #Caturday? The expression “patas arriba” (paws upward) is used for “upside down.” Here, Ronronia illustrates the concept:

• Post #1745242

  #Sunrise #Amanecer #Flowers #Flores #Iowa Sunrise sky with flowers:

• Post #1491405

  #Cats #Gatos #CatsOfMastodon #Caturday Ye Olde Scratching Post

• Post #1491404

  #cats #gatos #CatsOfMastodon #Flowers A #WhiskersWednesday garden statue — amazingly realistic!

• Post #1348759

  #Cats #Gatos #CatsOfMastodon #Caturday Wheeee!!! Sharpening claws the fun way!