Crumbly Acres creatures

Thank goodness for the distraction of Wimbledon! And the forest.

 The porcupine went through the forest.

The frog pond hosts muskrats. They've been eating the native phragmites. 

One year a muskrat family moved in and we hosted them: Guess who had six babies!

The green frog sits in the green frogbit! (An invasive species.)

Frogbit, Latin for frog bite!

The forest canopy surrounds me. It hosts a bazillion bugs. I spotted a part of a poem on FB.

BREATHE

And she stopped...

and she heard what the trees said to her,

And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave,

For the forest said nothing,

it just let her breathe. –  Becky Hemsley

The Eastern Comma butterfly is around. She'll lay eggs in our hops vine. I'll look forward to that. The three black dots identify her.

We also have Eastern Question Mark butterflies, which are very similar. Both have amazing camouflage, and look like a dead leaf when they are folded up. The difference is the little white marks. I don't think I need to lay it out before you! 

As I passed the meadow, the momma turkey was there with her off spring. It surprised all of us!

 

We took a chick into the bird rehab in August, 2019. 

It's wonderful seeing new life. They were in the front yard one year. Aug., 2017.

Basil and bugs!

 JB continues to improve and took a walk. This is a good thing. Unfortunately, a deerfly nailed him right in the temple. Three times. It dove under his cap. sigh. The anti-itch goop works well.

I had wine bottles to take to the beer store, which recycles them. The thing is, the clerks I meet tend to be abrasive, and tell me reorganize the bottles and group them. With my social anxiety I just walk away. I've often just given them to the person in line in behind me. 

During COVID I'd put them in the recycle box, but the township sent a memo out that residents should stop doing this. I wasn't the only one! Usually, JB does this for me. I've had to step up, put on my big girl pants, and go. This I couldn't do last week. I set them out at the end of the driveway, and they were gone within 24 hours. Problem solved.

My beautiful Basil, out front in the basket, has been attacked. This is an overhead view! The petunias are coming along.

I put some insecticidal soap on it and will hope for the best. 

I had fun trying to get a photo of it. It scootches under the leaf. It is a green colour, but looked beige in the sun on Friday. Saturday was a cloudy day and it photographed better.

I should point the Orchid Spider in the Basil plant's direction! 

The Question Mark butterfly has been laying eggs like mad. They have several Instars, first as an egg, then when they molt (at least 3 times), and grow another size. They get into that 'J' shape after several days. 

I've been watching the Eastern Question Mark butterflies, but they are flighty. I cannot confirm if they are that species or the Eastern Commas. Can you see the difference?

When their wings unfold, they are so brightly coloured, otherwise the underwings look like a dead leaf.

Comma left, Question Mark right↓.

He she is on the Hops Vine laying eggs.

Eastern Comma butterfly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.