Browsing category: Enjoying Nature

It Just Doesn’t Stop Growing…

A week ago, I noticed what looked like a small white egg lying at the base of one of our garden stone walls. A closer look showed that the egg was actually an almost perfectly round white mushroom. I have never seen anything grow so fast…

How To Tell If A Frog Is Male Or Female

How can you tell if a frog is male or female? Look at the ear circles and the color of the throat!

How Bees Collect Pollen

Here’s an interesting fact about bumblebees and pollen. It seems that when bumblebees fly, their bodies build up a static electrical charge.

Tiny Eastern American Toads

There are literally hundreds of these adorable little toads hopping around underfoot each summer. When we first start to see them they are about the size of a small green pea and are too tiny and undefined to show up well in a photograph.

Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius)

A couple of days ago I noticed that there were bees on the dandelion flowers (earlier than usual this spring). One bee had a bright orange stripe around its body… this is a tricolored bumble bee, also sometimes called “orange-belted” for obvious reasons.

Is It a Frog, a Bullfrog, or a Toad?

Our frogs and bullfrogs often look very much alike. They both have thin, moist, smooth skin, long, powerful back legs and webbed feet. They both can be various shades of green or brown and have dark spots and stripes across their legs. Our toads are easier to identify.

I’m Sure There’s a Story in There Somewhere

All through one fall and winter our bird population was almost non-existent. Hours and sometimes even a couple of days would pass and we wouldn’t hear or see even one bird. The outdoors felt empty and way too quiet…

Our Austrian Mushroom-Hunting Friend Has Survived Another Year

Yesterday she arrived with her granddaughter and a younger boy I am guessing is her grandson. They each had empty baskets as they got out of the car, and all three baskets were full to overflowing with mushrooms when they came back out of the woods.

Old Mr. Toad

I hadn’t realized there was a huge fat toad sitting beside me because his color blended in so well with the dead leaves he was sitting on. I had been kneeling at the outside edge of our mulch pile for the several minutes it took to fill a container with mulch.

When Wild Turkeys Come to Visit

We often see wild turkeys near our house, especially in our back yard, which seems to be part of their regular route. Usually they come in flocks…