Some wildlife and a foggy morning

It's hard to believe that it's July 1. Half of this year has passed already. The summer seems to be flying by. On the drive home yesterday I noticed all the flowers on the roadside and in the highway median. They looked the way they often do much later in the season. Many had gone to seed already.

At home lately I've had an assortment of wildlife visitors. Last weekend I heard something tapping on one of the basement windows and looked out to see a turtle stuck in the window well. I think it was an eastern painted turtle. They're river turtles and this one must have taken quite a hike to get to my house - maybe on a trip to lay eggs. I have only ever seen box turtles in the yard before. This one was much more energetic and hissed at me when I went to pick it up. My friend Ellen was visiting that day and we took the turtle down to the river to let it go. It was satisfying to see it slip away into the water.


Yesterday a hummingbird came to my window box in the morning. It came back in the evening and I could hear it making little chirping sounds as it looked over the impatiens. I had never heard a hummingbird before. Later in the evening we had rain and when I was looking out the back door a big toad came hopping up. That was a surprise. I've also had the usual rabbits and deer in the yard. I see the rabbits all the time. I thought rabbits would be timid but these aren't. Maybe they're a new, gutsy species. They stroll about the yard and don't seem to care if I'm out there or not. Even the lawn mower doesn't scare them away. I don't see the deer but I see that lots of the taller plants in the yard have been nibbled down. It has to be deer that are doing that.

Because of the rain yesterday there was a low fog before dawn today. I did come upon a deer when out walking. Because of the fog we didn't see each other until we were fairly close. I think we were both surprised. It was a good morning to be outside.