Birds, Bugs and Toads

This post is not for the squeamish! I have dead things and insects this time -- so don't say I didn't warn you! :0) Today I had lunch outside in my backyard. I wandered over to the pool to see how warm the water was (we have a thermometer and its definitely not warm enough yet!) and when I was looking for the thermometer I saw a toad. I lightly tapped him with the tip of my finger and he didn't move. It made me sad that a little guy like him died in the pool. So I went to get a trowel to scoop him out of the water (I don't mind touching toads and frogs while they're alive but dead ones -- they're too squishy...). But when I tried to scoop him up he wiggled and swam away! He swam at a downward angle, so I went to get a flower plate to scoop him up cause I figured he would be hard to catch with just the trowel. So I scooped him out of the water and put him in the strawberry patch.




Then I ran upstairs to get my camera to take pictures of him. And I did. Then I remembered my mom said that there was a dead baby bird by the barbeque. What happens is that mockingbird babies hatch and the ravens really like to eat the babies so in order to get one they have to fight for it, resulting in the other babies getting knocked out of the nest and dying.



And another thing I remembered my mom telling me about is a mutant poppy growing in our yard. The stock is 1 1/2 - 2" wide and has a multiple blossom head. And its growing in the midst of regularly flowering poppies. Its just kind of bizarre.



The poppies are right next to an apple tree we have that is blossoming right now. I was taking pictures of the blossoms when I saw a big male Valley Carpenter Bee. He was gorgeous with golden wings and a golden body. There were other honey bees too.





And we have some crocuses blooming in the yard too.




All in all it was a good adventure in the backyard. I really like things like these. So it was a good afternoon.