Some of the "wildlife" in our yard this summer...

Just thought I'd share some pics of the variety of creatures in our yard that I took throughout the summer.



Hummingbirds are a plenty at this little feeder on our breakfast nook window, so frequent in fact that the feeder has to be filled every couple of days. We never tire of watching these little beauties.

Little lizards are a common sight on my hydrangea bush out back. These little green anoles are the ones we see most often as well as little blue tailed skinks. Randy managed to catch a real small skink at a park a few weeks ago (they are very fast so it was not an easy feat). After putting him on a post to get a closer look we were certain we had killed it from fright. It just sat there completely unmoving. I was feeling kind of bad so I poured some of my water in front of it and a few drips on it and that revived him. He drank a little and it's side were heaving like crazy. We let the poor little thing go right away, but it was neat for Ev to see one close up, because they are cool with their electric blue tails.




We have a variety of butterfly bushes, so butterflies of all shapes and sizes are always fluttering around the yard. Ev was able to hold this pretty little blue one last week, as it's wings were pretty beaten up and it did not fly really well. She was thrilled to have actually held one, although I was a little sad for it as I knew it probably wouldn't survive too long.

We have a wooded section in the backyard that is a little bird haven. The cardinals have always been a favorite of mine, and were a rarity up north, but extremely common here. They are a little bit bullish with some of the other birds though, especially when I fill this particular feeder with safflower which they love and go through quickly. When I fill it they come in large numbers.

The least pleasant (& it does actually gross me out to look at it too long) but still fascinating to me is our Argiope aurantia, commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider or Writing Spider. This picture doesn't do it justice as to it's size, but it's quite large. It has the most interesting web designs and I think I should nickname it Charlotte as it is also called a writing spider "after the mistaken idea it's web stabilimenta was correspondence" according to online information. The funny thing is that it's web is directly under (or was until I moved it) my hummingbird feeder that gets low so often, I was constantly filling it. It required me to teeter on a stool to reach the feeder and I feared many a time I was going to tumble right into our little friend here. Randy's solution for me was to just move the feeder. This was what Everlea said that made me laugh "Mama, you should really move the feeder so you don't get freaked out." hee hee. I figure if it stays in the one spot on the back of the house (which it has for months now) it can stay. They are also not harmful to humans which is another reason it's still able to hang around.










This last little creature was hard to identify, as it passed by so quickly, that I was only able to get a picture of her big beautiful eyes. We know she's a female, and I must say one of the cutest little creatures I've ever seen, and we have come to realize she is extremely huggable and kissable. She is sometimes shy at first greeting, but is sweet natured and friendly to humans and will not bite or sting. We welcome her presence around here to the point where we she lives in the house with us and even has her own room. :) She has a pretty little singing voice, is adaptable, loves the water and because she is still young, cannot swim yet, but is learning. Most definitely our favorite of the "wildlife" around here. :)