May 5, 2024

If you recall the last picture of the last blog, it looked as if two Green Frogs were in amplexus, which is to say in the process of mating.  I must have been over excited but now I believe that the one on top was actually a male TOAD, not a Green Frog.  It certainly seems to be thinking it was making love to another Toad, but I now think that what we are seeing is a mistaken Toad trying to mate with a Frog.  The next day there certainly were several pairs of Toads mating, and other male Toads trilling for a mate.  (It is actually quite fun, if not good for the whole process, to try the trilling song the male Toad makes and watch him trill back at you.)  Here is a picture of two Toads mating.  Toads do seem to come in lots of interesting color patterns, don't they?  Especially this spotty female.

Here are a few more Frogs.  First, a nice plump one I call Fat Mama.  Then you see two smaller Frogs at opposite ends of the picture.

This looks like a big old Frog.  Second shows a young frog little enough to be able to snooze on a lily pad.Lo  Look!  this is the first baby frog small enough to snooze on a lily pad this year.  I think these are the largest and the smallest Frogs I've seen this year.

I can't believe how quickly the backyard has blossomed from practically bare ground to flowers and other plants all over the place.  Note the two little frogs along the base of the pond edge.

Each day another kind of flower bursts into bloom.  Here is the yellow Ranunculus, or Buttercup. opening up in the path from the back yard to the front.  In the front, quite a few little Oriental Poppies are getting ready to bloom.   Meanwhile, the white Honesty is in full bloom  on the front corner of the front yard. 

Those Hostas are growing fast against the front wall.  And here's a Jack-in-the-pulpit.

The Forget-me-nots are now all over the place.  And the Solomon's Seal is now opening everywhere.  I HOPE the hummers are enjoying this feast - I can't easily see them as they duck under the leaves of the Solomon's Seal.

That Mayapple's little white bud finally opened.  I had to "help" the flower to be seen.

We now continue with some of the Little things I love.   Here is one Ant that stood still enough when my camera's front panel refused to come up.  The ID app called it a Nearctic Carpenter Ant.  If it had a bit of a reddish sheen to it, I would be more sanguine about saying that for sure.  We continue with Beetles.  Second is a tiny weevil on a Garlic Mustard leaf, and third is an enlargement of this Weevil.  Usually I expect the LARVA of  a "non-weevil" beetle ,  Phyllotreta ochripes, which keeps my Garlic Mustard under control.   So I will have to send this little weevil off to someone who will know about such things. Picture 5 shows the real Phyllotreta ochripes.  We will have to keep our eyes peeled for it or its larva.  I wrote to @boris of iNat asking what the Weevil was and mentioning that P. ochripes was missing this year and seemed to be replaced by the Weevil..  He said the Weevil is the result of a plan to use it (along with P. ochripes) to do in Garlic Mustard.  I'm wondering if this isn't overkill - and feel this critter is spreading maybe TOO fast.  Hmm.

Here Nature provided us with another exercise in serial enlargement -- in this next row.  I can barely make out the critters, but not whether they are Bug or Beetle, though I'm leaning toward Beetle (but WHAT Beetle? - not a Weevil)

Now to our Flies!  The first and last pictures may show the same species or the same individual - it is a Crane Fly that actually gets this large - and larger if you count the legs.

Here are some flies that need identification.  The first one looks like a faded Greenbottle.  The last one caught the sun right on its wings.  It was originally a tiny thing.

These first two Flies are Mosquitoes.  I haven't got them identified yet, but have posted them to Liam Wolff of iNat.   He is my go-to-person when Mosquitoes are involved!  Look at all that hardware on the forehead of number 3!

Our old friend the Red Admiral has been out there showing off for the females.  In the meantime, here are a couple of Moths seen on the Wall of Fame.  Well, here is ONE (two shots) of the ones I've seen in the past couple of days.  It is a moth in genus Besma, and the note with it says it is actually a member of th Geometrid Moths, which are the ones whose larvae are classified as "Loopers".  So finally we have an example of a Moth whose early days were spent looping around the place.

This is where I would ordinarily have suggested a Flower Walk, but that feature seems to have moved to the beginning of the "New" Backyard Blog.  Returning to that format, the next thing to investigate would be the Spiders.  Well, let's go there then!   Picture 1 shows a huge clutch of Spider Eggs.  Next looks like a tiny Cobweb Spider.  And third, I have to go look it up.

@Paosol came to the rescue, saying this first one was a Flea Jumping Spider, and that number 2 was in genus Bassaniana.  Spring must be coming - I don't remember seeing Bassaniana for such a long time.  He also said number 3 was in Tribe Coriarachnini.

Let's see what's going on with the Fishes.   Their many colors add so much to the ambiance, even though the water is still suffering from the Algae that grew so very thick this winter.  The round shadow at the lower right is the head of the photographer.  Picture 2 shows off a young Green Frog that is so small he/she can float on the Lily pad all day.  

  Let's see if we can find some of the Fishes that have lived in that Pond for so long!  Let me point out some of the unique color combos that just appeared over the months since the birth of the fishes.  That black fish with the bright yellow head region is one of my favorites - I think it just morphed over time to an exciting new look.  If I get a chance to go Pond-products-shopping at the Pet Station in Jackson, I usually buy a couple of new Fishes in my favorite colors.  Like the red and blue one in picture 1 -something goes off in my brain when I see that combo.  Usually the Fish with that kind of color scheme is a Shubunkin - who may be a BIIT pricier, but well worth it - especially since he may find a mate with some accommodating colors.  In that way, the Fish themselves are like colors that just go where they think they will look snazzy! In the right-hand picture, that bright bright yellow Fish is actually a Koi.  He turned out to be  a healthy Fish and is one of the only Koi that I think are especially pretty.   So for some people, a Pond full of Fishes can turn out to be a canvas with colors you can play with.  Folks, thank you for letting me run on and on about my own crazy ideas.

Have a great week!  Spring can only progress from here.  And life is still worth living.   Let's keep working to make it better for all of us.  LOVE, Martha.