Tuesday Assortment

It rained heavily for a little while this afternoon, and when it was over and I went outside, I was happy to see some brown anoles drying out on the fence. This guy was warning me off from his territory.

This anole looks like the big dominant male of the side fence. The vines were cut back but he was out there in his usual location. He’s in an odd position with his throat pressed against the cut end of a vine.

Out in front I saw a little Green Tree Frog.

And a little snail moving slowly and steady along the wet driveway.

Mexican petunias drop their flowers every evening and new flowers bloom every morning. This flower was on its way to dropping off this afternoon when the rain came down.

I went to look at the Gloriosa lilies and found a few raindrops to photograph. In this one you can see the upside down reflection of a lily bud, with a bit of a red flower petal.

And in this one you can see the red and yellow petals of a lily.

 

Friday Photos

I’m still seeing lots of Mockingbirds. They spend a lot of time sitting on the wire out front, looking for bugs down below and watching for other Mockingbirds approaching.

Sometimes I see one with a bug. This bird appears to have caught a spider.

When this bird with gray feathers standing up on its head appeared, I thought at first that it was a Flycatcher of some sort. But no, it was just another Mockingbird with ruffled feathers on its head.

The Gloriosa lilies in the back yard are starting to bloom now. This flower is beginning to open.

This one’s opened up a little more.

And this one is fully open. There are only two open lilies so far and neither is in an ideal position for photography. But there are lots more buds coming along.

The brown anole in the back corner is much more comfortable with me. Today he just sat and watched me as I approached him.

 

Thursday Photos

Today was a quiet start to summer vacation–no errands, no projects, no chores. There are lots of blooms on the tomato plant.

I’ve been seeing this male brown anole often in the back corner of the yard. At first he ran away as soon as he saw me, but now he’ll sit still, watch me, and flash his dewlap occasionally.

Another brown anole on the fence at the side of the house.

I came back in from the yard with a little Green Tree Frog perched on my arm. I didn’t realize the frog was there until it jumped off onto a picture frame. I caught it and put it out in the boxwood bushes where lots of little frogs live.

Last Day of School on Wednesday

Last day for teachers today! I got to my room around 8–later than my usual time.

I finished my checkout sheet, talked to the staffing specialist about a new student, worked on some filing, and got some plans started for the beginning of the new school year in August. I brought my camera with me today, and I took a few pictures in the empty, quiet classroom.

The last thing I had to do was turn in my keys with my checkout sheet, and I was on my way home.

I stopped outside to take a photo of a goose by the pond next to our school. I had been trying some black and white shots earlier and forgot to change the camera setting back to color.

We have crows at our school too, even more crows than geese.

Then I came home and went outside with Sophie and Lulu. We saw a little female brown anole on the fence.

A dandelion puffball.

And Lulu in the grass.

 

 

Tuesday Photos

I finished up everything but one item on my checkout sheet today at school. Tomorrow I’ll take care of that one item and also a few non-checkout sheet things–a call to a parent, a conference with a colleague about a new student coming next year, etc.–so I’ll be constructively busy until school’s over and summer vacation starts tomorrow afternoon.

At home today I took a look at the tomato plant, which is flourishing in the big pot. There are lots of blossoms so lots more little tomatoes on the way.

This little green anole was sitting on a rake handle.

Sophie in the grass, taken from the pool steps.

I took my Masterpiece doll Hannah (originally Annecke) outside today for a few pictures. I’m about ready to put her hair back into braids and I wanted a couple more pictures with her hair down.

 

Mostly Mockingbirds on Monday

I was watching to see if this would happen, and it did. A Mockingbird perched on the wire in front of the flagpole on Memorial Day.

There have been lots of Mockingbirds around lately. This one perched on the pool steps in the backyard, and didn’t care that I came outside to take photos.

The Mockingbird spotted something interesting in the grass down below.

Mockingbird spreading its wings. They often do this while hopping around in the grass after insects.

One more of the Mockingbird.

A squirrel pausing to scratch.

Brown anole displaying on the fence.

While I was watching the Mockingbird, Sophie found a little mole in the yard. I’ve never seen a mole moving around in the grass before so she may have dug it up ( there wasn’t a hole but there was a patch of grass pulled aside). I told her to leave it–she’s very obedient and immediately backed away–and I scooped up the little mole and put it over the fence into the empty lot next door where the dogs can’t reach it. In all the excitement I didn’t think to stop to take a photo, so I missed probably my only opportunity to photograph a mole. Sophie went back to check the spot in the grass again after I reassured her it was all right.

And then she came over to me.

Dragonfly on Sunday

I had my 70-300mm lens on the camera, looking for the Pileated Woodpecker I’d seen fly into some nearby trees. I didn’t find the woodpecker but I did see a dragonfly persistently landing on some wildflowers. I like my 90mm lens for small things like insects and anoles, but I tried some photos with the lens I already had on the camera. They aren’t as good as I would like, but not too bad for being taken hand-held with the zoom lens.

Dragonflies have comical little faces.

A little green anole looking at me from a corner of the fence. (With the 90mm on the camera now).

Green anole again.

Sunset with the big pine tree this evening.

Mockingbirds on Saturday

I’m slowly recovering from the last week of school–graduation night falling right in the middle of the busy week didn’t help at all.

A couple of Mockingbirds posed out front on the wires today. This one was poised to strike, watching an insect below.

And this one had an insect in its beak. I love the pose with the tail high in the air against the gray-green background of distant trees.

A closer look at the bird and its meal.

Mockingbird looking back at the camera as I took photos.

This is a crooked, worn-looking little flower, but the sunlit flower standing out against the dark shady background caught my eye, and then I saw the little bee.

Sophie enjoying some time outside in the yard. She looks like she’s thinking about something.

One anole for today, the same reddish orange anole I saw the other day.

Two for Thursday

A half-day more and the students’ school year is over. I gave out some awards to the kids today, and then we cleaned and packed things up in the room. We have a faculty and staff luau luncheon tomorrow after the students leave, a couple of post-planning days to finish up the tasks on our check-out lists next Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we’re done for the year.

A brown anole was sitting calmly on the fence this afternoon when I came around with my camera and took some photos.

 

Tuesday Photos

The countdown at school continues–today we had our graduation party for my two graduates, with pizza and cake and lots of music and dancing. Two and a half more days to go, which we’ll mostly spend packing up for the summer. Tomorrow night is graduation and of course I’ll be there for that.

Here’s a brown anole I don’t think I’ve seen before. It seems to have a reddish orange color all over its body.

A green anole looking up from the fence rail.

Vine shadows on the fence.

A dandelion bud.

And a tiny bee on another flower.