On a warm, lazy summer Sunday afternoon, young children may play near a pond and maybe they might spot a green frog hiding in the cattails. Even if they don’t spot one, they might hear one croaking up a storm.
Green frogs will attempt to eat any mouth-sized animal they can capture, including insects, spiders, fish, crayfish, shrimp, other frogs, tadpoles, small snakes, birds, and snails.
Northern Green Frog
This Belted Galloway calf looks as disgusted that the rainy days as I am. The Belted Galloway is a heritage beef breed of cattle originating from Galloway in the west side of southern Scotland, adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region. The exact origin of the breed is unclear although it is often surmised that the white belt that distinguishes these cattle from the native black Galloway cattle may be as a result of cross breeding with Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. It is the belt that gives them their name.
The distinctive white belt found in Belted Galloways often varies somewhat in width and regularity but usually covers most of the body from the shoulders to the hooks. The white contrast to the black coat, which may have a brownish tinge in the summer, sets the breed apart with its striking color pattern. Because of this distinctive look the cattle are also called as “Oreo cookie cows”.
“Oreo Calf”
Another bright object in the fields and ditches now is another noxious weed commonly known as Orange Hawkweed.
Do hawks eat this plant to improve their vision? According to a folktale this is how this plant was named. In fact, hawkweed was brought to America from Europe by herb doctors to cure eye diseases.
But Hawkweed is also referred to as the “devil’s paintbrush” because it invades farmers fields and out-competes many native species.
Orange Hawkweed
The other day I posted a picture this barn from the other side and at the time, I couldn’t decide which view I liked better, so by posting the other view now, I don’t have to make the decision.
The gray tin siding makes this barn so different from the other older wooden barns and why it caught my eye so much and I why I had to back up to shoot this barn.
Old Tin Barn
Irises are not like winter since they do not last long. Open one day and gone the next and a long wait until next year’s bloom.
Waning Irises
The daisies are creating little smiley faces even if the sun doesn’t shine on them very often with the rainy days. The Oxeye Daisy is another flower that was brought over from Europe and has escaped since a daisy can produce up to 26,000 seeds per plant.
Oxeye Daisy
The bungleweed, or carpetweed, is adding blues and purples to the ground right now. A native plant to Europe, it is sometimes considered an invasive plant in parts of North America where it has been used for ground cover and has ‘escaped’.
Bungleweed
The irises had one day of glory in the sun before the rain and hail pounded on the poor flowers.
Sunny Irises
The calendar says the start of summer, but it isn’t a sunny summer day but a rather wet one. But there are some summer flowers out in different colors like orange, pink, yellow, white, blue and even some purple.
Summer Begins
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