That is a fact. I can remember when I was midway through high school stopping at lake Winnipisauki (sp?) in New Hampshire. My mother had told us of a giant snapping turtle that lived in their boat house back when she was a kid. Naturally one of my brothers and I had to check it out. Using a fishing net hanging up in there we netted it and hauled it up to get a better look. We also wanted to see if it could snap a twig as my mother had said it could do to a broom handle. It wasn’t interested. Hard to guess what it weighed but I’d guess maybe 20 - 30 pounds. It wasn’t an alligator turtle but it was an old one.
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I went partying with a mushroom once, he was a real fun-guy. 
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Though not the best picture. And while working up high ive seen them get a lot closer. I always enjoy seeing the dolphins swimming. Especially when they get really playful and pop up really high. Never see them completely jump out of the water though like in sea world videos.
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Katydid and tomato hornworm around the house. Not sure how the other pic got in there But grandkids on the coast.
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Baby raccoon lost on the road today ( I shooed him into the woods), thunderhead, pink ladyslipper in the woods
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Pays to keep your eyes peeled. Was the sky shot taken at night or in the morning?
I’ve never grown an iris though I see my fair share on spring wildflower walks. But last year a garden designer friend of mine gave me some plants with any I didn’t want to go for a drawing we do at my garden group’s meetings. I thanked him for the several little agave pups he’d brought which I have since planted in my ‘hell strip’ but he said I really should try growing the one labeled Neomarica caerulea in the big pot because it is a very special blue. Since my friend was born in Taiwan and pays attention to both the science and history of plants I decided to take his advice.
Yesterday it bloomed again with five blooms emerging from the three flowering stems. Five days ago they had produced four blooms. The flowers only last a day but I read that it will continue for quite some time. I feel like a kid with a new toy discovering what else it will do.
The plant comes originally from Brazil. At the San Marcos Growers website I read that “It has long been called Walking Iris but this is a bit of a misnomer as it is not Iris species and it really does not “walk” like the related lower growing white flowered Neomarica northiana”. If it were a walker it could cover some ground quickly with its 4-5 foot height. About another common name I thought might be of interest here: “The common name, Apostle Plant, comes from the belief that a Neomarica will not bloom until the plant has 12 leaves, representing the 12 apostles of Jesus.”
The first two photos shows how very tall the plant is and how the blooming stalk is encased in what looks like just another strap leaf. The buds showed this color before opening the next day during the first bloom.
The last photo I took yesterday during its second blooming. If you look closely you can see the seed caps from the previous bloom beneath the top flower.
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I wonder if @SkovandOfMitaze or @jpm have come across this southeastern native? (Probably a stretch for it to have come as far West as Phil.) Such a peculiar thing. It grows straight up and narrow, blooming its head off in bright scarlet. I got one to bloom nearby before giving up the ghost. But once some of its seed made it to the special raised bed prepared for growing pincushion flowers they’ve started coming up more thickly each year. I guess that means they want it lean and well draining. I do like the pincushion flowers very much but this thing has completely won me over to the point that I only smile as it covers the other plant, fortunately after it has finished blooming.
This is how the blooms look up close.
But when they’re backlit and you look very close you see there is some veining in all that scarlet.
The popular name is “Skyrocket” and I got it here, though she isn’t offering it this year. These photos will show you the overall growth habit better.
Plants never fail to show me something new and amazing.
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I’ve not seen that one. But in my county we have one similar called, Ipomopsis rubra.
Ah but that’s the one. I should have known you wouldn’t be turning your nose up at botanical names. (My wife hates when the Latin comes out.)
Beautiful. It ranges into our area and I have seen some scattered in spots.
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You’re a lucky man.
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Not sure of the species. But could tell it seemed thirsty and was trying to get water out of a old pipe that was broken. So filled up a sandwich container and sure enough it drank and splashed in it a few times.
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Could it be some kind of wagtail?
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I have no idea. Three species was listed for this area and it did not look like it but when I’m home I can try more and see.
A couple of photos here. First is of a spotted longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata) that the boys and I found whilst out walking today. Lovely to see them buzzing from flower to flower in the hot weather. They almost look like bumblebees when on the wing:
The second is of some newborn spiders. Earlier in the year I found a Mediterranean Spiny False Wolf spider (Zoropsis spinimana) in my garage. I was so enamoured with it that I brought her into the house and made her an enclosure. About a month ago she made an egg sac and today it began to hatch.
TRIGGER WARNING ARACHNOPHOBES:
Apologies for the blur, I had to use my iPhone to take a photo through my hand lens.
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That hand lens shot is really cool! I really can’t wait until I get a actual camera with a macro lens.
Correction on my part. According to iNaturalist’s photo recognition tool it is more likely to be a Mockingbird (Mimus sp.). Not sure on you exact location but perhaps the Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus) of central America?
Could be. I’m seeing northern mocking bird showing up as in this area, south Alabama, but not the tropical one. But it’s just based off of birds of Alabama Wikipedia. M. polyglottos