So are flies, but for some reason people find it less endearing 
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I don’t know that lady bugs swarm around feces and corpses much. Flies’ reps are tarnished by the company they keep. 
True. Although, when you think about it, a lady beetle is simply a dung beetle with a more balanced diet and flashy paint job 
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Some species of soft back. I don’t know what the other turtle is. My default is “ slider “ lol. I know very few species of turtles. Not studied them yet.
The little turtle kept trying to climb onto the big turtle. But when the big turtle stuck its head and neck out long the fish and little turtle would swim away. But when it’s head and neck was pulled in close, the fish would even seem to nibble off its shell at time getting algae or something. It was very peaceful. At times the turtles would literally be shell touching with fish swimming around them.
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The first photo is fun, with the small one echoing the larger one’s position.
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Southern magnolia.
Meadow Beauty species.
Spiral orchid.
White top grass.
Don’t remember it’s name.
Orange milkwort.
Bog pin.
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Cool beans. The bog pin is the first one I’d pick up at a plant sale. Pretty small I imagine.
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White top pitcher plant
White top X rosea pitcher plant ( naturally occurring hybrid )
Pitcher plant moth and probably some kind of crab spider or a green lynx spider. Could not see it clearly.
First time , out of me literally looking in thousands of pitcher plants have I found a swallowtail butterfly species stuck inside of one. I checked to see if it was alive or not and it had already passed.
Some species of blueberry / huckleberry. Ate the three ripest ones there. Pretty sweet with a nice tang. Usually can’t beat the wildlife to the early fruiting ones.
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There are several species of bog pins. This one the flower is only about the size of a dime but the stalks are about 18-30 inches tall. They often grow in colonies with dozens of them mixed in with several species of flowers.
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Flora: 1
Fauna: 0
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I’m happy to have this ice plant relative, Drosanthemum bicolor, in the garden again after about a ten year hiatus.
This was a mosaic I put together back then for a party invite of the same plant. I loved the color contrast with this blue fountain which has water flowing down the sides rendering it a pretty good mirror.
The inner petals were so glossy and concave that on a bright day it could cast a shadow.
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I was thinking it looks like it’s a little ember. Really cool flower. Definitely be something that looks fantastic lit up by the sun.
@SkovandOfMitaze and @MarkD your photos are just fantastic! My socks are way across the room!
And in my quiet rebellion, I’m praising God for His amazing wisdom and creativity in evolution.
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Well it’s true that what the camera is focused on is way more amazing than our ability to point and shoot. I’m grateful to live in such a fascinating and beautiful world - just don’t ask to whom I’m grateful.
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Mark, if I did ask, it’d be with the full understanding that we differ on that, and with an abiding respect for you, which includes that understanding.
I may ask again, but not today. And always allowing you your space. You do the same for me.
To clarify, the was actually a bit of rebellion that had absolutely nothing to do with you. It was directed to all those who would pressure me to say evolution is a lie. I’m REALLY sorry, if it felt like it was directed at you. Sorry for what could have felt like a nasty dig.
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Sure is easier to get over the small stuff as your memory’s half life continues to decay. Old people aren’t better adjusted. They just be forgetting s***.
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Last week I was wearing wool and we had light frost in the mornings. This week it’s summer.-- upper 80s (32c).
Apple blossoms are our state flower. Trees all around the capitol complex. Took this on my way back from my walk at lunch time
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Then the stick would have stuck.
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This is a “velvet ant” which is really not an ant but rather a female wingless wasp which lays eggs in ground nesting bee larvae and grows there. They are also called “cow killers” as they have extremely painful stings that could (but don’t) kill a cow. A lot of them are around this year, probably because last year was good for reproduction.
dried pellet of deer poop in lower left for scale
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