Turtle power to the rescue!

Meet Tortie...


Meet lil L




He had a little owie from being upside for a bit..poor guy


This was the look I got when I said "SET HIM FREEEEEE"

It was "Mooom, you're weird..."

On our way to well...set him free ;)


At our destination







Boy he boogied!!

When Lil L and I pulled up into our drive one afternoon there was something odd and rather...huge by our driveway wall. It wasn't moving....so we slowly walked up to it and noticed it was a turtle stuck upside down. Once we got up close he began to move. Poor thing had to have been stuck there awhile because he was pretty dry and wasn't too freaked out about us...yet!! I carefully picked him up and placed him in the grass...I wasn't in the mood to lose a finger if he was a snapping turtle...I ran into the house and grabbed a box. Lil L decided to name him Tortie ;) So we gathered up Tortie and headed over to a pond that was 1/2 a block away. Once we got there, we slowly tipped the box over and he hauled turtle butt into the lake. I've never seen one move that fast!! Blows that tortoise and the Hare theory out the window!!! Heeheheeh. So, with a little sad face, and a wave, we said good-bye to Tortie. Then for the next 10 min all I heard was..."I miss Tortie..." *sigh* guess we'll be getting a turtle soon. Add to our collection of animals (mini-zoo)...but that's another blog post!!! Wait till the newest addition comes in...I'll keep ya posted.

The Birds and the Bees...or was that a bird?

Last year I had posted some shots of our beautiful friends the Hummers. They are only here 3-4 months out of the year and while here they fatten up for their long trip south for the winter. July through August is really a peak time for them and they are out in force this year. As soon as we walk out the door you hear these crazy buzzing and whirring sounds and a distinctive chirping as they are flying around dive bombing each other fighting over the nectar trees, plants and the strategically placed feeders we have hanging from our windows. When the buzz past you it almost sounds like they are really HUGE bees and your immediate reaction is to duck! They are very territorial and will chase each other off of their favorite feeding spots. This time of year we are changing our feeders out every couple of days! They are literally drinking us out of house and home!! :) Well they REALLY come out when it rains and right after the rains I have a chance at catching them in action. When I say Chance I really mean it! They are sooo fast! Their wings beat at about 50 beats per second! So to capture them on camera is really a challenge. Yesterday we had a nice rain and shortly after I ran outside for about an hour and was finally able to get some shots! So as promised...here is this years brood...
Hope you all enjoy!
~Susan









This one didn't like even sharing with the dragon flies...you can see her chasing one off..unfortunatly I couldn't get them both in the frame it happend so fast.


Her telling him not to come back! :)














and here are the males...patiently waiting on the sidelines :)




Showing off his chest and his beautiful red throat!

Backyard Beauties....

Oh how I love lazy sundays! We have a great backyard that borders a small pond and natural area. We love to sit out back and enjoy all the beauties of nature we are so blessed to have a birds eye view of. Last year I posted about our humming birds that come in every summer... they are back but I have yet to get any good shots...i'm outta practice and those little guys move fast!! I'm working on it though and I will definatly post our new brood as soon as I can. This day though we had some other flying beauties I wanted to share...Nature is truly amazing! Here are some flying bugs but don't be squimish!!




This guy was like..."Yes you may take my picture but you must do it fast" Icouldn't get him to smile..he was too grouchy..:)




In for a landing...











This one was so small and soooo cute!!!





Ok so this isn't a bug but she flies and is just too beautiful to leave out!


I hope you enjoyed our little backyard buddies... More to come next Sunday...

~Susan