Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tree frog, newly molted bug, and mini mushrooms

I went out to the greenbelt next to our yard today and spied a Dagger Moth caterpillar munching on the kudzu leaves. Maybe that's one way to keep that awful plant under control! I zoomed in on it as it ate the leaves. The tiny simple eyes are visible in this photo if you click to enlarge it. As I was setting up my tripod, I noticed a little green tree frog perched on a kudzu leaf. Let me tell you, kudzu vines and tripod legs don't make a good combination! Fortunately, both of these critters were amazingly patient with me and they tolerated a lot of shaking of their leaves. The frog finally got irritated and climbed on top of the leaf. The lighting was much better, I could see the pretty bronze color on its sides when it was in the sunlight.

Thanks to all the rain we have received lately, the mushrooms have been growing quite well. I noticed some of the old Magnolia tree cones that had their specialty fungi on them. Magnolia Cone Mushrooms will grow only on the old cones. Isn't nature amazing!?

A couple of days ago when I went out to get the newspaper I noticed something bright orange on a milkweed leaf. It turned out to be a newly molted Milkweed Bug. The old skin is visible next to it.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!