Charlie and the Nature Factory [Warning: Stunningly Beautiful Large Photo Images]

LadyV said:

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's done this with a jumping spider before.

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Me too! No one believed me when I told them.

Albedo said:

Jumping spider! At least I think it's some kind of salticid. They're one of my favourite arthropods. They have excellent vision, and will have a staring competition with you if you get up close.

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I was going to say 'jumping spider' - lol

LadyV said:

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's done this with a jumping spider before.

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Yup, I think we've all done this at one time.

Lady MacBeth said:

Me too! No one believed me when I told them.

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The scary thing is they're also great strategists and can easily evade capture inside the house

A visitor...

Is that a squirrel?

Yup, that's what our squirrels look like, that imp was the size of a house cat too. LOL. BIG SQUIRREL!

Ours are big like that too. One of the little stinkers tried to get in our dog door but he wasn't strong enough to open it and there was nothing for him to brace his back legs on to get leverage. Otherwise I'm sure he'd be in the house!

parumpdragon said:

Yup, that's what our squirrels look like, that imp was the size of a house cat too. LOL. BIG SQUIRREL!

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Yikes!

I grew up seeing damselflies and zebra jumping spiders all summer long. They both are on the friendly side of the creepy crawly world, imo..

I finally went somewhere interesting enough to get some nature photos. These were taken in the Valley of Fire near Las Vegas..

Here are a few more. It was sooooo peaceful there, especially in contrast to Vegas. I'm not into all that city glitz and noise and debauchery... but I'd love to go back to the area and explore more of the desert.

WOW! Swachski, those are beautiful! Do I have permission to download them onto my computer?

Absolutely you can download them, and thanks! I tried my best to capture the vast timeless beauty out there.

Beautiful place, Swachski. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Very cool Swach!!!

This is a little blurry, but it's all I've taken recently.

Cool pic, PD. At first I thought the twig in front of the hummer was a beak..

Those are stunning, Swach.

Thanks for the photo, PD. Is that a patch of yellow on the beak or pollen?

That's pollen on the beak - but it just made me smile to see it

Traps set, first victim caught:

How exciting for you, Ben! And you have leaves popping out already! We probably won't see that in Michigan for another month. I did hear the spring peepers last night for the first time. Love that sound! Just last week there was still ice on some of the lakes.

Yeah, those white things on the left are Dogwood blooms, and the highs have been in the 70s for the past week or so.

The snow has officially turned yellow in Georgia. We are approaching Peak Pollen. At least we all hope it's over soon.

Ben, keeping all the doors and windows shut...

Wow, you are ambitious with those hummingbirds. How many different types do you get?

Lady MacBeth said:

Wow, you are ambitious with those hummingbirds. How many different types do you get?

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I've only seen two, the ruby throated (that actually looks black unless the bird is facing you) and the grey throated, and I understand those are different sexes of the same species.

This was in the yard yesterday, and fell into my window well. Got a board and it finally crawled out on its own. LOL. Yay. They are poisonous after all.

yipes! how big is that thing, pd?