Spring seeds and breeds

It must be summer when these captive bred ladybugs appear. With the heat, most fly off the roses they were put on, and head off looking for cooler weather.

I am pretty proud of this picture, a longhorn borer beetle laying eggs on the wood. this is definitely egg laying season for a lot of birds and insects.

The warm night temperatures are bringing out the beetles, this clown is one of my favorites, a poor flier who always crashes into thigs and ends up upside down and has the weird name of carrot beetle.

There are locusts and dragonflies around, this one had orange legs and a bright blue throat, very startling colors.

there were a few crayfish wandering up the ditch and digging in the fine mud for soft bodied creatures. I hear they are predators on snail when young and become more vegetation as they get older, this big specimen only has one claw left, likely arguing over territory.

There are seeds a plenty right now along the ditches, some are elms, but mixed in are cottonwood fluffs and a few of these poplars

I do not have the equipment to take pictures of fish very well. In this picture there is a timid largemouth bass There was a crazy number of fishermen going up and down the banks today and this pair is probably one of the reasons why.

My favorite frogs were out and exhibiting a wide range of colors. The lack of small frogs can probably be explained by the appearance of bass...

This slider shell was surprisingly smooth and ornate. A common slider basking in the sun.

The damselflies are much more helpful at holding still than the bigger dragonfly, there is a lot of reds and blues as the pairs fly in to lay eggs in the shallow water. Maybe the mosquito fish will even leave a few for the next generation...

While most frogs rest in the shallows of the banks and are dark grey, there are plenty that float out in the middle of the ditch on the weed matting. They tend to make a more pale green snout with a prominent white lower lip.

 This is likely a Phoebe, but I thin the kingbirds should be coming in soon. The hummingbirds are very aggressive right now and are actively clearing the bosque of feathered neighbors. Nesting birds do not make good neighbors.