Water, water everywhere.

The dry weather continues. Jackets are done, the morning air is barely cold now. The dust flies up in the still, dry air along the dirt roads as I walk along.

A clear sign of warm weather is the small lizards that have suddenly appeared, feasting on the numerous spiders that have put out their webs. The spiders have become more visible since the insectivorous birds have all left suddenly. Usually, this is a sign of nesting season, birds do not tolerate other birds nearby during nesting season. This trickled down effect  is a a good example of the interconnectedness of things; the food web.

the bullfrogs have begun to put on weight finally. Where frogs are not found, like the fast moving water of the ditch, there are many cricket bodies, suggesting those are the insects they are eating. The crickets have begun singing in the early evening, but there are still not many calling right now.

dry conditions seem to bring the cottontails out during the day more often. They are pretty bold this week, especially with all the dogs being walked off leash...

this guy was a neat find. I thought the flash of movement was just another lizard, but this little guy was determined to pull this weed into his burrow. I would guess the strong lateral root system is causing him to need to come more to the surface to cut through the anchoring.

For some reason I just love this guy's name; identified as "Brother moth" the patterns on the many moths I see each morning range from drab to pretty startling. You have to look close to see a lot of the finery, however.

Walking along, I noticed some odd ripples in the water coming from inside the culvert pipe.  Watching them, I figured they were from something breathing fast. I also saw there was interference waves, so that meant more than one source. I knew only birds have that high metabolism, and only one bird makes surface waves in water. Looking in, I was gratified to see two ducks hiding from me. Deduction is a wonderful thing. When it works, your educated guess can feel like some sort of magic vision. Surface waves are a weird thing that amphibians and fish have learnt to minimize, or use to their advantage.  Prolonged splashing always attracts the wrong attention, the key is not to break the water's surface. Frogs are masters of camouflage, in part because when they move slow, the water never ripples. And when they move fast, every frog in 30 feet is "instant messaged".