flying jewels

I'm noticing a lot of changes around the ditches as the Summer solstice has arrived. There are a lot fewer bullfrog, and that might have something to do with all the bird predators around, or a change now that mating is done. There are some tadpoles around, but so far most of them are Woodhouse toads. I tend to see the Young of year (YOY; the ones that hatched this year) in late summer. Occasionally I see the ones from last year in muddy, open areas. Something can delay their development somehow.

The best news is the ditches are alive with flying dragonflies and damselflies. Also, they are resting which means they are holding still enough for me to take pictures!

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A clear sign of summer is that the velvet ants are back. Earlier in the month there were the small, velvet ants around, now there are the bigger orange ones. They NEVER hold still, so I only took a wide angle shot. Stay tuned for a better picture when I figure out how to get them to hold still.

I have ants at the house that look like wasps (drones, with wings), and I have wasps on the ditch that look like ants (wingless velvet ants)