I SHOULD be working in the garden...butt...

 So....I'm outside "working" in the gardens in front of our home when I see this large shadow move over me. We get lots of hawks and Turkey Vultures zooming over our little oasis on a regular basis, so I don't always take notice. This shadow "felt" different for some reason. When I turned around and looked up it was a Bald Eagle! They do nest within 15-20 miles of us and we have seen them zooming overhead before. Of course all I had near me was my camera with a 100mm macro lens, what the heck , I'll take a couple of evidence shots.

When I blew them up on the computy thing, lo and behold, he's holding a fish in his sharp lil talons! Yum...dinner! I will always look up from now on! I will also try to keep a longer lens close by! Wouldn't it be nice if I had that lovely Canon 500mm telephoto lens? Hint hint!

Oh well, back to gardening...for a second...

 The Doodles pulled a weed(aren't all of plants weeds?) and found a gang of caterpillars in it.

Turns out to be a Ailanthus Webworm Moth caterpillar.

 And this is what it will look like when he's all grown up! 

Cool, eh?

Ya never know what those caterpillars will turn out to be...besides bird food.

 

 This is a Silphium perfoliatum, or more simply, a Cup Plant.

 It's called a Cup Plant because of the cup formed where the leaves meet the stem.

Native Americans used the resin to make a gum to prevent nausea and vomiting and to freshen breath!

So handy...

 This is one of our tiny Green Frogs.

The Mink took the adults "away."

We still have a number of little froglets hopping about!

 This is one of the larger of the brood.

He thinks he's hiding.

Good job, froggy.

 I never knew Mint had such nice flowers.

If you accidentally mow it over, every thing smells so fresh!

And you can't keep it a secret anymore...

 This is a yellow flower.

It has a name.

I thought it was pretty until I looked closer.

 Red Aphid, of the Uroleucon family!

ACK!

The flowers have since deceased.

Not the bugs though.

So sad.

 This is the sportiest insect in the garden!

Red-banded Leafhoppers look fast with that racing stripe through their eye!

This is a Sweat Bee, Halictus ligatus loving this flower!

He was so excited he was shaking as he gathered pollen.

At least I think that's why he was shaking.

Maybe he got a "Sugar Buzz!"

Hah!

(Get it? Bee...Buzz?)

 Anyway...I love my bees and my macro lens!

 It's amazing what you see when you get down to their level and really look closely!

This Black-and-white Warbly wasn't really in our garden.

I just miss him.

Soon!

Fall Warbly Migration!!!!!

Stay tuned...