snippets from the midwest...

     
Our trip to Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge yielded some fun species. Beautiful out there, very peaceful and the place was EMPTY except for the 2 employees and us. Oh, and the myriad wildlife...

We break for turtles. And park. And grab the camera, and get out and photograph.

A painted turtle--not sure which one, but Chrysemys is the genus.

I was chatting with one of the staff there and it was refreshing to talk with someone who is familiar with Allen's rule, etc. Albeit we both forgot the name of the rule we were trying to think of, Allen's was the one that came to mind (extremities of similar or same species shorten as you get further from the equator--so rabbits down here have LONG ears ('cause it's HOT) and rabbits up north where it's very cold have shorter ears).

Ooh, just found it. We were trying to think of Bergman's rule, which explains why (at least how I was taught it) one species living at a lower lattitude would generally be smaller than the same species living at a higher lattitude (as in the coyotes in Southern California are very lithe and small relative to the whopping creatures I saw up in Wyoming).

Northern leopard frog, Lithobates pipiens. Found it first in some shrubbery on the edge of the lake (Lake Tewaukon):

Then, not a great background, but a better look:

When the sun hit it, it was SO gorgeous. BRIGHT green with what looked to be shimmery gold highlights. Stunner. And three hops and it was GONE!

Cool snag and shadows and green floaty trails in this little backwater area.

I love trails like that which make you wonder who was there, where did they go, and why.

Super charming grasshopper.

Be sure and click on the photo to get all the detail. Lovely creature.

Then on the way back to town, I saw this sign post and loved the juxtaposition of street signs indicating a crossroads (with, to me, urban implications) in the middle of so many acres of corn and soybeans and beets and sunflowers. =)

biobabbler