New porch friends

Today a tufted titmouse found my bedroom window particularly comfortable for a perch. We were hardly six inches away from each other, but with my window screen between us. She sang very happy little songs for me till the bird feeder caught her attention again.

I really miss my iPhone sometimes. My iBird app made looking up birds so much easier! *sigh*

Toad for my birthday

And now for a less serious post!

It seems that nature has a way if reaching out to me on my birthday. Last year it was a praying mantis at my rendezvous. This year it was a toad greeting me and my dog in the twilight.

The picture isn't great, but he was a wonderful toad! He didn't pee on me (yay!) and he didn't get scared away by my dog.

Porch find: Maimed grasshopper

I swept off my back porch today, delighted to find that the recent rain had cleared away most of the bird mess left below my feeders... When I was sweeping off brush, leaves, seed pods, and stink bugs (ick), I saw something bright green and stopped to examine it. 

What I found was this poor little guy. It clung to the porch, so I ran to get my camera (of course!). I noticed that it only had one back leg while I was taking pictures. It's remarkable how these little guys survive with fewer limbs than intended.