I’ve started taking my good camera with me on my morning walks again. It is a clunker, but my phone camera just isn’t up to the task of capturing anything much at a distance. Also, because of the pandemic, my walks are now close to home, which, in my past mind, isn’t near as full of potential wildlife photos as my trail walks. So it is the first day walking with my camera again, and there are some pretty things, but nothing worth making the dog stop (he is good about stopping and waiting, but he gives me a look). We are almost back home when a flock of snowy egrets glides overhead. It was stunning. They flew just over the tree tops and the sky was filled with the gleam of their white bodies reflecting the pink of the sunrise and beautifully set off by the blue sky with just whispers of clouds. I stood there staring up in wonder… with my camera hanging around my neck. I woke up and lifted the camera and managed one picture of their retreating flight. So this is what I give to you today, with words so that you might be able to picture in your own mind the splendor of standing under as they glided past.

I usually close up the coop before bed and clean out the foot baths one more time so they are fresh in the morning. This little frog looked so comfy in his soak, I didn’t have the heart to dump him out. It has been so dry here, he was probably through the moon to find a “puddle”. He better skedaddle in the morning, though. He is about the size of a cicada, and the chickens make short work of cicadas. Taking pictures with a phone flash in the dark is not the best conditions for a good picture, but at least the subject is recognizable.

We had a tiny sprinkling of rain and the frogs and toads came out again. It doesn’t seem as if we have as many as last year, even with our wet spring.