The Big Green Blip

I got up at the crack of dawn and went down to Mason Neck State Park which is 25 miles south of Washington, DC. When I got there, I stumbled across a turtle on the side of the road that was about 15 inches long and 9 inches in diameter. It look liked she was digging a hole (laying eggs?) and gave me a little bit of a hiss when I got too close. She had hay and other debris all over her back. I went to the car and got some paper towels, wiped her off (she didn't seem to mind), took a couple of quick pictures, and then headed off to my favorite pond.

The pond is always full of life with damsels, dragons, frogs, butterflies, and various other critters. I sat down on the bank of the pond and waited for things to happen. Within 5 minutes, two frogs popped their heads out of the water. One (not pictured) hung out for a couple of minutes and then left. This guy pretty much just stared at me the entire time (~30 minutes). In order to get this shot, I slowly sat down, then sorta rolled on my side very slowly until I was at eye level with him. I snapped quite a few pictures and when I stopped to preview them, a Cicada's landed on my arm. I plucked it off and threw it toward the frog - he jumped up and gulped it right down.
Pictures of that and some of the other critters are on Flickr.

For those of you that don't know, Cicadas come out every 17 years and are making their 2013 debut. There are a few at my house; at the park, there are 10,000's of them - The sound is absolutely incredible - It sounds like dozens of sirens going off. Quite impressive, but I'm glad the majority of them have stayed south.

Little Boy Update: The cat has been home for just about 24 hours now and has only eaten a very tiny little bit of food. He is on appetite stimulants so I'm hoping that they will kick in soon.


Thanks for stopping by and have a great night. Click here to see the BIG GREEN BLIP...