Oh my!

I very nearly didn't get out for a walk today, but when I was on my way back from dropping some donations, I stopped at Kittatinny Valley State Park for a quick outing with the D90 and the 105mm lens. It was gorgeous out today - another perfect pre-fall day. I saw all kinds of bees and my first leatherneck beetle of the year, and was quite pleased with my shots so decided I'd best head back to the car and home to finish my to-do list. Not even sure how I spotted this, but there she was, right on the side of the trail!

Now, I've not seen a Praying Mantis in over a year, so I was pretty darned excited when I spied this one. And she (I'm only assuming gender, based on size) was huge! At least 3 inches long. Really wish I'd been able to get her on my hand for perspective - but I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't have started screaming so thought I'd save myself the embarrassment of creating a scene. Instead, I just poked my lens at her. This image is straight out of the camera - no cropping necessary. It was my pick because of the coquettish tilt of her head...

I had two hummers around last night and this morning - probably resting for a few days before continuing on their journey. I was able to get pics of one of them, which is posted on Flickr. I posted eight shots, starting HERE with a full-body shot of the mantis.

I got a huge amount done today - very pleased with myself. The kitchen is now 95% packed - only a few remaining last-minute items. Today I was Mach 5 with my hair on fire with the packing! And, best of all, I got a call this afternoon from a realtor who wants to come by tomorrow afternoon to preview the house for a client of hers. Keeping fingers crossed that she likes it enough to bring the buyer over the weekend.

Happy Thursday people - and only 8 more sleeps until my Hubs arrives...

Debbi