It was a quiet afternoon. I was standing on the bridge out in the wetlands hoping to catch a photo that I had missed the previous week when I forgot my camera at home. It happens. So, now I was back on location and ready for another shot at it. I went to take a photo and my camera battery was… dead. That happens too. Anyway, I decided to hang out and see if I was going to miss my photo again. The photo was of this skipper that kept flying around and landing on this bullfrog that was sitting a little bit out of the water. The bullfrog sat completely motionless. At one point the butterfly landed on the frog’s eyeball and he didn’t move. The butterfly moved over to between his eyes and walked around on top of his head. When the butterfly got out towards the tip of his nose, the frog lunged to try and catch it. It missed and the butterfly circled back and landed on top of his head again. That was the photo I went back to see if I could get. It happens, rarely.
I hung out at the bridge for quite awhile and nobody came by. While I was standing there, I heard a slight rustle behind me which I thought was maybe a song sparrow that had been hanging around gleaning insects from the old pondlily leaves. To my surprise an adult raccoon followed by two little ones came walking out from under the bridge. They were quietly chattering to each other and walking along the edge of the water. The two small ones stayed hidden underneath the shrubs next to the water. I had seen them about a week ago. They were chasing each other through the bushes and came out running out on the trail in front of me. Now here they were roaming through the wetlands. I could see them curiously turning over small pieces of debris looking to see what was underneath. The mama raccoon was meandering farther out in the water. She appeared to find a few things, but I was unable to tell what it was and if she ate it or not. She was occasionally rubbing her front paws together and putting them towards her mouth. I watched them as they explored the area for about 10 minutes. I was honestly amazed at how quiet they moved through the vegetation. As they scurried off and hopped over a log, their movement didn’t make any sound. I could only slightly hear soft murmurings of communication between them.
I hope you are having a great summer full of time in nature. See you out there.