A Translucent Surprise

incredible insects, surprised critters, storms, and more...

I found this amazing snakeskin over the weekend. I’ve been picking up snakeskins since I was a kid. I stopped in the 1980s when I worked for the Zuni and Navajo tribes and I learned to them it was bad luck. Its translucent beauty and detail are awesome. I have no idea what kind of snake this is. Its skin was about three feet long.

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Last week was amazingly hot, with many days in the 90’s. Animals were lethargic, and so was I. It is amazing when you walk in the same place at about the same time each day how you get a sense of the place when conditions change. For example, when the smoke from the Canadian wildfires was bad, birds were quite subdued. I can only imagine the harm that was done to their lungs.

One day during that period, a storm started our way while Violet the Dog and I were walking, and thunder spooked a fawn. Violet the Dog was about 20 feet in front of me and the fawn ran between us. Maybe ten minutes later a rabbit ran from out of the bushes behind me and crashed into the back of my leg. It rolled and then scampered away. I have never been clipped by a rabbit before!

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This storm came through the other night. Passed our house and headed for the Cedar Bluffs Recreation area.

Here is my video of the storm, which was used by the Weather Channel. If you live in Iowa and have good videos or photos of weather events, tag #iawx in social media and you might get picked up. I feel like I am contributing to science.

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Violet the Dog and I spotted a deer.

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Here are the sounds of the pond:

You will hear a House Wren, a Northern Cardinal, a Field Sparrow, and a Blue Jay.

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Look closely. These ant hills popped up overnight. I put one of my walking sticks in for reference. The ant hills are about 11 feet long. I love how if you look closely you can see the different colors of the earth they bring up.

Above is a video of the black ants.

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Check out the above pollinators on the grass.

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And the amazing insects above on milkweed pods. I wonder what they are up to?

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And of course, this beautiful creature is what I have always called a “Daddy-long-legs” and others call “Harvestmen.” I haven’t had much luck figuring out the etymology of the terms.

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This was a lovely, firey, layer cake morning.

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Finally, above is an image of a recent sunrise over Davenport by Cedar Creek Nature Notes subscriber John D. De Taeye. Thanks, John!

If you are a subscriber and would like to share a photo of something beautiful or wondrous near you, please email me at rdwleonard@gmail.com, and I’ll share it. Thanks!

If you enjoy Cedar Creek Nature Notes, I encourage you to subscribe to my friend Larry Stone’s “Listening to the Land.” It’s fantastic.

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