Porch Critters

Good afternoon everyone!  It's a great Saturday for me- I'm off work! Yipeeee! I did do some sweaty yard work this morning- pulling and digging up weeds from my flower beds, but after a nice shower, I'm taking it easy for a little while.  My oldest grandsons are visiting this weekend and my husband cooked a fantastic meal, so I'm a clean, fat and happy grandma right now ;)

I hope your weekend is going well.  Today I'm sharing a few critters that hang around my back porch- 

Southeastern Five-lined Skink- I used to think these were called Salamanders, but I'm not sure why

Cute little frog- not sure of his biological name, just a green frog to me

I love tiny frogs!

This lizard surely appears to be at peace in his surroundings- zzzzzzzzzzzz

An itsy-bitsy spider dangling from the tin roof

Closer view of the itsy-bitsy spider- can anyone identify it? 

A carpenter bee bore a perfect round hole in one of my porch beams.  

I knew nothing about carpenter bees until I saw them drilling holes in my porch beams. During some research, I learned the difference between bumble bees and carpenter bees- most importantly, one will destroy your home while the other one watches.  We plan to seal the holes and put a finish on the porch wood soon (we just built the porch about 6 to 7 months ago).  

Thank you for visiting!

Linking with our friendly hostess Eileen at Saturday's Critters

Colorful Gerbera Daisies

Sharing a few pics from the flower garden...

Gerbera Daisies

I love Gerbera Daisies, they're so colorful, so vibrant...

My Flower Garden in May

May has seen more than her share of stormy weather.  My flower gardens were often a muddy mess, but most of the flowers fared well from the inclement weather.

An Eastern Black Swallowtail checks out the Lantana

Can you see the tiny Skipper on this bloom?
(Wish I could remember the name of this plant- my amnesia is kicking in)

Lovely Red Pentas

A busy Bumble Bee buzzed from flower to flower

He is particularly fond of the Foxgloves (I am too!)

Buzzzzzzz

My Asiatic Lily is now blooming and the size of it has quadrupled since last year!
 Time to transplant this one.

My first Hibiscus plant.  The huge, gorgeous blooms convinced me to bring it home.

I planted a few Double Tiger Lily bulbs back in February.
They're now gorgeous!  Wish their blooms would last longer!

I love this shade of pink.  Pink Verbena.

The first of the Liatris Spicata plants has bloomed.  
Several stalks are coming up and will soon bloom as well.

Several of these tiny insects (some sort of small bee?) are creeping about on the Gaillardia blooms

The young and the old, side by side

Red-Head & The Peanuts

The Red-Head went back and forth, back and forth.  Grab a peanut, stash it and repeat.  He ordinarily makes himself welcome to several peanuts when they're available. It seems as if he and the Jays compete to see who can gather the most.

One of his favorite places to stash the treasure is within the deep holes on the electric pole.  He pushed the peanut as far into the hole as he could.  He must have felt pretty confident that his treats were well hidden and would be there when he was ready for them.

However, one must be careful when hiding treasures, for we never know who might be watching and waiting for the perfect time to snatch them...

Ugh! Don't you just hate it when somebody steals your stash?!!!
(In this case, it would be easy to forgive such a sweet little thief)

Red-Headed Woodpecker and Brown-Headed Nuthatch

Perhaps "Nut-snatch" is more appropriate :)

Sharing with Stewart at Wild Bird Wednesday- Thanks for hosting, Stewart!

Too Much Rain

I would be willing to bet that if this Northern Cardinal could speak English, he'd probably complain about all the rain we've had lately.  We have received more than normal for the month of May.  While the frequent rain showers are good for my flower gardens, it's not so good for the birds who depend upon insects to feed their nestlings.

Even worse, heavy downpours of rain have wrecked havoc in the states of Texas and Oklahoma.  The massive flooding in portions of those states have caused a few deaths and there are still people missing.  Hundreds of homes have been washed away.  Businesses damaged or destroyed.  Such a sad situation...please remember them in prayer.

Fledglings Splashing in Rain Water

While visiting my daughter in Tupelo last weekend, I noticed a group of fledling robins splashing around in a small puddle of rain water which collected on a portable basketball stand.  The four of them appeared to enjoy their makeshift birdbath...

I hope you have a great start to this new week!