Monday forest photo: August 1, 2011

1:15pm 30C scattered clouds

 What a beautiful day for a walk in the woods. It's a statutory holiday here today, so there's no annoying noise from the quarry subdivision next door. The mosquitoes were mostly hiding from the sun and heat, so I walked in blissful peace.

There are quite a few toads that jump out of the way at the last second. You never see them until they move, and I do worry that one day one won't be quick enough. A friend tells a quite horrifying story about an incident where she was cleaning up a little boy with very dirty pants and stepped backwards (hard) onto a toad, in her own bathroom. The bathroom was just inside the back door, which maybe explains the toad, but the resultant mess was the kind that could make a grown woman cry.

The bitternut hickories are dropping some fruit. So far, the ones I've seen have all had a hole in them, so perhaps these are dropping first. I recall seeing them later in the season last year.

The bee tree is still going strong. It's hard to get a picture that shows all the comings and goings of the bees, but it's a great treat to see and hear them in action.