Bug Blog

While driving tractor,  Jon has found many a bug-he said sometimes it is almost as if there are frogs leaping out of his way. He has mostly found praying mantis and rather huge crickets. He often catches them and they ride in the cab with him. He almost always brings them  home in his lunch box. 

 This first one was actually IN his lunch box. Thankfully, he took the critter out before I opened up the box!

 This one, as you can see, rode with him and appears to be telling him which direction to drive.

 Below is the rather creepy cricket he has found in abundance. These, thankfully, were in containers in his lunch box. I still was rather startled. He said the thing was so large it lost a leg as it was put into the empty Gatorade bottle. It has a very large 'tail'--which Jon is holding it by for the photo shoot.

 This is the mantis that he caught with the cricket. He did not put them in the same container, so as to keep them both alive to 'show' us and to photograph when he came home. We rather liked the alien look in the one picture. The bottom one which shows the mantis ready to fly is pretty fun, as well. Hopefully, all these creatures fare well in our yard. Steve did wonder why they weren't around when he was a kid. He said he would have loved these as a boy.

HAWKS!

One of the most amazing creatures over here in the Eastern part of the state are the birds of prey. With harvest in full swing, you are able to see many different kinds out hunting. Earlier, Jon photographed a Kestrel, but I forgot to load that photo on. The ones below were not afraid of the tractor Jon was in and as you can see, he was able to get pretty close to them. Hawks and falcons are very hard to tell apart, especially when they are young. We think this may be an immature red tail, but are not positive.

 Here, the young bird found a snack and devoured it in the field. Later, it sat around looking for more.

 This is a different bird as far as we know, and it also is devouring a snack on a 'stick'. The bird below is a totally different type. It's eye is dark instead of golden like the ones above. It also found something to munch on in the cut wheat.

Jon has had a great deal of fun watching these beautiful birds hunt each day. He has been especially impressed by their talons. In the photo of the bird on the fence post, you can see the birds legs and the immense feet. They are definitely a bird not to be trifled with!