"Fishing Face"--does it exist?

While Gretchen and I were fishing on Saturday evening at Little Buffalo, Kat took over the camera--and embarrassment ensued.

First, we fished our little hearts out, but the fish were jumping around and taunting us.

You can't see them in this photo but trust me--they were jumping all over the place, eating every bug in sight but leaving our worms alone. Gretchen then switched to some shiny crazy lure, but did the fish pay attention?

See for yourself:

Now you DON'T see it.

Now you DO.

This crazy bullfrog (is it a bullfrog? I know, I need a amphibian guide!) wanted that little blue and silver lure more than anything! I guess he thought it was a dragonfly. Gretchen started playing with him, trying to lure him onto shore--but the crazy little guy chomped on it!

After some struggles getting the little hooks out of his mouth and leg, during which I sustained a little gash on my index finger,

the frog was free.
Here's Gretchen the Frog Master:Boy, Laura was right; all fishermen have the same goofy grin when they catch something--even when it's a big old frog.

And her frog:

That red you see on his leg is actually MY blood. Isn't he beautiful? I love that mottling on his undersides. We let him go (we are strictly catch-and-release!), and it was apparent that his recent adventure with us had not harmed him. He leaped about three feet into the water and was gone.

Now--for "fishing face." Kat took pictures of both Gretchen and I while we fished, and she claimed to have discovered something she calls "fishing face."

Here's her photographic evidence:

I tell ya, I just don't see it.

I don't know what she's talking about.

Life Luna! UPDATED with a lullerfly link

I was doodling around in the garden last evening, pulling some of the taller weeds and looking at my plants, when I came practically nose to nose with this:

Click for lunatically large!

I don't recall ever having seen a luna moth before, much less two of them! I tried to look at them from the other side to see if (and how) they were, well, you know--doin' it, but it was too hard to get back there with the corn plants in the way. I don't think these two were mating; they didn't really seem to be touching any of the--er--important parts. Still--what are these moths doing?

Let's look more closely at this amazing moth:

Click for mothmonstrous!

First, I noted that what I thought were just plain old wing eyespots are in fact small holes in the wing, surrounded by differently colored accent cells. Amazing! I suppose such tiny holes in such large wings do not affect flight.

Second, look at those beautiful antennae; they remind me of palm fronds in their complexity. What do moths use their antennae for? I don't really know. Anyone?

What amazing creatures these moths are, as beautiful as butterflies yet classed in the moth family. Here's another question for you lepidoptary-inclined folks out there: what is the difference between moths and butterflies? Is it the eating-nectar thing?

UPDATE: For some incredibly beautiful southern butterflies, check out Troy and Martha's Ramblings Around Texas.

Moving on to my sunflowers: Last year, I had a whole row of mammoth sunflower plants. This year, I just left whatever volunteers that came up. Here's the tallest sunflower plant:

It was pretty late in the evening, so pardon the dark. The flower should bloom within a week or so, I believe.
Here's the plant with its neighbor:
That red arrow indicates my height. I'm 5'1".

Mother Robin and Her Children

Not exactly Berthold Brecht, but much more exciting! It's Mama Robin, feeding her little brood!

Now this family is a different one from the last one I showed you. The courtyard at work appears to be quite popular with the nesting crowd. I believe we might even have a goldfinch nest! I'm trying not disturb anything, so it's slow going trying to find the nest. I hope I can, though--goldfinch babies must be so cute!

Back to Mama Robin. She saw me come out into the courtyard so she froze, mouth full of food:

I'm guessing that's either a really pink worm, or she's feeding them Twizzlers. You decide.

Here she is, with her little ones agape and awaiting some food:

I wish these were less obstructed by hemlock foliage, but I didn't want to get too close--so I'm on super-high zoom. Still, you can see two little babies and Mama above them.

Hee hee!