garden wildlife

Cyn and I were sitting on the bench in the garden tonight, because the weather was so perfect. I heard a buzzing, and then sort of a whumpf as it stopped. When I got a glimpse of it, I thought it was a dragonfly for a moment, but it was a hummingbird. It darted around for a bit, checking things out. We didn't move, so eventually it came in to the bee balm, which was right next to Cyn. It seemed to remain wary, but went for a couple of blossoms. I felt like I had a mosquito on my forehead, so when it went behind the flower, I moved to brush the bug. The hummingbird saw me move, and fled.

It was pretty cool to be that close to one. I had never seen one in person until a couple of years ago, and never in our yard until this spring.

Later, I looked down and saw a really big beetle near Cyn's feet - like nearly under them. I didn't want it to get squished, let alone Cyn to freak out, so I flicked it back under the bench. "What?" "Nothing. Don't look." "Why? What is it?" "Nothing." "Oh ick! A June bug." "No, June bugs are nowhere hear that big."

It wasn't moving, so I figured it was dead or dying. A few minutes later, I saw it climbing on the hosta, so I guess it was just playing possum.

( see it )