Journal for January 4, 2008

Happy New Year! I’ve been playing with one of my favorite Christmas presents – a picture frame that sits on my desk and shows a slide show of photos. I’ve put a collection of recent farm pictures on it, and I’ve been enjoying watching them all – thinking about the year that’s gone by.

So I thought I would put up some of my favorites. Some are ones that have been on the blog in past stories, but some are new discoveries – details from photos that I’ve never used.

I’m not putting much text with the photos – just enough to identify the plant or animal, or what the place is. All except two were taken at our farm. Those two were taken on neighbors’ prairies.

Apple Blossoms

Pasqueflower seeds

Sand Cress

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Wild Ginger

Bottle Gentian

Butterfly Weed

Marsh Marigold

Cecropia Moth

Center Valley

Common Ringlet

Common False Foxglove

Fawn

Illinois Tick-trefoil

Eastern Tailed Blue

Fawn

Fritillary caterpillar

Wild Geranium

Giant Swallowtail

Gray Tree Frog

Hummingbird Moth

Katydid

Knife Edge Prairie

Leonard’s Skipper

Eastern Tailed Blue

Rough Blazing Star

Lily-leaved Twayblade

Green Twayblade

Monarch

Mushroom

Muskrat

The Narrows Prairie

Opossum

Violet Wood-sorrel

Poke Milkweed

Polyphemus caterpillar

Polyphemus Moth

Praag Valley

Mushrooms

Our house

Sky-blue Aster

Fox kits

Giant St. John’s Wort

Stiff Gentian

Tawny Emperor

Blue Vervain

Pat’s Prairie

Tiger Swallowtail

Wild Clematis

3 Finger Valley

Woodchuck

Field Milkwort

Wetland at sunrise