One good thing about having a German Shepherd puppy is that I have to go outside more than I did last summer.  This month in particular, I’ve been paying close attention to what I see and hear…

As I write this, I am sitting at my desk with the windows open.  It’s dusk and I can hear the crickets, or are they frogs?  Recently I have seen a couple of tiny frogs hopping around in my yard.  They are small enough to make me think they are babies, but would baby frogs be born this late in the summer?

This afternoon, I was out in the back yard with Tucson.  I have noticed several times that there is a brown rabbit with a white tail out back.  I saw her/him this afternoon, but Tucson had her nose to the ground chasing a bug and didn’t see the rabbit.  I’m glad.  I really like that little bunny!

During the day and into the evening, we hear the “singing” of the cicadas.  Every time I hear them, I am reminded of how loud they were in Oklahoma the summer we worked there.  One of our jobs there was to show movies outside one evening a week, and even when we turned the volume all the way up, it was hard to hear over the cicadas.

I have noticed a lot of monarch butterflies and red dragonflies lately.  It makes me think of fairy tale battles between princes and dragons.

This afternoon, I also picked examples of several plants in my back yard and brought them in to photograph.

We have some large bushes with these berries on them. I’m curious to know if they are poisonous or if they attract birds.

Those berries are on the left. Toward the back is what looks like a hazel nut.  I usually find them under a tree in our back yard, but I can’t see any nuts in the tree itself.  In front is, I think, wild grapes. The vines cover plants and trees and wires. They seem to be invasive. To the right is a twig from what I think is a honeysuckle bush. In the spring we get the most heavenly perfume from little yellow flowers on bushes all over our yard, but I’m told that this, too, is invasive here.

If anyone recognizes any of these and can give me more information, I’d be grateful.