Okwriter....Ain't nature grand!!!! How wonderful to see something like that. A few years ago I had the pleasure to be able to see a Pileated (sp?) woodpecker fairly close-up. at work on a tree. They are so big and (in my mind) prehistoric looking. They are so elusive, and hard to get near enough to get a close look at. Thanks for posting, Dottie

That is cool! We have lots of snapping turtles and we find their eggs in the sand sometimes. It is amazing how many they lay!

What a fun sight for you to see.

I totally agree about being in awe of nature! How cool is that!! I hope it's close enough that you can keep an eye on them and see them hatch. Any idea how long the gestation period is?

A few weeks back, I was sitting on the deck and looked over at a flower pot and noticed a lady bug cruising along the rim. I watched her for a minute, then looked back and noticed the little yellow things which I assumed were eggs, so I came inside and Googled and found pictures that looked just like mine. See -

I won't tell you how many of gazillions of pictures I had to take practically standing on my head to get this one shot.

We've watched them hatch and morph into lady bugs over the past few weeks. Thrilling I tell ya - thrilling!

There is nothing as awesome as nature! I would love to be able to watch the turtle eggs hatch and see the little baby turtles!

Brenda, your pictures are great! Did you get pictures of the eggs hatching?

LOL...I hope they are the bitting kind of lady bugs..

I've never seen the egg laying thing of nature..

But one thing I've seen that I've wished I would have had my camera...Was two large bucks in a field by our home that were rear up in the air fighting. They were "boxing" with their front legs and then bending their heads down to use their big racks on each other.

I've never seen anything that that before .....well....on tv , but not in real life and not by my house.

patti

For snappers, the Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife site says: 20 to 40 eggs are typically deposited...the eggs hatch after an incubation period of roughly 100 days (though it can range from 55-125 days depending on temperature and humidity).

It didn't look like what we call a "box turtle," so I'm thinking it may have been a snapper. I wanted to go back out and take a picture of her, but I was afraid of spooking her! I pass the nest on the way to the mailbox, so I'll be able to monitor it all summer. :-)

I'm so glad you all share my jubilation at such small wonders. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to witness this stuff! And it sounds like you've all seen your share of "nature in progress." (Cool pics, Brenda!)

A few years ago, we caught this...we call them a "locust" around here, but I think they are called something else other places.

{{!gwi}}

Yes, you witnessed a wonderful event in nature - congratulations! This reminds me of the day I was tending my potted plants and witnessed a Passiflora bloom unfold - took my breath away!

So cool!

Nature never ceases to totally amaze me and it's great that you were able to witness the turtle laying her eggs.

nature is amazing indeed. i'm always mesmorized by spotting something new.

i never get to see the actual egg laying, but i've sure seen enough nature activity that comes before that egg laying, if you get what i mean.

i'll be interested in hearing your progress with the turtles.

brenda, how cool to catch the lady bug in action.

maryanne

Yep, I'm another nature freak that is envious of what you got to see!

Yet another nature lover here.
What a treat, Rita.
When I was about 8 years old Dad bought a 40 acre woods across the road from our farm. I fell in love with that place. It has everything. There's an open meadow area; in the middle is a 2 acre lake; below the lake is a swampy area; the rest is oak, elm, maple woods. It's an incredibly diverse area with plenty of wildlife. As a kid I spent all my free time wandering through the woods. This wasn't always a good thing. While my friends were going to basketball games and dances and developing social skills I was becoming a cross between Grizzly Adams and Euell Gibbons. Dad still owns the 40 and I still live right across the road from it. On a really, really good day I still have time to wander through the woods.

Ron

Nature in its splendor pictures! Love them!
Would love to experience turtles laying eggs and hatching!

We've began naming critters that we see routinely. We have a Lizard that sits on our fern pot every evening and hunts for bugs in the flower bed. We call him Lloyd. He doesn't come out of the fern until we have been out there for a while. He is in the same place every evening. I kind of think he knows after we show up we will water the plants, maybe he is looking for a drink. LOL! Then there is Lucy Lizard that lives in what we call "the Highrise", its a decaying limb on the tree. She comes down once in a while.

A big Brown Lizard lives on the Front Planter, we call him T Rex.

The Squirrel that likes to tease the dogs is Sneaky Sidney.

Can you tell we are retired?

Gayle

((Ron)) You sound a lot like my DB was as a kid!