This and that

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! The Hocking County region's Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist classes will be coming to an end in 2 short weeks. I have learned so much over the last month that I can hardly believe it. All of our instructors have been so knowledgeable and passionate about nature, they have made the learning process easy and fun. This coming week we will be focusing on interpretive techniques, which will be very important for us as we prepare to start volunteering and sharing our knowledge with others.

In addition to great instructors, our classes have been at some great locations. This past weekend we talked about forest ecology at Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve, Fairfield County, Ohio.



What a view, eh? We had to climb quite a steep hill to get to this vista, but it was certainly worth it.



Ack, everyone is writing down what he's saying, so it must be important. Maybe I should put down the camera and take notes!



Look at all those wooded hills. This is a good example of why southeast Ohio is sometimes referred to as the foothills of Appalachia.

Overall I haven't been out taking too many photographs lately, but I was able to spend some time out today just walking around and seeing what I could see. In addition to some nice flowers (which I will share in a later post), I saw some bugs. As you can imagine, one doesn't have to look far to see bugs at this time of year. In fact, this harvestman was on the leaf of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit next to our driveway:



I interrupted him (or her) while he was dining on this fly:



I also came across this most intriguing bug, which I assume to be some sort of beetle, but I can't identify it:



I love its coloring... almost like it's camouflaged to match the colors of the back of this daisy. If anyone out there can offer up an ID, I would appreciate it.UPDATE: My thanks to reader Joy K who found this handsome bug on bugguide.net, identifying it as a Tarnished Plant Bug.  Great find, Joy - thanks!  Now I'm off to learn more about it!
Until next time.

The real star of the show

Oh my, just so many photos to share, so many cool things to show you. But how do I get to them all before they are "out of season"? I probably have enough spring wildflower photos to get us into December! And now the summer wildflowers are starting to come out...

Anyway, one thing at a time, I suppose. A while back I took some photos of a favored spring wildflower, Two-flowered Cynthia (don't ask me where the name comes from).

Eventually, movement caught my eye, and my focus shifted...

... my attention now on the real star of the show.

Not terribly disturbed by my presence, this long-antennaed friend made its way all around the flower.

Let's get a closer look at our specimen...

Checking out things below

Look at that foot!

Can bugs play peek-a-boo?

I think so!

Workin' the macro

I wouldn't call myself much of a bug fan. I like butterflies because they're pretty and delicate, but most other bugs gross me out just a little bit. My perceptions may change, though, thanks to my new close-up filters. I've captured some interesting creatures. Can anyone identify any of these?