Turtles!

The same day we went and caught the frog in the raindrops

(see my last post),

we caught some turtles

in

a ditch

beside the road.

I caught the back

of the largest

turtle I have EVER seen in the U.P.

Unfortunately, it popped underwater

and did not come back up so I could capture it better with my camera:

But luckily, this guy had no idea I was by him:

Usually, they feel the vibration on the ground before I can get close to them to get a shot

and they go underwater.

I had to use a zoom to get this one:

He was just hangin' out, getting some sun:

Or maybe admiring his reflection in the water:

After all, he IS pretty handsome, don't you think?:

We saw about three others that day,

but they were very spooked by any movement

or

shadows

and would plop right into the water and stay underwater

for a long, long time....

they definitely outwaited this photographer.

Steady like a turtle has its roots in good history.

They outsmarted me, and that was all I could capture that day!

More This and That from the Woods....

It's time again to take you on a journey in the Michigan woods with me.

Come and look at what we saw, shall we?

First, a lovely stream in the middle of the woods:

And look! A turtle on a log!:

And an unusual black and white mushroom:

Here is the side view of the same mushroom. I liked the lacey sides:






And then? : We saw a HUGE turtle crossing a wood's road:

I don't know the name of this wildflower. It isn't a Queen Anne's Lace, I don't think, but I loved the open look of the flowers:

And another damselfly on a blade of grass:

We rode down a road and right where water was coming out of a drainage ditch where a little river flowed, I spotted a snake~! My husband could not believe I saw it from the car window. So, we stopped the car, I climbed down the hill from the road and I swear he posed for me:

Here is a close up of that big turtle that was crossing the road. We wanted to carry him to the other side so noone would drive over him. He wasn't real happy about our assistance, but I did make him pose for a photo before we placed him on the side of the road in the grass. He quickly crawled into the woods when we put him there:

Stay tuned...we have lots more "day in the woods" pictures coming.

Because it is one of my favorite things to do...

treasure hunt for photos in the woods!