Those things go together, right? Well, they did this weekend.
Lucky me to discover this Gray Tree Frog hiding out in the day lilies. They are small, can take on the color of the substrate they’re on, and are only noticed if you are looking closely. Every time I find one in the garden it’s like finding a jewel buried in the sand.
I am assuming that not everyone will be as thrilled as I was to find a nest of baby spiders on a bud of my lipstick plants. But I was. I first thought it was a tent caterpillar nest, whose machete-like mouths can strip a plant of leaves in a day. I went to clear it off and when I touched the web the babies streamed out of the egg case. Three days later they were all gone. I wish them well.
The best part of the weekend was the Cedar Stone Farm sheepdog trial last weekend. I’m not sure how it could have been more lovely. Perfect weather, gorgeous site, gracious hosts, wonderful people chipping in as volunteers to make it all work. And lots and lots of great dogs. What a treat to look at scenes like this all day:
Maggie and I had some really good runs. She got 5th on Friday, although her score wasn’t all that high because she went all wonky on me on the second drive panel. (I was told that there were lots of echoes in that area, that whistles bounced around up to four times each. That fits with her behavior–she literally stopped and looked at me like ??What??? But she recovered and got the sheep to the lip of the pen, and it was a really nice run otherwise.
Her next run was her best ever. She got 47/50 on the first part, and we finally did a smooth drive all the way around. Our nemesis–time–got the better of us though, because we ran out of time just before getting our drive points. (You have to finish all three legs of a drive to get any points at all. Argh.) Running out of time was all on me, I have to learn to keep the sheep on a straight line without ever stopping Maggie. When she stops, the sheep slow down and then she has to ‘pick them up’ again, and that takes too much time. Most dogs need to be stopped and slowed down much of the time; Maggie is the opposite. But I’m not fast-thinking enough to steer her yet without slowing things down. Fast thinking has never been my strong suit (ah, the joys of writing when I can mull and reconsider…), so that’s my number one priority before the next trial. But I was thrilled with her run. It’s more fun than I can express when it all goes smoothly and you, the dog and the sheep are all in perfect sync.
Speaking of going well, here’s Gordon Watt showing us all how it’s done during a practically perfect run with his dog (and Reserve National Champion) Storm. Their job is to split the four sheep into groups of two, and hold one group off of the other. Look at Storm’s commitment to pushing the sheep away. Inspiring.
I hope part of your weekend was inspiring too. Did you discover any magical creatures out of doors lately? Tree frogs? Baby spiders? Unicorns?
Debbie Schoene says
Thank you for giving a name to the two tiny green jewels I recently found on my lilies and coleus–gray tree fog. But I think “gray” is mis-applied as these creatures are certainly not as dull as that color conjures! So much learning from this blog and not just about dogs…. 😉
Wren Ingram says
Thank you for a wonderful blog! I so enjoy reading you AND admiring your wonderful photos- the frog is adorable and I am a huge spider fan so thanks for the baby picture 🙂 I raised Merino, Cheviot and Suffolk sheep as I was growing up so learning about the coordination and work that’s involved in these drives is truly inspiring- my work with my sheep would have been much easier with help from Maggie, et al! The only magical creature that discovered ME is a bird that enjoys bopping in and out of my dogs outside water bowl- it looks like a crow but ISN’T one since it has white stripes on its wings and tail so I’m unsure of what kind of bird it is although it’s fun to watch it! Thank you again for sharing your life.
Marie Gruber says
Lovely tree frog. We met an alligator head on while on our walk. Fortunately Isaw it by the side walk before we got too close. Interesting … Carmen, my red standard poodle, ever on alert, sensed something wrong when we left the house. She wouldn’t move. Her usual fast pace turned to a very slow walk, I’ll never second guess her again. Her nose was sniffing the air a mile a minute when we stepped out side.
Thank you for sharing your photos and herding experiences, spiders and frogs! Such fun and an education reading your blog.
Margo says
Wonderful, thank you Patricia! How uplifting to read your blog with my morning coffee.
Could Wren’s crow-like bird be a magpie maybe? (I’m not sure where they live…)
My magical animals lately are the hilarious chipmunks who live all around my place now because my barn cats are old and inside, and also the barn swallows who have produced 2 batches of babies so far this summer. The latest ones (5!) are now having “sky” flying lessons, having graduated from “barn” flying lessons, and in the afternoon I watch them soaring around chirping with such excitement… so much fun! This a.m. in the barn, 4 were sitting on a rafter waiting to be fed, but one kept zipping around the barn, chirping like he/she was yelling “LOOK AT ME!!! I’m practicing!!!”
I do see teeny frogs around here, but they don’t look like your frog, Patricia. Mine are funny little ones, that climb on the windows at night… I have to be careful shutting windows so that I don’t squish them.
I also like spiders, from a bit of a distance! The babies are so cool. Makes one think of Charlotte’s Web, of course!
Paula Franklin says
Ha ha!! I thought I was the only person on earth to be excited by baby spiders. Thanks o such. Your blogs always brighten up my day.
Trisha says
I agree that “Gray Tree Frog” doesn’t do them justice. Apparently some forms are gray, and they can change color quite readily, but the ones at the farm always seem to be this glorious Irish green color.
More baby spider lovers? Be still my heart!
I like Margo’s guess about the crow-like bird being a Magpie. We don’t have them out here, but they are relatively common out west I believe, especially the black-billed. And Margo, I’m dying to see a photo of your little frogs! A kind of tree frog I’m guessing… send a photo to info@patriciamcconnell.com if you can get one!
Last, to Marie’s wise poodle: Keep up the alligator alert–maybe your mom could rent you out in Florida?
Gayla says
Margo, I grew up where there were chipmunks, but have spent my entire adult life in Hawaii. When friends ask what I’d like from the mainland, I always ask for (but never get) a chipmunk… They’re such adorable, delightful, little creatures!
Love the photos, Patricia. And I hope you and Maggie’s progress is as much fun, for you both, as I imagine it to be. I have too many friends that are excelling in their goals, but can’t see how much they are ‘killing the joy’ in the process.
Trisha says
We are having fun Gayla! I couldn’t agree more about deciding what’s important. I would love to do well in trialing, but what’s most important is that we both enjoy it. I stopped trialing with Willie because I thought he wasn’t enjoying it, although he loves working at home on the farm. Maggie seems equally thrilled about working anywhere, even if it doesn’t go well. A lesson for us all!
Jann Becker says
Your little frog is so cute! We have a bird feeder with a brisk traffic in (St. Louis) Cardinals, the actual birds. Now the parents are trying to get the young’uns to take seeds themselves, i.e. not expect to be waited on. You see Dad showing Baby that all she has to do is reach down and pick up the seed…yes, you do have to fly to the perch first…you can do this…
Luckily the dogs think the birds aren’t very interesting, sort of like leaves. Dooley is now 9 months old and bigger than the squirrels; I’ve tried to explain the Ancient Enmity between Squirrel and Dog but he just wants to play!
Are the sheep in the trials actually frightened by the dogs? They look to me like, “Okay. Whatever.”
LisaW says
We’ve had a crazy bird summer. First there was the head banging cardinal on the front window. Thunk, thunk, thunk, it was a terrible rhythm all day and into the evening. I hung sheets inside, outside, twirling baskets, mobiles, cardboard, nothing worked. Then we had the idea of moving the screen from the bottom to the top of the window, and voila, no more head banging. (A month later, the painters moved the screen down when they were working on that side of the house, and in less than 10 minutes, that head-banger was back!)
Then we had a robin who insisted on building a nest in a 2″ ledge on our back porch. She’d fly in a few muddy pieces of hay, and we’d take them down. Fly in, take down. This went on for days. She won when we had to leave for a few days and didn’t have the heart to take the fully built nest down when we returned. She did have one brood but then decided it was a little too cramped in there.
The chickadees were not to be outdone. They made an upside-down nest in an old woodpecker hole in our split rail fence. We didn’t even know until one flew out of the underside of the railing. Upside down but really hidden.
Finally, the downy woodpecker that made 2″ diameter holes in our fascias last year was back for a last hoorah. He was on top of our chimney cap pecking at a screw in the corner of the cap that made the most resounding noise you ever heard. If that didn’t get him a mate, I don’t know what would.
The natural world is quite cacophonous!
HFR says
Lately, my wildlife experience has been with coyotes. There have always been sightings around where I live (the woodsy suburbs), but I have never seen one myself until just recently. The first time was on an off-leash walk with my dogs. I saw a rabbit up ahead, so I quickly put them on leash because I didn’t want them to commit another homicide. Suddenly from the side of the trail comes a coyote (which are bigger than I thought they would be). He stops and I stop and we look at each other. We were probably about 10 yards away from each other. I turn around slowly and walk away, when I turn back, its following me. Head down, ears up. I quickly make a turn off the trail and hightailed it back to the trail head. Fortunately it happened too fast for my dogs to realize what was going on. I later read up on what I should have done. The exact opposite. I’m supposed to make noise and shout and stand tall. Do not retreat as they take that as capitulation to their territory and will chase.
The next time, I was walking with dogs off leash and one of them ran off the trail barking his head off. Out comes a coyote running away from my dog (who’s a retriever-sized dog). Phew. I want us all to live together peacefully, but it’s always so surprising and scary to run into an animal that you know could harm you or your dogs. From what I understand, coyotes are non-confrontational, unless they have pups. Other than coyotes, there was a possum that literally played dead when confronted by my dog. I thought it WAS dead, until I returned and saw it sitting up and watched it run away. Very interesting way to survive.
Congrats on your progress with Maggie. You should be proud!
Margo Harris says
I will try to get a picture of the teeny frogs! They seem to have little velcro feet, the way they zap onto the window and stick there.
And, too bad I can’t send you a chipmunk or 20, Gayla… they sure are super cute! I love them because they seem so peaceful, and don’t squabble with each other much, just kind of bounce around doin’ their thing. One IS excavating under our front steps which are slowly sinking down…down……
but who needs front steps anyway, we mostly use our back steps! (which are also chipmunk-occupied but not excavated, yet.)
I would love to learn how to carve, and then carve and paint a tiny wooden chipmunk, that would be so neat. I only have 2 dogs (down from 5, over the past few years), 2 horses (ditto), and 2 cats now, so I must be a lady of leisure now with time to learn a new skill!
Diane Kulak says
Hmmm…I’ll have to look for those frogs. I’ll have to find my glasses first.
Chris from Boise says
Count me in as another baby spider lover! Wish we had grey tree frogs out here, but the Idaho desert is not compatible with most amphibians. Our magical creatures this summer are bees of all sizes and varieties on our herd of sunflowers. Tiny iridescent green solitary bees are exquisite, and we’re pleased to host several kinds of bumblebees.
We’re experimenting with planting lettuce and carrots together in mid-summer; the lettuce germinates first and shelters the slower-germinating carrots from our desiccating summer sun. Once the carrots start to sprout, you have to get out there with a pair of scissors and thin the lettuce (the other benefit – great summer salads!). Recently I have found both small green caterpillars munching the baby lettuce, and paper wasps wading through the lettuce jungle hunting for said caterpillars. We have always let paper wasp nests be (they’re the little open-air nests, not the basketball-sized enclosed nests of the much more territorial bald-faced hornets) because they’re such good garden helpers.
Loving these trialing reports!
Speaking of unicorns, one was spotted at our Tour de Fat (Tire Ale) bike parade last weekend. All the costumes on the thousand-plus bikes were fun.
Diane Mattson says
And another spider lover here. At our last home, we would get a spider on our window every year. Just like in Charlotte ‘s Web, she would have her babies, that would be everywhere, but one would stay, and take over window spot. We’d watch her grow all summer. Unfortunately, one year a bird swooped right up, and snatched away our spider. We had an empty window after that, which was kind of sad.
Love your frog picture too , as I am also a big frog lover.