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July was hot, thankfully not as hot as the end of June but hot enough. We also had a reasonable amount of rain, so foliage grew abundantly.
I found a large female Snapping Turtle returning to the farm pond after laying eggs. Deer were busy raising their fawns. Purple Matins
were flocking to ready themselves for fall migration. Perhaps a hundred adults and juveniles visited the farm. I did not see any species
new to me, but saw many old friends, such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I visited the ripening Elderberry bushes often to find feeding birds.
Some beautifully colored House Finches visited also.
Spiders and insects were ubiquitous. I found a new-to-me species of spider, the Star-bellied Orb Weaver. I also saw a shed spider skin,
reminding me that many other creatures besides snakes molt and shed their skins. I photographed several species of Leafhoppers, including two which
are reported to be able to eject jets of excretion, the Broad-headed Sharpshooter (Oncometopia orbona) and the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
(Homalodisca vitripennis).
At Lake Greenwood, I found Mallard Ducks eating aquatic snails by swallowing the shell. At home I had another run-in with a local Raccoon.
Finding my hummingbird feeders drained overnight and sometimes on the ground, I set up my trail camera and caught the theft in the act.
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