There have been a couple of mallard ducks hanging around the pond. I don't think they nested there, probably too much traffic for that.
The male got a little nervous if I got too close.
The dramatic sky made for some good reflections around the water lilies.
There are always interesting flowers around.
Seek suggests this is a magnolia.
There are less hibiscus this year, but more bougainvillea. I like them both. Of course, small bougainvillea bushes in pots isn't quite the huge masses of them like in Mexico.
And lilies and irises, of course.
And a zillion water striders skating around on the pond. This is the most abundant I've seen them. On the other hand, I haven't been seeing any fishing spiders for some reason.
I've also been looking for crab spiders in the flowers. I was heading back to my office and I glanced at the roses by the door, thinking of the ones my parents had beside the house when I was a kid. I noticed a bumblebee on a flower. Except it wasn't moving. That caught my attention - bees seldom stop moving. I looked closer and sure enough it had been caught by a crab spider. The spider itself was mostly hidden. It always amazes me how a relatively small spider can kill much larger prey.
See all 19 photos in this album.
To learn more about the nature around you, try Nature Companion, the website/app my sister Penny and I developed.
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