Wild Kingdom of Zoom

Not sure why we've been seeing more wild life here lately (actual animals, I mean...).

We found this great frog in our slip and slide!! The Emperor said he hadn't seen a frog here since before 1983!!

Mxyl saw a hummingbird hovering around our (finally) reblooming roses (too fast for the camera).

We've been seeing rabbits all over the place. Mxyl actually petted a wild one some time ago. (I said he could pet it if he could catch one...)

We have had a mama squirrel trying to teach a teenage squirrel how to behave. (Will you please stop somersaulting around that stick! You are driving me NUTS!!) I am sure I will find it even more hilarious in a few years.

And of course, more butterflies! Whenever I look out, I see at least one tiger swallowtail. Since Klenda discovered at least 5 swallowtail caterpillars munching on the fennel, I'm guessing they aren't all the same one!

The fennel looks like tall yellow Queen Ann's lace here and you can just see the coneflowers below it. This morning I looked out and thought I saw a tiger swallowtail on a cone flower. Oops! Wrong phylum! It was a male goldfinch, also very yellow and black!

We also saw a rare zebra swallowtail! Enchantingly lovely!

In other garden news, the hibiscus has begun to unfurl an extravagance of blooms. They remind me of tree peony blossoms.
In other gardening news: We've dug the hole for our butterfly puddle, we're almost making progress! The cukes and tomatoes are really starting to bear. :) The watermelon vines are rambling. We have bouquets of my favorite basils. On the down side: my Italian plum tree fell over in a storm and after a few months of "stake out" I have to face facts... It is just not going to miraculously grow upright again. :( It finally was bearing fruit this year!!! :( On the plus side, what other fruit could I put there?? :)