There seem to be too many plants and animals for me to memorize and learn.  I lack knowledge of entire groups of organisms – from what they are, to their ecological roles.  I won’t even mention organisms in Domains, such as Eubacteria (although I just mentioned it…), but insects and plants are phenomenally diverse, even in Ohio, and I am overwhelmed with it… I need more time – well, that, and a bit of patience to actually look at the insects and plants.  Little by little, I’m getting it, but in the mean time, I watch butterflies mate.

95 degrees is both hot for me and hot for this tiger-heron.  The heron sat, perched and panting on a log for several minutes, seemingly too hot to fly off.

The Black-Necked Stilts have come to the wetland by the OET Palo Verde station.

The hatchlings are pouring out from the mountains towards the wetland.  I’ve seen several more than these three, but these were the only ones I took photographs of, and, unfortunately, my camera lens was a bit foggy.  Although it’s absolutely awesome to see these turtles, it makes me miss mine quite a bit.

Is this a Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria?

A new family of lizard for me, gymnophthalmids are known as specticled lizards because of the presence of a transparent eyelid. They are small lizards, and, according to Wikipedia, are also known as Microteiids because they are related to the Teiidae. There are also lots of Teiidae (whiptail) here in Palo Verde, mostly Amieva undulata and A. quadrilineata. This individual had a missing forelimb, which you can see in the picture on the right.

These dragonflies are everywhere, and their eyes are very reflective, like a mirror.  How does one tell dragonfly families apart as adults, as in Libellulidae and Aeshnidae?  I can do so with the larva, and have seen exhuvia of both families, but I’ve never had any practice with adults.

I’ve seen a lot of these, but haven’t taken many photographs yet.  There is a pair that hang out around the station and make a lot of noise when I or another animal approaches them.