Photography walk in the adjacent woods in the late afternoon. It was very hot and humid with a heat index in the upper 90s, though the shade of the forest made it tolerable, even with long sleeves and long pants for tick prevention.

Rain from the morning made the forest floor soft and made walking silently easy.

I admit to feeling a bit discouraged at first, feeling like I wouldn’t find anything. As usual, that proved to be very wrong.

Discovered dwarf raspberries- only a couple inches high with a single berry per plant. This is a new species for me.

Saw orchard orb weaver spiders three different times, all on their webs: once between bushes, once between a downed log and the ground, and once between two trees. Hard to get a good photo with my zoom lens. I almost brought my micro lens and really with I had.

Found a frog/toad sitting in the crook of a downed tree. Seek said it was a Gray Tree Frog… my first instinct was American Toad. The two look quite similar, so uncertain which is correct.

Was taking photos of a grey squirrel enjoy a nut in a tree. Started about 20 yards east, then circled around to the south for better lighting and angle. Eventually, two fawns appeared from hiding between my original position and the squirrel. They were curious and a bit flighty. I repositioned myself ahead of them and stood very still to not frighten them. They came within 10 yards before leaving.

As I emerged from the woods via the school fields, I had to wade through chin-high grass. Got a couple nice photos of a bumblebee here.

Spooked something the grass which took off- could only see the shifting of the grass as it ran away. Could be a fox given recent sightings in the area and the size it seemed to be. Sat on the hill overlooking the field beside the long grass for about 30 minutes at sunset hoping to see a fox, but didn’t. Did see a rabbit (Eastern Cottontail) and woodchuck, though.