I love when I stumble upon these. Yellow garden spiders may look threatening, but they are harmless and not aggressive towards humans. They can bite humans but will only do so if threatened (handled, stepped on, sat on, etc.) Females are the large, colorful ones we see in gardens and fields. Males are smaller and nondescript. They are native to the U.S. and are beneficial to our landscape, if not intimidating-looking.

I know it’s not fall officially until Tuesday, but this scene certainly makes me think of fall.

I didn’t see the culprits, but I know damn well it was raccoons. The locking handle was engaged and everything. Those bast… animals are smart and persistent.

As promised, here are a few more shots of birds near my salvia blooms. Click here for the original post if you missed it.

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I was checking milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars and came across this instead. I’ll take it. I’ve seen a lot of Facebook posts lately featuring praying mantises. I guess it was my turn.

The best part of this iPhone photo — aside from showing a pollinator at work — is that the sunflower is a ‘volunteer’ from spilled birdseed. I have a few of them this year.

This dainty-looking lady is the queen of my backyard — just ask the other hummingbirds that dare get too close to “her” feeder.

Like many New Englanders, I’ve been out of power since Tuesday afternoon. Based on the condition of my neighborhood, it may be a while until I’m back online. What a mess. So, with limited resources, here’s an extra photo from my recent trip up north. It was taken with my iPhone and I’m posting this with my iPhone.