Lightning bugs

[checkers65477]

...came out in my back yard in full force tonight.  It was raining and I had to keep one hand over the camera so it didn't get wet.  Sorry about the zooming in part. It didn't work well, but I zoom back out pretty quickly.

Comments

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

oh, well done!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

My first YouTube video. Yay!

[avian-xj.livejournal.com]

They're beautiful (as is your backyard)! We don't have fireflies around here, but I wish we did. Like little pieces of glitter floating around.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed that Jade has them but you don't. How strange. They *are* like pieces of glitter!

[avian-xj.livejournal.com]

I asked my mom about them earlier, and got tmi about how they were around when she was a kid but there's so much urbanization these days... and so on. Even at Nick's house I haven't seen any though, and he lives pretty far out into nowhere. I'll have to check it out some more because I definitely want to see some if there are any around!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

got tmi

Moms are good for that. :)

Seems like they only come out for a short time, right at dusk.

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Wow, checkers, they're beautiful! They look like little sparks the way they blink in and out. Were those bullfrogs croaking, too?

I am also mightily impressed by your very tidy, kempt yard :D
*avoids looking at muddy, wet wasteland out the window*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Like Jade says below, they are frogs but I think they're small tree frogs, just a couple of inches long. They are amazing--they live in birdhouses and we even found one on the roof once. It was disconcerting the first time I saw one in a tree. Before I moved south I didn't know frogs lived in trees. I think this is them:
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_NC/anurans/Hylchrver/Hyl_chrver.html

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

yep, little tree frogs just like that! ours was really bright green, though.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Did you know they change color as camouflage? I did not know that. I've seen the little lizards do that, but not the frogs.

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Thanks, chex :D They're so cute with their grey camoflage.
I love frogs, but we have very few over here and they're pretty darn rare.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

oh my goodness I forget there are places in this world where fireflies do not come out in the summertime. I always make an effort to go outside at night and catch at least one for a little while before letting it go again.

also, beautiful yard! and hydrangeas! and yay frogs. Earlier We had a little tree frog who spent the day time hunkered down by the plants and spent his nights hanging out under our porch light eating potato bugs. It was AWESOME.

this whole video felt very homey. I think I shall save it for bouts of homesickness in the future. :-)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it made you think of home! Every year I make sure I catch a few lightning bugs, too. Something about them just makes you *want* to.

The frogs are so cool. When the house was first built they were everywhere, to the point of when you walked through the yard you were kicking them and afraid of stepping on them. Now there aren't as many, but I sure do hear them at dusk.

[tencups-i-swear.livejournal.com]

They're so pretty!
Sparkly!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

They really are beautiful. Bugs and I usually stay far away from one another, but lightning bugs and I are friends.

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

YAAAY! They're like little sparkles in the air!!!

*adds lightening bugs to list of things to see in real life*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Come to see me! I'll hook you up with teh fireflies.

[hebe0.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, how wonderful. Thanks!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I went outside for something else entirely and there they were.

[appellations.livejournal.com]

ooh pretty!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Sparkly!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, you did a wonderful job! I love your yard. It's definitely my style. Would you like to do mine? I have yard, then woods, same type of thing.

I hope this means we will get our lightning bugs soon now. It is still dismal here in that department. Then again, today was barely 60 degrees and just blah. Maybe soon we will have summer?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I can't take too much credit for the yard. I planted the flowers. mr. checkers does most of the rest. I like to sit on the screened-in porch and watch while he works. It does look nice right now because of all the rain we've had. Soon it will be parched and the grass crunchy.

It's been a cool spring for us, too. 97 tomorrow, though!

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I like to sit on the screened-in porch and watch while he works.

*repeats to self* I will be on my best behavior, I will be on my best behavior...

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Jade, you are a bad girl. :)

[kulai-raito.livejournal.com]

cool didn't know u had a forest for a back yard. You should try to catch one! though i never get how ppl catch them so easily..

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

What's funny is that we don't even own that part of our yard. It stops at the grass. But it's my favorite part of the yard.

They're super easy to catch! They practically fly into your hand and like to sit on your hand for a minute or so. They swirl their antennae around then take off. You can even catch the same one over and over; they don't mind one bit. At least...I think they don't.

I would have caught one as a demonstration but I was working hard to keep the camera dry. It belongs to my school. :)

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

...they look just like I imagined they would! so pretty and glitterish and... dude, they're bugs that light up!!

WHY AREN'T THERE LIGHTNING BUGS IN WASHINGTON WHY OH WHY

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

dude, they're bugs that light up!!

It's kind of weird, when you think about it.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

...I know