Maple Leaf

A week ago when it was raining the leaf fell from the branch above into the little well in the rock. It looked so pretty I photographed it, but didn’t blip it. A week of fine weather gradually evaporated the water and the leaf stuck. Yesterday’s photo of it lost out to the frosty clothes peg. Today I was hoping the leaf would be frosted, but if it was I missed it. This is the last opportunity to blip it because the leaf blew away this afternoon. The rock I found in the open riverbed. It would have taken many years for water to carve that depression in the hard Torlesse greywacke stone.

Praying Mantis Report.  The female I blipped two days ago built her ootheca today. I have been watching out for her each day. This morning she was climbing among the branches of her bush, but this afternoon I spotted her resting after completing her egg case. See the extra shot. Unfortunately she chose the iron post that three ootheca have vanished from. I cut back the branches that I suspected gave access to rodents and to my surprise found two more egg cases on the branch behind. I hope they will be safe. To protect today’s ootheca I made a sort of cage around the post with chicken wire. The count now is 27 new egg cases!