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red skimmer

A look at some of the smaller creatures of summer

By JIM NIGRO

A streak-winged red skimmer rests atop a Rose of Sharon leaf. A couple summers back my grandson Joshua and I came across a large spiderweb with three of these dragonflies wrapped up cocoon-style and set aside for a meal at a later date. Joshua wasn't real happy about that -- he likes dragonflies. Come to think of it, he likes all bugs, period!

This daddy long legs, aka "harvestman," also decided to scour the Rose of Sharon leaves for a meal.

It must have been good hunting -- this green stinkbug wasn't about to pass up a meal. 

A white tail dragonfly rests atop a riprap embankment.

The translucence of a dragonfly's gossamer-like wings is evident on this Twelve-spotted Skimmer.

The wood frog is actually not so much a creature of summer -- he just happened to show up while I was mowing the lawn. Along with the spring peeper, the wood frog is one of the first amphibians to make its presence known in the early spring when it makes its way to vernal pools to procreate.

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