Mother Nature pays a visit to Squirrel Queen

When your small swimming pool becomes a haven for tadpoles, you know things have gotten just a bit out of hand. That was the case with my nieces' pool. A lovely shade of green with black future frogs flitting around in what I'm now referring to as Walden's pond.
I snapped a couple of pics of the little swimmers lurking under a huge tree limb, a.k.a. log, that's floating in there this afternoon, but the lighting didn't help me out much.
The evening cacophony coming from the newest pond in town is amazing. Croaks and chirps abound. Last night I grabbed a flashlight when I took the dogs out for an evening sabbatical and spotted several froggies a courtin' on the inflatable ring at the top of the pool.
Then tonight, Newscoma's arachnaphobia kicked in as she nearly walked into a good-sized spider spinning its web for the evening just before sundown. It was then I figured I'd continue my nature-themed photo run with some shots of said spider prepping for an evening's meal of moths and insects.
Later I was taking my niece out to look for early frogs in the "pond" when we came across the monster beetle squiring its way across the deck. That thing is gi-normous. I recscued it out of a bucket of water a couple of weeks ago. If not that one, then its first cousin. The thing is at least a couple of inches long.
Next freak I spotted was the slug. For some reason these things fascinate me. At another place I lived, we had some whoppers in the backyard. Python sized, I'm telling you. This one was just a wee little slimy thing despite its enourmous appearance in the pic.
Finally I got a gander of another web and its host.
I was like Marlin Perkins out there with my own little Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom episode tonight.
For those of you who remember the show, here's a little Wild Kingdom flashback for you. If you're too young to remember it, go see why TV junkies recall Marlin and Jim so fondly.
Here are the best of the nature pics I took tonight posted on my Flickr site.