I took a hike to Kaskaskia canyon again today, and found several Green Frogs resting on several logs in the water.  This one in particular, stood out as it was perched on a knot of a log just off the edge of land.  I was able to kneel down on an adjacent log and get within inches of it to capture this nice picture.  Once I got in several shots, my kids were begging me to grab it for a closer look.  And although I was able to get within inches with my camera, as soon as my hand got that close, it jumped into the safety of the water.

I went out today and checked on the Spicebush caterpillars today.  They are getting bigger and turning into a pretty green and yellow.  The fake eyespot is very distinct now which make them look even goofier.  There are only a few of the caterpillars compared to the couple dozen eggs that the butterly laid.  I hope the few left will survive so I can continue to watch them transform.

The spicebush caterpillars are getting quite big these days.  With their body looking like they have a big head and eyes they defineatly have a comical look to them.  I look forward to keeping  a watch out for them to change into their next color phase of green and yellow.

Today I went out to check on the Swallowtail eggs and was happy to see they had hatched. Being so small, I can’t see too much detail, but hopefully as they get bigger their very destictive characteristics will become visable. 

I purchased four spicebushes for the prairie and set them out, still in their buckets, to make sure I had them placed in a good spot.  I was sitting on my front porch enjoying my prairie, when i noticed a beautiful Spicebush Swallowtail.  It would repeatedly land on one of the bushes, then fly in a circle, and land on another bush.  Intrigued with curiosity, I later went out to check to see if I could find any evidence of what it was doing.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find small white eggs underneath several leaves.  I was very impressed with the effectiveness of these bushes, for they had been in my prairie for less than 24 hours.