Here are 2 events in nature among the millions of things that go on around us that way too many people are mostly unaware of - unless you actually pay attention to the little things in nature.
I was driving by "Schmitty's pond and had my window down and Whoa was I surprised at what I heard.
The Schmidt pond (Harold & Gladys) had water in it for the first time in a couple of years and toads didn't sing but boy are they singing now since the drought, at least for now, has been broken.
This is actually the beginning of the mating season where the "boy" toads are courting the "girl" toads.

April 27, 2024

Toads video
This would be a great background sound for a good ole fashioned science fiction movie.

Then on May 3rd I get a phone call from Gene Steffes - another person who pays attention to the world around him.
He said there was a baby owl on the ground near the Railroad Trestle and some dogs were barking at it.
So I drove in to take some pix, and was very glad Gene called...
Here are some pix and a very interesting defensive sound and stance the owl took, at the same time the mother made the same clicking noise in a tree across the Nishnabotna creek.

Can you turn your head 270 degrees?

May 3, 2024 baby Great Horned Owl

Owl video
I have to admit I had never heard this defensive clicking sound before from an owl.

Gene was moving to position himself so he could pick up the owl with the branch.
He wanted to help it perch up on a nearby tree, so it wouldn't be on the ground for predators to get it.

The owl was busy watching Gene as he moved away from the tree.

Mama owl was keeping an eye on us in the tree across the creek, occasionally making the same clicking sounds with her beak.

I was wearing sandals and didn't want to walk over to my car to get my telephoto lens.
So cropping out the picture will have to be good enough.

Sometimes critters in nature need a helping hand from us - if we are willing to take the time...
This little box turtle was sunning himself along the edge of 141 while was driving into Manning.
I saw something along the side of the road and as I got closer I could see it was a little turtle, so I pulled over to a side-road and ran back up the hill to save him.
It was almost comical as I was heading to get him and about 10 cars went flying by but he survived from being road-kill.

I had thought about takin my camera along to take pix of him along the road, but then after seeing cars fly by both ways, I figured I better pay attention to my own safety.
So I took him down to the Trestle Park - took some pix and then let him go along the creek bank.

Occasionally he would come out of his shell and try to claw his way out of my hand.
His claws aren't that sharp but I could definitely feel them, so I kept tapping the front of his shell so he would go back into his "house" while making a little hissing sound.

While working on this little turtle story, I remember mom one time commenting to me how I noticed so many things while driving down the road. I guess I just always pay attention to what is on the road and around it so as to not hit something.
I'm sure glad I noticed this little guy. I'm not a "turtle-ologist" but looked up box turtles on the Internet and I'm pretty sure from the descriptions that this is a "boy" turtle, and hope I don't offend the transgender turtles - sorry I couldn't resist throwing this in and really don't care if I offend someone with this comment.
Anyway aside from my boy/girl comments here are a few pix I took.

I imagine this is a turtle's worst nightmare - if they can dream.
This is the most vulnerable position they can get in and sometimes are not able to turn back over.

He kept peeking out to see if I was still there.

"About-face" he saw an opening so off to the races to get away, which reminds me about the "tortoise and the hare" story.

Left front - right rear - to keep himself in balance - similar to how we humans run with our arms opposite to our legs so we stay in balance.

Free and safe at last in the Nishnabotna Creek bank grass.