As we started on our morning walk about, Darla and Guy pointed something out in the old oak at the corner...

What the heck? Never noticed this before....

Some kind of funky fungi on an old cut..
with a cicada's discarded exoskeleton on it.

Further on, I bent over to pull up a sprouting piece of privet hedge
and noticed these bright berries hiding behind some leaves. I've since found out they are called "Beauty Berries" ... and they are!

And a bit more, around the pampas grass, there were several teeny tiny butterflies, too. An interesting morning for a backyard walk. :-)