Yow!  I nearly missed it!  Sunday was International Rock Flipping Day (IRFD) and I almost forgot.  If I didn’t to flip a rock Pittsburgh, PA would go uncounted.

I raced to my backyard, flipped the rock that props up my bird bath, and snapped away with my cellphone camera.  Here are the before and after results.

You’re right.  There is nothing of interest is under that rock.  At least nothing I was able to photograph.  I did see a centipede run away, but that was before my cellphone camera had time to respond.

Undaunted by this lack of success I looked for another likely rock to flip and found the next best thing:  an upside down birdbath I haven’t used in a long time.  I flipped the defunct birdbath with better results, indicated below by the red arrow.

Here’s a closer look at the spider web built at the crook of the tree roots:

Conclusion?  ‘Tis better to flip the old birdbath than the rock that holds up the new one. 

Click here to read more about IRFD (organized by Wanderin’ Weeta) and the news from rock-flippers around the world… or click the links below to read the participating blogs.

• Lynda at mainlymongoose in South Africa
• Kordite in the Flickr group from (surprise!) Pittsburgh
• Bill Murphy at Fertanish Chatter
• Malia at The Shell and Mantle in New York City
• Rebecca In The Woods on Jekyll Island, Georgia
• Dave Bonta from Plummer’s Hollow, Pennsylvania, on Via Negativa. Here and here and on Flickr.
• Paul, The Obligate Scientist
• Wanderin’ Weeta from Delta, British Columbia, Canada. Here and on Flickr. Plus one to be posted soon.
• Ontario Wanderer on Flickr
• JayLeigh in Pacific Northwest Nature for Families
• Fred Schueler in Nova Scotia: a Google document, copied here.
• Rikaja in Slovakia
• Bev Wigney at Journey to the Centre, a Canadian traveling in the U.S.
• Hugh, at Rock, Paper, Lizard in Richmond, BC.

(photos by Kate St. John)