I've had some similar experiences to yours, PioneerChicks! I was trying to take pictures of the little juncos in a nearby neighbor's bush, then their dogs noticed me and started barking, so the neighbors came out. I pretended to just be walking by.

I also once found a swallowtail butterfly who had frozen on the road during the night. It looked dead because its wings had been run over by a car and frozen... only its wings were messed up, though. I picked it up(I don't remember why) and when it started to warm up in my hand and start moving I took it home, and obviously named it.

It ended up living a long life without being able to fly...
much. One day I took it outside and got excited that it was flying. It ended up crashing in the neighbor's yard. I had to go tell the neighbors that a handicap butterfly had fallen in their yard... it took me like 20 mins to find it's upside down form in the grass. (It was okay, though)