 I enjoy watching the dragonflies at our garden pond. They make such quick, seemingly random flights. Zoom here, zoom there, could the drygonfly possibly put any conscious thought into where they are heading? Maybe, they always get there. |  The portulaca above is holding up well in the heat. |
THE TREE THAT ATE A STREET SIGN ! As we were walking in the woods recently we came across this large tree which has swallowed a sign. It is especially odd in that the tree is in the middle of the woods, no streets or buildings anywhere near. |  |
Man's heart away from nature becomes hard. ~ Standing Bear
 | Marilyn found this clump of wild Phlox while we were hikeing through the woods on April 16, 2010.  |
Rocky Raccoon + Pookie the Possum = Double Trouble
We finally decided to do something about the pests in the backyard. We trapped them and removed them from the property. See their passport photos below. Raccoons have destroyed the mourning dove nests, several sparrow nests, knocked over things on the back porch, left “deposits” for us around the property, turned our attic into their condo, and been all-round pests. But the final straw was when they destroyed the baby chickadees in a nest box near our pine tree. In the last couple of weeks we have trapped three raccoons and one possum. We also trapped the same neighborhood cat twice. Caught the same cat two nights in a row, don’t tell me cats are smart. Stay tuned to find out what else we might catch. - Rick
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This Mockingbird comes to the sunroom window when he sees us in there so he can get his peanutbutter treat. |  |
Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Miss Maudie Atkinson to Scout, Chapter 10.
Restocking the Goldfish Pond.
On April 2, 2010 we had to restock our Goldfish Pond. We put in three dozen Goldfish and one dozen Rosy Red Minnows. The new fish took the place of fifteen much larger goldfish which were eaten by a Great Blue Heron a week earlier. Marilyn discovered the Heron at the pond one morning and scared it away, but it was too late. The fish we had for many years were gone, food for a hungry Heron. (Update: we did find several days later that a few of the original large goldfish were still present in the pond, they were in hideing!)
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Play video of the goldfish in our backyard pond.
Every Summer the fish have several frogs drop by to visit. |
We have had so many different kinds of woodpeckers at our suet feeder! Our favorites are the pileated woodpeckers, but recently we saw our first Redheaded woodpecker in the yard. We keep watching, hopeing to see it again.  ABOVE : OUR FAVORITE BIRD, THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. We are so fortunate to have seen a Piliated at our suet feeder. We haven't seen one at the feeder for a long time, but we still hold out hope to see one again. *** UPDATE - We saw the Pileated Woodpecker again at our feeder on Feb. 21, 2010. The first time in a couple of years. We'll keep a lookout.
BELOW: A REDBELLIED WOODPECKER EATS FROM OUR UP-SIDE-DOWN SUET FEEDER. FEEDING THEM IN THIS MANNER HELPS DISCOURAGE LESS DESIREABLE BIRDS, SUCH AS STARLINGS, FROM EATING THE SUET. SOME STARLINGS DO EVENTUALLY LEARN HOW TO LAND UP-SIDE-DOWN.  "The turtle makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." - James B. Conant |  THE ABOVE LOG CABIN IS 1 1/2 MILES FROM OUR HOUSE. THE CHIMNEY IS MADE OF FLAT STONES WITHOUT MORTER. AT TIMES YOU CAN SEE A BLACK RAT SNAKE PEEKING OUT FROM THE STONES.
"Try to be like the turtle -- at ease in your own shell." Bill Copeland
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Notice the Cracked Turtle Shell. ---> At right is a close-up of the damaged section of the shell of a turtle. Above that photo is the original photo, the crack in the shell can be seen in that photo also. The turtles were photographed in a pond 1/4 mile from our house. |  |
 From our sunroom we enjoy viewing the gardens and watching the birds. |
It's fun to have your yard designated as a BACKYARD WILDLIFE HABITAT. It's easy to do, all you need is water, food, shelter, and a place for wildlife to raise young. We were certified many years ago. Check with the National Wildlife Federation.
THE BULLFROG AT THE RIGHT SHOWED UP AT OUR GOLDFISH POND IN THE SPRING AND STAYED ALL SUMMER. | 
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 This Robin landed in front of me as I was walking. I watched him for a while as he gathered muddy pieces of dead plant material to build a nest. In the photo at right you can see the bird has a beakfull of nesting material. |
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Below: I am standing next to our blooming Wisteria in the backyard. Wisteria is a vigorous and invasive vine which is hard to keep in check. It will quickly climb up anything it touches. Even though it is a lot of work to control we think it is well worth it when we see it blooming each spring.
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 | Marilyn looks out of the bird blind that we sometimes visit in a nearby woods. We have seen a lot of interesting sights at the blind, but on this day all we saw was a squirrel. |
Someone sent me this photo of an albino peacock. I thought it was cool! |  |
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