Celebrating the ordinary
I was shocked recently to look out the kitchen window and see a tall (4+ ft.?) Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in our backyard! Moving very, very slowly, it gradually made its way toward our water feature.
Continue reading “A BIG backyard bird! And a mystery solved?”
It was extra special last week to see a bright splash of blue in the backyard and to realize it was a male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). It’s a new member of our backyard bird list that we’ve kept since replanting the backyard with native plants in 2006. We’re now up to 66 different species.
I had a few butterfly chrysalises from last fall and kept them in the garage all winter. This week I decided it was time to put them outdoors. The next morning, about 10 a.m, I noticed a black swallowtail butterfly had just emerged! The yellow dots indicate it’s a male.
Springtime includes many surprises, and a newly emerged butterfly is certainly one of them. I look forward to seeing what other discoveries this season holds.
Yes, I think it’s ‘cute’. I first saw it about a week ago on the back of a dining room chair and again today on our kitchen cabinet. It’s a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) and is quite small (about ½ inch). According to Wikipedia, they are common throughout the Northern hemisphere and are often found near humans – in dwellings or gardens.
We’ve had a snowy weekend in the Bluegrass with about 10 inches of ‘white stuff,’ and it’s been good to stay indoors and enjoy our backyard birds. It’s got to be a challenging time for these small feathered creatures, considering the cold temperatures and difficulty finding food. We do what we can to help by providing water, safflower, sunflower, millet seeds, and suet.
Brilliant male cardinals are especially showy against the white snow. White-throated sparrows aren’t as striking, but are always welcome winter residents.
We see a wide variety of birds and enjoy all of them. The water and food we provide seem small payment for the winter entertainment we receive.
