July 4, 2008
The queen Anne's lace is in bloom on the mountain this week and looks great alongside the rose bushes. Also in bloom are the mimosa trees and milkweed plants. Milkweed is good because certain butterflies feed only on milkweed and cannot survive where there is none. Also blooming this week - new life - a fledgling sparrow was seen recently, as well as a fuzzy immature red-bellied woodpecker and some baby praying mantids (yeah, I know, they used to call them praying mantis'.)Backyard tip of the week: Look for the red, white and blue in your backyard this Independence Day weekend. Some of the red birds you'll find include cardinals, woodpeckers, finches, and the brilliant scarlet tanager. If you live near water, look for white birds like egrets, swans, ring-billed gulls (those are the ones that are usually called seagulls) and you may even see the white morph variety of the great blue heron. And, finally, looking for birds that are blue, you may find the previously mentioned great blue heron, blue jays, bluebirds, and the rare, but very beautiful indigo bunting (who has appeared in the backyard in years past, but not yet this year.)
Backyard sightings for last week: Including northern cardinals, American robins, northern flickers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, bluebirds and catbirds. Chipping sparrows and white-crowned sparrows, Carolina wrens and house wrens, eastern goldfinches and house finches. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches and a ruby-throated hummingbird. The tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, American crows, a couple of grey squirrels, a red squirrel, a mostly white skunk, some bunnies, and a doe. Also, European starlings, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, chipmunks, butterflies, and a yard filled with what must have been a million fireflies!
Cool sighting of the week: A couple of cool sightings... a catbird was seen crossing the driveway way down low, close to the flight deck. It made me think of the movie Top Gun. Then, on Tuesday evening while enjoying the sunset against the blooming mimosa tree, I noticed something very small darting quickly between the flowers. Upon closer examination I realized that the ruby throated hummingbird had returned for the summer. It was very cool!
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