Category: Attracting Wildlife
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Eggs in the Yard
Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional. ~Liz Vassey While sitting out in the yard last week, we noticed a butterfly flitting around a few plants at the edge of the woods, a flight pattern that usually indicates it is a female looking for a place to lay an egg. The butterfly was Read more…
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Three Cat Day
Nature is to be found in her entirety nowhere more than in her smallest creatures. ~Pliny the Elder (Roman scholar) When visiting Yellowstone, it is a great thing when you have a “three dog day”. That refers to a day where you are lucky enough to see the three primary species of canids found in Read more…
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Busy Bluebirds
The bluebird is one of the most familiar tenants of the farm and dooryard. For rent the bird pays amply by destroying insects, and takes no toll from the farms crop. ~USDA Farmers Bulletin #513, 1913 I mentioned in an earlier post that I am trying to provide some video clips of what birds are Read more…
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Moth Royalty
In the jungle, during one night in each month, the moths did not come to the lanterns; through the black reaches of the outer night, so it was said, they flew toward the full moon. ~ Peter Matthiessen Lucky for me, that wasn’t the case this past weekend, even though an almost full moon shone Read more…
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Mountain Mothing
It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning. ~ Vincent van Gogh If Van Gogh is correct, then I am ripe and have found deeper meaning, at least as far as mothing is concerned. On the final night of National Moth Week, 2015, I set Read more…
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Mothing
I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh This week is National Moth Week, an annual celebration of the incredibly diverse and beautiful world of moths. Wednesday was a busy day out in the yard, testing some different diffusion materials for my twin lites Read more…
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Cope-ing with Night Sounds
The spring breeding chorus also provides evening entertainment to re-affirm our connection with nature. ~Encyclopedia of Life on one of the benefits of Gray Treefrogs The rains over the weekend brought out an intense display of night sounds that could be heard through the closed windows and doors. Friends came over for dinner Saturday night Read more…
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Meals on Wings
They are a peculiarly honest and sociable little bird…they are considerable company for the wood chopper. ~Henry David Thoreau on chickadees Of course, Thoreau was speaking of Black-capped Chickadees, found throughout much of the northern half of the United States and down into the Carolinas in the higher elevation mountains. This week I have been Read more…
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A Rose-y Spring
What strong colored fellows, black, white, and fiery rose-red breasts! ~Henry David Thoreau They’re back…it will only be for a couple of weeks, but I will enjoy every minute of it. Saturday morning, I saw my first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the season. Uncharacteristically, it was a female (males usually arrive first in their travels north Read more…
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Yard Tour
April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go. ~Christopher Morley It happens every year. Things start changing so fast in the spring woods that I can’t quite keep up. There are also the chores associated with spring – fixing up stuff around the house, getting the garden prepped and planted, and so Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 