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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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Sky Flowers
What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky? ~Pablo Neruda Last week while walking in the woods, I stopped to pick up a flower. I can imagine if you did not know, the flower would be a puzzle, lying there on its side, with no others growing… Read more
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Love is in the Air
There is no remedy for love but to love more. ~Henry David Thoreau Snipe Fly love that is…and actually, most of it is on the ground or low vegetation. A few days ago I posted something about a cool insect I discovered in the yard, a Golden-backed Snipe Fly. Yesterday, when I walked outside, I… Read more
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The Vine That Isn’t
There’s so much for you to see outdoors. The one requirement, you have to be there to see it. ~Greg Dodge As the sun came up Tuesday morning I walked out to the gate at the driveway to listen to the bird songs and have a look around. As I was walking back to the… Read more
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Swarm
To a degree seldom grasped even by entomologists, the modern insect fauna has become predominantly social. ~Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, The Ants. I had too much to do on such a beautiful weekend, but I did manage a stroll through the woods on Saturday. I checked on the status of a small population… Read more
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A Speck of Gold
You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you. ~ Andy Warhol Walking out the door yesterday, I looked down and saw a speck of gold. Funny thing was, it was on the back of an odd-looking fly. I stooped to take a closer look, fully expecting it to… 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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Dog Plant
For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. ~Edward Abbey A neighbor sent me a plant ID request a week or so ago asking if I knew the name of a wildflower she had seen on her property. The picture she sent showed some large basal leaves… Read more
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That Has Got to Itch
The frog says, times fun when you’re having flies! ~David Bankson Earlier in the week I was walking around the yard doing a little filming to help with a project on the importance of native plants (see Hometown Habitat). I was using the 500mm telephoto and a 1.4 teleconverter in hopes of getting some birds,… Read more
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Chippies
What a clean, pert, dapper, nervous little fellow he is! How fast his heart beats, as he stands up on the wall by the roadside, and, with hands spread out upon his breast, regards you intently! ~John Burroughs in his essay entitled, The Chipmunk, 1900 Okay, I may be biased, but Eastern Chipmunks have got… Read more
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Roads End Naturalist 