The Rest of 2019
Obviously, my goal of monthly posting did not work out this year. Partway through a very busy growing season, my husband had a major heart attack. Thankfully, he is recovering well, but it was one of those times beyond horror, where all I could manage to do or think about was the next important task. Sleep was fleeting and worry was constant. Times like these are when we can really see that having supported something outside of ourselves over years actually helps us to survive. Our excellent medical system is one of those things; another is our amazing ecosystem. Stress kills and beauty heals. May you all walk in beauty throughout the next phase of your lives.
June 2019
This morning while I was watering the garden, this year's chickadee family was in the Garry oak learning to hunt spiders. The parents were busy modelling technique. Their three fledglings were totally focused on begging treats from them. They moved their boisterous chatter to another yard and I continued watering. Not long after, my friend stopped by and we saw the merlins that are nesting in the neighbourhood fly past. The male made his loud distraction call and flew on. The female perched in the tall Douglas fir across the way. My friend & I watched her scratch and preen and then went on with our visit. Next thing we knew, she was flying almost casually at our level, just across the road. She caught something, then turned and flew up into the trees beyond the Garry oak. We crossed the yard to see what she had. By the time we spotted her she had started eating. She plucked feathers and the wind carried them past us. I reached up and caught a few. They had the chickadee colouration, but with downy ends. I ran to get my camera and got quite a few photos before she finished. Most were blurry, but here are the most interesting ones. She flew back to her nest with a crop full of food for her young. Not long after, I heard the chickadee family hunting noisily in the neighbour's tree. No need for grief when there are spiders to eat.
May 2019
This spring started slowly for some plants that were confused at the unseasonably warm winter just before our big freeze hit. They have caught up now, though, and it has ended up creating an amazing variety of flowers all at once. Luckily, the bees are on it.
One queen black-tailed bumble bee finally discovered our "bird" nesting box that I put out a few years ago with high hopes of housing a bee colony. After the chickadees were done with the box a year or two ago, I saved the old nest. This spring when I saw a bumble flying her nest-site search pattern, I put a small fluffy piece of nest into the box for her to find. I forgot about it for a few weeks and was surprised and delighted to see bumbles flying in and out of the box.
The heather I planted a few years ago has grown into big patches and brought bumbles to the yard as soon as it was warm enough for them to be out and about. I think that has helped put this place on the bumble bee "map" as I have a many species of bumble around along with plenty of other smaller wild bees. Today's star was a sleepy Western bumble bee. She was small, a worker, which means this rare species of bumble has a healthy nest somewhere nearby.
It's good to see that although I am feeding a large number of the bumble bees whose commute is just out of the box and onto the flowers, they haven't displaced or overwhelmed the bumbles who have arrived here from farther afield. That tells me I have room for many bumble bee nests on this property. Now to figure out exactly what the ground-nesting bumbles are looking for in a home so that I can provide options for them.
One queen black-tailed bumble bee finally discovered our "bird" nesting box that I put out a few years ago with high hopes of housing a bee colony. After the chickadees were done with the box a year or two ago, I saved the old nest. This spring when I saw a bumble flying her nest-site search pattern, I put a small fluffy piece of nest into the box for her to find. I forgot about it for a few weeks and was surprised and delighted to see bumbles flying in and out of the box.
The heather I planted a few years ago has grown into big patches and brought bumbles to the yard as soon as it was warm enough for them to be out and about. I think that has helped put this place on the bumble bee "map" as I have a many species of bumble around along with plenty of other smaller wild bees. Today's star was a sleepy Western bumble bee. She was small, a worker, which means this rare species of bumble has a healthy nest somewhere nearby.
It's good to see that although I am feeding a large number of the bumble bees whose commute is just out of the box and onto the flowers, they haven't displaced or overwhelmed the bumbles who have arrived here from farther afield. That tells me I have room for many bumble bee nests on this property. Now to figure out exactly what the ground-nesting bumbles are looking for in a home so that I can provide options for them.
April 2019
Okay, so now that I've caught up with my goal of posting for each month. Ahem... The other morning, I was walking by the apple tree and I noticed a slug acting like a spider. Naturally, I ran and grabbed the camera. We think of simple creatures as lacking intelligence, but this little dude knew what it was about. It must have worked up enough slime to S-T-R-E-T-C-H from a tree branch to the foliage below. I found it dangling midway, moving its body like a child on a swing (only slower). When it finally got low enough to stick to a camas leaf, it started to crawl immediately. It seemed to have an air of self-satisfaction about it. What slug wouldn't? That was an achievement! The camas leaf bent under the slug's weight and its long tether snapped and curled like a ribbon. The slime filament was dry to the touch, like a hair. One day I hope to happen upon this slug teaching its sluglings a master weaving class.
March 2019
This dove's look just screamed, "WORLD PEACE NOW!" Then it ate breakfast. Symbols still need to take care of themselves.
February 2019
The great thing about snow is that you can see who's been hanging out in your yard all winter. Here there be rabbits, deer, raccoons, quail, juncoes, humans, and morrrre little birds (mostly juncoes).
New Year 2019
For once when there was a lunar eclipse, we had a clear night. It was pretty cold, though. Here is the progression of the eclipse (left to right). The moon didn't shrink in Earth's shadow, it just became harder to get the camera to focus on it. Being a little more zoomed out did the trick. The owls were happy when we finally went inside and left them to their communal crooning. Sending apologies to any werewolves who may have been triggered by reading this post. There won't be any more moon photos for a while. This year I am hoping to step it up and make a monthly blog post.