Birding / nature / photography ~ Older Asexuals for light walking and hiking nature adventures ~

[Tunhope]

8 hours ago, Mz Terry said:

The wildflowers are blooming in the front garden.  There are celandines, dandelions, violets and daisies.  All beautiful though called weeds by some. They are wonderful pollen sources for bees.

I love celandines . I think my soil is too chalky for them as I dont have any in my garden. Right now, there are primroses and cowslips, violets and forget - me- nots, daisies and dandelions and speedwell too. 

[Marrow]

On 4/5/2020 at 4:28 AM, Mz Terry said:

The wildflowers are blooming in the front garden.  There are celandines, dandelions, violets and daisies.  All beautiful though called weeds by some. They are wonderful pollen sources for bees.

The Trout Lilies have started coming in; the first signs of springs. The Daffodils have also started blooming along with them. On the look out now for Tiger Lilies, Crocus' (particularly the Velvet kind), Muddy Cups, and Blue Bells. 

[Marrow]

You may be thinking I accidentally posted the same reply twice, but you'd be wrong. I'm just that serious about flowers that I had to post it again.

[LVG]

Our serviceberry is just about to bloom. It should be any day now. Still a while off for the cherry and hawthorn. 

[Myssterry]

I had a nice walk in the park with Little Dog, and saw a pair of grey wagtails flying together over the stream where they eventually landed.  They have a lot of beautiful lemon yellow colouring, so are rather misnamed, and one of our loveliest small birds.

[LVG]

I've been hearing white-throated sparrows recently. They have the cutest, most cheerful little song. It always make me happy when I here it. They themselves are cute.

 

 

Not my picture. 

[Myssterry]

Saw six tiny baby fish in the garden pond today.

[Skycaptain]

Saw my first butterfly I saw clearly enough to identify, a female Orange Tip. What could have been a Small Tortoiseshell but I can't claim as a definite 

[Myssterry]

There have been quite a few butterflies in the sunny area at the end of my garden.  I mentioned the comma, which I have seen again, and there have been some small tortoiseshells.

 

The cherry tree is in blossom and the apple tree blossom will be out soon.  It is a beautiful spring in a time of sadness.

 

[Tunhope]

Some lovely photos @Mz Terry It's the unfolding like pages in a book that makes Spring so beautiful to me, too. I had forsythia, then damson blossom and a gage. Now the pear blossom's out. The lilac's beginning to flower. The apple will be out soon. It's one beautiful thing after another. My favourite time of year, and maybe I'm even more appreciative of it than I usually am because of all the things that are happening outside my  garden refuge right now.

[daveb]

9 hours ago, Tunhope said:

It's the unfolding like pages in a book that makes Spring so beautiful to me, too.

Turning over new leaves?

[pickles.]

I'm seeing lots of interesting critters on my walks--stinkbugs, ladybugs, swarming ants, huge banana slugs, robins en masse, woolly bear caterpillars, etc.!

[pickles.]

On 4/11/2020 at 9:46 AM, Tunhope said:

It's the unfolding like pages in a book that makes Spring so beautiful to me, too.

So beautifully put, @Tunhope.

[Skycaptain]

I was surprised yesterday not to see a single butterfly whilst walking through the park 

[Tunhope]

On 4/12/2020 at 3:35 AM, daveb said:

Turning over new leaves?

Thinking of  new leaves, it was windy last night and I thought I could hear rain. In fact, it was the sound of the wind rustling through the fresh foliage on a birch tree near the bedroom window. It' s the first time for months that there have been leaves on it, and so I hadnt recognised the sound.

12 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I was surprised yesterday not to see a single butterfly whilst walking through the park 

Well if you had walked in through my garden instead, you'd have seen 2 orange tips on the sage, a peacock on the forget -me -nots, a brimstone doing its usual flight along the hedge and possibly, not sure cos it didnt rest, a red admiral. Interesting that the peacock wasn't the least bit intested in the sage. 

[pickles.]

I saw a tarantula today!!!  I was turning from a small highway in Idaho onto the ramp for the 84 East, and right there about halfway across the road was a huge hairy gal with eight legs!  She froze for a second, then went scurrying back towards the brush from whence she had come.  No other cars were around, so I was able to stop and watch for the 3-4 seconds it took.

 

I have always wanted to see a tarantula in the wild, was even wondering as recently as yesterday if it would ever happen (yes, strange coincidence; I go long periods without thinking of tarantulas).  I'm pretty stoked! 🤩

[pickles.]

On 4/13/2020 at 12:42 PM, Tunhope said:

Well if you had walked in through my garden instead, you'd have seen 2 orange tips on the sage, a peacock on the forget -me -nots, a brimstone doing its usual flight along the hedge and possibly, not sure cos it didnt rest, a red admiral. Interesting that the peacock wasn't the least bit intested in the sage. 

I love that you know all the names!  I'm hopeless, as even when I study plants and insects I can't remember what I learned.

[daveb]

1 hour ago, pickles mcgee said:

I love that you know all the names!  I'm hopeless, as even when I study plants and insects I can't remember what I learned.

Yeah, I have a hard time retaining such info myself. I think I often need it drilled into me repeatedly.  

[teatree]

1 hour ago, pickles mcgee said:

I go long periods without thinking of tarantulas. 

Um...I bet I go even longer!!!!  

[robnrdbrd]

At the start of my post-work walk on Friday...

 

[Tunhope]

That's lovely @robnrdbrd

[robnrdbrd]

My neighbour's "pets" ...

 

[teatree]

Yikes! Are they even-tempered? 

[teatree]

No photo (sorry) but saw a total of 7 turtles sunning themselves on logs in a little pond near me. One was BIG, looked like a snapping turtle. 

[Tunhope]

I'm not sure about @robnrdbrd 's beasts, but I love the stone work on the buildings behind them. Some of the blocks look like sandstone and some don't. I really like that wall!

[robnrdbrd]

4 hours ago, Tunhope said:

I'm not sure about @robnrdbrd 's beasts, but I love the stone work on the buildings behind them. Some of the blocks look like sandstone and some don't. I really like that wall!

Agreed! There are quite a few old farm houses like that around here. Some have built on and lost the original charm, but I think this one is still as-was on the outside.

 

 

4 hours ago, teatree said:

Yikes! Are they even-tempered? 

The times I've gone by, they don't even budge. I suspect, though bison can stampede in the wild, when livestock  and penned in, they're probably pretty tame. my landlady's aged horse does more trotting around when someone new comes into our place!

[daveb]

6 hours ago, robnrdbrd said:

My neighbour's "pets" ...

Wow, those and the deer pic - very cool!

The stone building is really cool, too.

[Myssterry]

 

My apple trees.  So many bees buzzing round the flowers.  

[daveb]

I have a couple of apple trees blooming in my backyard right now. (maybe crabapple? little green apples that are not good for eating or anything)

[pickles.]

On my walk yesterday I saw squirrels, bunnies, bugs, slugs, birds and butterflies.  A large, soft-brown bunny with a white tail bounded across the trail in front of me, then sat on one side looking at me for the longest time.  I was the one who moved away first.  Same for a big, bushy-tailed squirrel.  It had a tree right there it could have run up, but it stood on its hind legs and looked at me while nibbling food from its paws.  There was no one else on the trail at those times, so the forest was pretty quiet.

 

 

Image from the internet, but this was the exact type of bunny I saw.  It was over-the-top adorable.