molt jolt

It's easy to recognize the slow drift into autumn, even if you ignore the temperature cues.  Dahlias are really popping now!

Birds are rushing through their final brood of the season.

Carolina wren feeding fledglings

A praying mantis goes through 7 or so molts before maturity.  They're moving smoothly through the process now in order to mature and mate in time for a fall egg-laying!  I was really lucky to spot this leftover molt...a lot of times, the mantis or other insects will eat it.

Goldfinches are making their early fall appearance!  I grabbed a quick shot with my junky camera:

Even if I hadn't seen them, I've heard their incessant singing, and they definitely leave behind evidence.

Lots of butterflies...

Hummingbirds...

...and insects.  These are twice-stabbed stinkbugs, so named for the two red dots on their back (evidence of a double stabbing, apparently!).  

This plant hopper is patiently waiting for me to move along.

Sweat bees crowd for nectar.

This tachinid fly is most welcome.  It's parasitic and will lay its eggs on a host...mostly harmful caterpillars and beetles.

Check out this huge gathering of juvenile barn swallows on the telephone line in our barnyard!

I love it when my hydrangea blooms.

Beautiful sunrises...

...lazy kittens...

...and late season flowers...

There's a lot to love about these last days of summer.  Have a great week!  

The 'morel' of the story...

Spring has sprung for sure around here - even a month ago, that cold snap aside.  Everything is so green.

We've started going down to the pond after supper.  Sometimes the geese are out, and even a mysterious creature that might be a beaver or river otter, but most likely a muskrat.

It's funny how things fall into a yearly schedule here.  Percival Wemys, the intrepid Carolina wren, has come back and is sleeping on our front porch again.

Once again, I hung up my big ferns, and once again, they were immediately colonized by house finches.  Here's the red-capped male...

...and the plainer female.

I pulled down the ferns and saw that a very solid nest was already in one, with no eggs.  Of course a nest can't be disturbed if eggs are inside, but it's fine if no eggs have been laid (other than the birds' annoyance at having to build a new nest elsewhere).  The fact is, I'm in and out of that door all day, and the birds would constantly be disturbed.  I'd also be unable to water my ferns.  I read that birds dislike shiny things, so I make aluminum foil 'snakes' and coiled them amid the fronds.  Here is the male looking quizzically at the new development:

I felt pangs of guilt all day, but I'm happy to report that I still hear the finches singing every day and they've clearly stayed close, but built a new nest elsewhere.  Phew!

Clematis are blooming!  I'm not a huge fan of these floppy purple varieties...too tropical-looking...but I still pick them for the house.

Their centers almost seem to glow in the light!

We've still got our late-blooming azaleas:

...but I'm afraid that these are the last of the camellias.

I'll even miss all the insects that get dragged in with them.  This is a Zelus luridus, the pale green assassin bug.  They set "sticky traps" to catch other insects.  I'd love to see one in action!

Well, until I have time to get outside and search for insects, I can still enjoy all the green, and the dogwoods, from the sun porch.  The cats have set up in there, where they'll remain for the next 8 months:

They love all the windows.  Here's Tabitha, fierce hunter, preparing to attack a hapless butterfly:

All around us, buds on trees are unfurling.  Oh, spring is a beautiful thing.

We've even got some morels coming up in the yard, although Todd refuses to believe my mushroom-identifying ability.  Hey, I was mushroom hunting by the time I was 5 or 6 years old, but I guess this one will remain uneaten! #trustissues

I just haven't had much time for craft work, but hopefully I'll have something to report soon.

Have a great week!

Sleeping Beauties

We've had some pretty dramatic torrential rains lately.  Can you see how brown the pond is, with the sediment churned up by the storms?

But then the sun came out, and flowers started bursting into bloom.  First, the tiny white buds on our nandina bushes started to open.

Now, nandina are members of the bamboo family and, as such, spread like crazy.  They're considered a bit of a weed here, but I've found that if you keep a few in their place and carefully trimmed, they look quite nice.  I like the flowers, but I love the beautiful red berries in the winter.

Right next to the cluster of nandina bushes is the largest of our gardenias.  I tried to plant gardenias in Indiana but the winters were too harsh for them to thrive.  It's so strange to walk outside here and see 7 or 8 gardenia bushes much taller than I am!  They are drooping with blooms now and the smell is heavenly.

I've let them get a little out of control and they're pushing through railing and blocking stairs and walkways in the back yard.  After the blooms are spent, I'll give them a hard pruning.  Right now, though, I think it looks quite romantic!

After the hard rain, a carolina wren came to rest on our back deck.  Actually, they hang out there constantly, driving the cats crazy with their loud singing and tantalizing proximity.

Rest, clean, stretch, sing, and repeat!

Of course, I've been tracking the progress of our goslings.  The babies are getting a bit gangly...

...but the 'big boys' now have feathers!  Can you see the blue ones at the wings and the black ones at the tail?

 

They eat...a lot.

They rest...a lot.

Kind of reminds me of Borga, who spends the day resting and dreaming in daddy's beat-up chair in preparation for a night of panting adoringly by his feet.  Priorities!  :)

Have a great week!