Shortcut

A bumble bee takes a shortcut to the nectar of a torn Foxglove bloom. Usually the bee has to crawl way up into the bloom to get to the same spot. Foxgloves are perfectly designed for the bumble bee.

Carolina Blue

Not the color of the box, but a Carolina Wren nesting in a bluebird box. I was headed out the front gate when a bird almost hit me in the face. Thinking it could be the wren headed back to her box I stayed around for a bit (being very still) and sure enough she came back to the box. I bet she has five eggs.

Sugar Peas

A shot of my sugar peas growing. I prefer Sugar Ann's but I believe these are Sugar Snaps. String the pod and cook it whole. I stir fry them in a bit of olive oil. I was introduced to the Sugar Ann's long ago by the late owner of Aggie, the famous highway horse. This was back when she had a little highway stand. I stopped for strawberries but got a bag of peas and a cooking lesson on the peas as well. I was hooked! I believe her recipe included a bit of garlic in the pan and although I love garlic I love these peas nice and clean. They are even good raw in a salad. I eat them standing in the garden. Thank you MQ!

Lilies and Hippeas

A crush of lilies and red streaked hippeastrums in my garden. The pitchfork is not for them, just left after a daffodil thinning.

Pretty Hippea

One of my hippeastrums, isn't this a beauty? The bloom is huge! I have had this one for quite a time. It was a gift from a former neighbor as a thank you for feeding the cat when they were traveling. My dogs came along on the walk over and were trained to not chase the cat (good dogs!). The cat was treated to some cooked fish on occasion and purred its pleasure back at us. The flower is a reminder of those days.

Green eyed Egret

There are plenty of Egrets on the causeway lately. This one in a sparkling green juniper has matching eye markings. Stormy weather will bring in many egrets to the more sheltered causeway area, especially if the water is low. The water is still a bit high so we are seeing only the larger egrets and herons.

Roof fixed, box claimed

The Flycatchers have selected the repaired box and I believe she is laying eggs. The female is seen here checking on things, counting eggs, and assessing the camera clicks. Once she starts sitting on the eggs, the pair gets fairly quiet.

Rose No. 168

This is an old wild Rose. We rescued a piece of this beauty from the widening of Highway 168 way back when. I later saw another doing the same and hopefully she lives in many places now. This year with all the winter water she is big and bloomy and taking ownership of her corner of the yard.

Brown Thrasher Nesting

A pair of Brown Thrashers is building a nest in my Forsythia bush. They are very busy with all kinds of grasses and sticks. They build low and are susceptible to snakes so we will have to keep an eye and ear out.

Is that you, Ma?

My box full of chickadees! I peeked twice during the feeding and they are now not long in the box. First pic (May 01) and second pic (May 08) taken through the box hole. You can see how fast they grow in one week. Last pic also May 08 you can see them feathered out and pointed away from each other (save one!) and wondering who opened the lid. Ma?

Foxglove up Close

The spires of the Foxglove are reminiscent of fairy tales. Here's a closer look at the blooms. I read somewhere that blooms were perfectly designed for bumble bees. It looks like the bees fit right in (wide body blooms). We certainly depend on the bumble bees for pollination of our vegetable garden, so anything to make them happy is great. I love the speckles on the inner flower.

Peonies in my Garden

A glimpse of my Peonies. They are mostly closed heads and I love them at this point. Nice ball shaped flower heads with a touch of the fuschia bloom color reach for the sunlight. One has started to open. It will expand to dinner plate dahlia size. The foxglove and roses fill out the view.

Orchard Oriole

The Orchard Oriole summers here. This Oriole sings a long sweet song and he loves the sweet nectar of these bell flowers. His colors are dark; the female is yellow green. The nest is a woven basket of grasses that hangs from the thin outer branches of trees. The hackberry tree is a fav for nesting and we have plenty. The Oriole's song can be heard up and down the island. Isn't this a fine bird!

Blue Grosbeak

Here's a bird that many do not see. He shows up in the spring to feed a bit and is rarely seen again. I was waiting on another shot when I noticed a blue-ish bird in the bath beyond my target. And there he was getting a dip. I'll have to watch for him the next few days. I also spotted a male Towhee today and hope it will stay around for a bit. It also travels through in the spring.

Morning Song

The Carolina Wren belts out his morning song. If you miss it, you can catch his mid-morning song, his noon-time song, his afternoon song or his late day song. We love these little birds. And thankfully he does sleep at night!

Tiffany Tea

The Tiffany Rose is my favorite tea. The color is wonderful and the fragance is fine as French Perfume. It's a bit more difficult to grow than others and roses are generally a tough go here. Wind is a big factor plus I'm not big on spraying. Wish you could smell it!

Can you get the roof fixed?

Two flycatchers landed on this box this morning (made just for them a ways back) and gave it a look. Flycatchers have been successful in this box. The roof repair was on the to-do list but got expedited today and it's now all fixed up. Hopefully this will be the chosen box. Flycatchers put a piece of snakeskin in the nest box. One year they were in a hurry and the nest consisted of owl feathers and a snakeskin. They will also use a bluebird box, but it really gets to be a cramped space for the growing babies and the smaller entry hole is a bit of a squeeze.
What a fantastic bird!