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.