Wild Wild Woods

In gardening season, I found buried several pieces of the old barbed wire that used to be the fence row when this was farmed lan...

The seedheads of Joe Pye Weed stand at the edge of the woods. When nibbling these seeds, the Goldfinches nearly disappear by blending in ...

Female: red crest on back half of head Male: red crest on entire head plus red "moustache" Every w...

A fallen tree in the wild wild woods has become a feeding trough for critters and birds.  (See "insect picnic" posted on 7-20-1...

Now that some snow blankets the ground, we can easily see tracks in the woods.  Rabbits, grey squirrels, red squirrels, mice, chipmunks...

Today the male yellow-shafted Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus visited the suet block for breakfast.  It was a wet foggy winter mornin...

Today we spotted the Sharp-shinned Hawk at the feeder garden, probably hunting. The raptor perched for a while on top of one feeder p...

This winter is slow to chill Minnesota.  The "trumpet vine" Lonicera 'Major Wheeler' is still blooming!  Not just hanging...

Usually we see Nuthatches walking UP a vertical tree trunk or hitching DOWN a steeply slanted tree branch, pecking insects he finds in...

The veggie plot converts to a bird feeder garden in winter.  The edible crops have been harvested.  The perennials reach down to overwint...

The first snow this season was just a dusting to make things look a bit like winter in Minnesota.  It placed little white caps on the b...

Dusk, yesterday.  A hawk glided in over the bird feeders and landed on a branch of the big elm tree. A perfect place to peer down into th...

Warmer-than-average weather this autumn!  Many perennials are still standing and even blooming in the gardens and woods. The raspberr...

The summer weather has been wonderful, and with frequent rain lately the mushrooms are numerous.  I have not studied that chapter in na...

"Snag" refers to a still-standing dead tree, or one dying from damage, often missing its top or most of the smaller branches....

Two female hummingbirds come to the salvia blossoms every day. 

Blooming in late summer, the Blue Vervain's tiny 1/4" flowers grow on floral spikes about 5" tall.  This native plant Verben...

A 3-inch long toad Anaxyrus americanus makes its home in the garden at the edge of the wild wild woods, among the shady spots strewn with v...

We're seeing juvenile birds in the wild wild woods, now that many are out of their nests and learning to hunt and fly.  This Red-belli...

Eastern Bluebird mama delivers worms and insects to her brood in the nest box.  Bluebirds usually do not nest in the woods...

In the quiet woods, along the path, a fallen log has rotted and curved to become a fine trough.  Insects evidently hatch and grow there, and...

False Solomon's Seal Maianthemum racemosum grows in the shady wild wild woods.  Earlier this Spring, the rhizomes sent up zig-zag stems ...

The rabbit is so frustrated by the fence around the garden where lettuces and other attractive fare grow!  Today we saw her munching on milk...