Wild Wild Woods

Maple, elm, mulberry, swamp oak, birch, and willow leaves create a palette of October color.  It helps the finches and doves appear ...

A Northern Cardinal was enjoying safflower seeds at the tray feeder this morning.  The Bluejays wanted the peanuts from the same tray.  The...

The garden was aflutter last week with Painted Lady butterflies Vanessa cardui .  They were obsessed with the blossoms of Brazilian Verva...

  Deep in the nearly-empty rain barrel, a Gray Treefrog Hyla versicolor clings with its suction-cup feet.   Tree frogs can clim...

The seed head of the Yellow Goats Beard Tragopogon dubius is a fluffy ball 3-1/2 inches across. The elongated seeds stand stiffly forming...

This little Eastern Bluebird comes from the first clutch of eggs laid and hatched in the nestbox.  The adults have started clutch number ...

The woods is full of mushrooms.  These are growing on a downed buckthorn branch.

False Solomon's Seal Maianthemum racemosum or Smilacina racemosa blooms brightly in the shady woods.  The blossom is a stalk bearin...

A beautiful morning.  I put a fresh supply of mealworms in the plate.  Eastern Bluebirds, nesting in the distant box, are the first to ga...

While admiring the Cranesbill 'Karmina' in the gardens today, I noticed a fuzzy bee hurrying from one to another of the blooms th...

At the edge of the wild wild woods . . .  this year, the ground ivy has crept into the Sweet Woodruff Galium odoratum .  Their blooms com...

Peek inside some of the nestboxes in the wild wild woods . . . This box (above) holds a Tree Swallow nest -- a coz...

A small cluster of Sweet Flag Acorus americanus grows in a wet spot at the edge of the wild wild woods.  A cylindrical form protrudes ...

One nest box in the wild wild woods is being used by Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor this year.  Yesterday there were two eggs ...

Tulipa 'Marilyn'.  A long slender lily-flowered tulip variety.  Blooms later than other tulips in my gardens.  Bulbs were a gi...

  One of the prettiest maple samaras I've seen this year!   Even though only half of this pair developed, it is lovely in the sun...

Agastache seed heads stood through winter at the edge of the wild wild woods (see post 2/3/17).  Now, with warming soil, the new sprouts a...

 Subtle spring blossoms are visible in the woods to a wanderer gazing down. This Ranunculus aborvitus flower, Little-leaf Buttercup, ...

The male Chipping Sparrow displays his finest look, ready to attract a mate with his intense rufous cap.  A common sparrow wherever woods...

Among the migrating birds in the woods this week are a flock of White-throated Sparrows.  They show up in the late autumn on their way ...

Six nestboxes are up, ready for the NestWatch citizen science project.  We monitor nests in these boxes and look for nests in the trees o...

This beauty was in my studio this morning! I collect plant specimens in the autumn and keep them to draw or paint indoors during the c...

In summer, the Agastache blooms blue and provides sweet nectar for bees and butterflies.  Now, the seed heads stand in sunlight, a favor...

Walking through the woods in snow. Some plants display interesting winter personalities, very different from their growing season garb. ...