A multi-media account of my travels through life
This young crow was giving me the eye recently… and a handsome eye it is. There is a family of crows that lives nearby and visits the yard frequently. They have really been enjoying my apples. I find half-devoured apples all over the lawn, clearly picked at by large birds and I have witnessed them pecking away with great gusto. Why not? It’s apple season for sure. ❧
Too often in our violent society the term “slug” conjures images of spent bullets and CSI discoveries. But there is an entire universe of living slugs that prove the bane of some gardeners and a treat for some photographers. This fellow was enjoying a meal in the cold, dark woods of California’s North Coast. According to Wikipedia, “Slug is a common name for an apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc.” There are many different kinds but all have the distinctive head with four antennae-like protrusions. The top set are the slug’s “eyes” while the bottom set serve as olfactory tools. All four can be retracted and regrown. ❧
This spectacular fungus emerged at the base of an oak tree on Fawn Hill and one of my reference books tells me this fungi is responsible “for making old oaks hollow.” Its color was absolutely stunning and it is quite large, about 6 inches across. ❧
Chanterelle mushrooms on Fawn Hill. ❧
I don’t think I will ever tire of hummingbirds. ❧
We’ve had torrential rains today and my feeders almost seem to groan under the weight of scores of hungry, soggy birds. This poor Red Cardinal seems at the end of his rope. I hope his energy was revived by the feed. ❧
This feather, likely from an American Goldfinch fledgling, was shed by its owner, drifted in the breeze, and came to rest on one of the rocks of our stone wall.
About 1″ in length, it was not exactly flashing neon to get noticed. But that little yellow tip caught my eye.
It rests on the wall lichen which is probably 15 years of age.
Just a moment from Fawn Hill… ❧
The Indigo Buntings are regular visitors to my feeder these days. My neighbor reports seeing them in previous years but my experience on Fawn Hill is short, just over one year, and I’m certain I did not see them last year. These birds are memorable once you see them. But they are very shy and wary of humans. No doubt they were once coveted for those beautiful feathers. Hat fashion in the early 1900s was a catastrophe for so many beautifully plumed birds.
Cool facts about Indigo Buntings (courtesy of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology): Indigo Buntings fly about 1,200 miles each way between breeding grounds in eastern North America and wintering areas from southern Florida to northern South America and Cuba.
Indigo Buntings migrate at night, using the stars for guidance. Researchers demonstrated this process in the late 1960s by studying captive Indigo Buntings in a planetarium and then under the natural night sky. The birds possess an internal clock that enables them to continually adjust their angle of orientation to a star—even as that star moves through the night sky.
I was stung by a bee yesterday. The hot, itchy welt on my arm will remind me of that little guy for a few days. I decided to search my photo library for shots of bees and came up with quite a few so I made this collage.
Say the word “bee” and most of us think of big, fat bumble bees. There are many kinds of bees (20,000 according to one website) and they are related to wasps. I don’t really know which got me yesterday (bee or wasp) because it was rather small but it had a big punch. It left no stinger which leads me to believe it was a wasp. Regardless, they are all critical to our well being. Especially bees who, as we know, are the pollinators of the planet. Oh sure, we smart humans have learned how to pollinate plants but, honestly, the bees do it better and don’t cost as much as Monsanto. So, let’s all do what we can for the bees because, as “Vanishing of the Bees” has taught us, they are in serious trouble. And if one stings you get away from the area because once a bee or wasp stings something it releases a pheromone that tells other bees to come quick and sting the interlopers. You’re the interloper. Tell it you are sorry and get out of their town. 🙂
Having dominion over the land and sea is not an easy task and recent history will call to question whether we are doing a good job of things. As for me, I do my best to keep things in order here on my little acre on Fawn Hill. Today that included trimming dead branches and leaves from the apple trees. The late frost of last April took its toll but, fortunately, not all the fruit. This year’s bounty will be no where near last year’s but there will still be plenty. There is evidence the deer are already enjoying the fruit of my apple trees. I’m glad. ❧
Alice's WanderLand 