Category: Uncategorized
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Marvelous Magenta
Anyone who knows me knows I am an earth tone guy. Colors like magenta or purple just don’t fit. Yet, if you asked me my favorite flower, really close to the top would be the New York ironweed (Veronia noveboracensis). This colorful plant jumps out in the landscape! I can spot it at 60 mph.…
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My Homegrown National Park
Two things happened recently. First, I finally decided to join the “Homegrown National Park” movement spearheaded by Doug Tallamy. The premise is every little effort can make a difference with natural systems. Since we bought our house in 1993, Eileen and I have tried our best to use predominantly native species of plants. Over the…
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A Big, Scary-looking Wasp
I spent a little time this morning weeding the gardens. On the east and sunny side of the house, huge wasps frequently bombed me, buzzing over my head, and aggressively coming at me as I worked. I don’t mind. I know the identification marks for the Eastern Cicada Killer, Sphecius speciosus, and this wasp provides…
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Red Knots Study Results
As I leave South Carolina behind, so are the Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa). Early in the year, when the Red Knots started to show up on Seabrook Island beaches, my friend, Mark Andrews, talked me into helping him get counts of the birds. After several attempts, Mark realized that our numbers could not be…
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Life on the Beach
Monday, January 20, was a cool day for Seabrook Island with a brisk wind. Despite that, on impulse, I took a late afternoon walk on North Beach. The wind blowing into my face quickly ate through my light jacket, but the mass of birds feeding along the water and sitting on the beach pulled me…
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When your only tool is a hammer…
Towards the end of a day of birding with my friends Carmine and Lori, we visited a small park. Finding little of interest, we returned to the parking lot. Here a collection of palmetto palms, Sabal palmetto, lined the parking lot. The trees hung heavy with ripe and ready berries, actually drupes, hanging from a…
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Migration is amazing!
A couple of weeks ago, I spent an enjoyable weekend with some friends birding in Cape May, NJ. The winds were all wrong and the birds very sparse. At times when the winds are good, the area is spectacular. With bad winds,what we did find were a few stragglers; birds powering up for the next…
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Pick a Peck
The New York Ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis (L.) Michx., in our garden blooms a lovely magenta. It is a rare day when you will find me wearing anything magenta, it is far from “my” color, but in the garden it is magnificent. In addition to providing a splash of color to our garden, the plant serves…
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Late Night Visitors
Saturday, August 10, 2019, after a long drive back from the Boston area, I went to bed “early”—about 10:30. Since the weather service predicted a cool night, the window was open. Around 12:15 AM, while dreaming a silly dream, something pulled me slowly out of my slumber. Unconsciously the three or so seconds of noise…
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Whats Bugging Me!
It is early afternoon, the temperature is already 94oF and the 54% humidity makes it feel like 104oF. It seems like the perfect time with laptop on my lap to sit on my relatively new recliner and write. In an earlier blog, I meandered on about the many things engaging me; mostly bird photography and…