R. Mercer’s Musings about Nature

  • Whats Bugging Me!

    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…

  • Some Flower Favorites

    Some Flower Favorites

    In our yard, we have planted native species to attract pollinators. Two species of Monarda are native to our part of the world—Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa and both can be found in our yard. Today, I strolled through our garden and noticed how we actually have four different colors of Monarda—a deep red M.…

  • The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Hill

    Yesterday, I travelled to two separate farms to harvest either tart cherries or strawberries. At the first farm, as I walked up the lane, the trees glistened red and my mouth started to water. I enjoy tart cherries on cold cereal in the morning. Yum. As I eagerly entered into the copse of trees, the…

  • I’m Back

    I’m Back

    After a long hiatus—about a year, I have once again picked up the pen or, more accurately, set fingers to the keyboard to resurrect my blog. First come the excuses. Life has been great. When I retired, I wanted to keep busy and to share my fun and knowledge with people willing to read my…

  • Enjoying the Light Show

    Enjoying the Light Show

    I love this time of the year! I have fond memories of summer freedom and evenings out in the yard catching lightening bugs, doing unspeakable things like trying to see how many it took so one could read a book by their light. I never found out. My fascination still hold though. Despite the 88o F…

  • House Wren Serenade

    House Wren Serenade

    On June 15, 2018, I woke up at 5:10 AM, much earlier than normal. A cool night had us with our bedroom window open and the sounds of birds poured in. I could hear the dawn chorus, a time when the birds wake up and announce to all their neighbors, “I am alive, I am…

  • It is an Eat or be Eaten World

    It is an Eat or be Eaten World

    June 4, 2018 –  Earlier today, about 2 PM, I went outside to poke around in the yard. Some weeds caught my attention, so I dug out the weeding mat, my weeder, and a bucket and set to work. While I toiled, I listened to Bernd Heinrick’s book, One Wild Bird at a Time via…

  • The Power of Fact

    The Power of Fact

    Recently I entered a post into my blog (since removed) that created a hypothesis that turned out to be wrong. Many years ago, the use of the word, “Walk-ER” in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens puzzled me. At the time I did extensive internet research and came up blank. In my blog, I hypothesized…

  • I am so confused

    I am so confused

    The other morning while I sat on my deck, I noticed a small dusting of sawdust. “Looks like the carpenter bees are digging into the deck again,” I said to Eileen. So, I looked all around the area above the pile and found no hole. While exploring, I did notice a single ant moving about…

  • Now I Remember!

    Now I Remember!

    Each year as we prepare to leave South Carolina, Eileen and I wonder, why did we choose to leave in the middle of April? Nice weather rules in South Carolina! As soon as we arrived back in Pennsylvania and made sure the house remained intact, we took a walk in the yard. Yes, there were…