The hawthorn tree is in full bloom, and so is the horse chestnut tree. Makes for a vision of pink from the kitchen table windows. Sadly, the hawthorn was planted too close to the chestnut, and you can see how they’re growing into each other. (People often don’t think of mature tree size when they’re [...]
Archive for the ‘Wildlife’ Category
Room With a View
Posted in Garden, Trees, Wildlife on May 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Getting Acquainted
Posted in Wildlife on April 18, 2012 |
Red and Moonbear.
Found in the Garden: Partridges
Posted in Hoopla & Hullabaloo, Wildlife on March 27, 2012 |
We looked out the window this morning, and what did we see but a pair of these: They’re Chukar Partridges. Maybe they came for the pond, or the bird seed scattered under the Umbrella Cafe, or to visit the other birds, but whatever the reason, they’re still running around the yard. Or maybe they’re looking [...]
The Birds, the Birds!
Posted in Wildlife on November 16, 2011 |
Being that time of year at 963, the Umbrella Cafe is open for business again, and the birds are visiting already. We had one Montgomery (a northern flicker) like the cafe so much that he decided to move right in, and parked the entirety of himself under the umbrella for a short vacation stay. I [...]
Lord of the Flies
Posted in Current Affairs, The Inexplicable, Wildlife on September 27, 2011 |
We were cooking in the kitchen the other night and had the overhead lights on, when suddenly someone noticed that there were swarms – and I mean SWARMS – of tiny flies hovering around the lights. Then we noticed they were all over the cupboards, those little black dots, and we started a giant game [...]
A bear we found and brought home from Salt Spring Island this last summer (not the dangerous kind at all). We call him Moon Bear because we found him at a beautiful toy shop called West of the Moon. And West of the Moon reminds me of a song called East of the Sun (And [...]
Attack of the Spiders
Posted in Leave It Alone, The Inexplicable, Wildlife on August 23, 2011 |
The last couple of weeks, we’ve had a bunch of big spiders running around, in spite of our spider traps. We particularly notice them downstairs in the TV room, where there must be some kind of spider continental divide that they cross as initiation or something. We’ll be watching a movie, and suddenly a big [...]
The Summer Visitor
Posted in I Can't Eat This, Leave It Alone, Uncategorized, Wildlife on August 9, 2011 |
This big-little guy, striped like a watermelon, came to visit last week. Turns out he’s a ten-lined June beetle.
Cedar Waxwings
Posted in Wildlife on July 12, 2011 |
A couple of cedar waxwings sat on the deck railing for a while the other day, so we got a really close look at them. I can’t help but think that they remind me of sleek masked avengers, with the zorro-mask over their eyes.
The Romance of Crickets
Posted in Current Affairs, Hoopla & Hullabaloo, Wildlife on June 7, 2011 |
Every night, the crickets come out to sing, and they sing really loudly. It’s a happy, night-time noise, and you can fall asleep with the window open, hearing the crickets serenade the garden. You can even hear them through the doors, without any windows open. That’s why, when we were watching a movie downstairs the [...]
