The other morning, right after the kids left for school, I heard an odd, unexpected thud against the front door. I went to investigate, thinking one of the kids had heaved the newspaper up on the porch and hit the door by accident. But, much to my surprise laying on the front step was the most beautiful ovenbird.
What was so confusing at first when I saw him, is that we don’t get ovenbirds around here in the neighborhood, let alone have one fly into the house. A house finch, house sparrow or even a cardinal maybe, but not an ovenbird. He must have hit terribly hard since he was already dead by the time I opened the door. I asked my mom what she thought, and she suggested maybe it was migrating since all her birds have been leaving northern MI the last week or so in preparation for winter. I don’t know for sure what brought him here or confused him so much, but that was a very sad way to start the day. We decided a little burial was appropriate, so he now resides in my garden.
As soon as the wonderful garden tomatoes started coming into the house, I knew this day would come. Every year I wait, ready with the towel to start swatting. Those darn fruit flies make me look like a lunatic in the kitchen. Standing by the sink, towel in hand, swatting at invisible specks on the cabinets. And then they start to multiply, and I just can’t swat them away anymore.
So what to do? I did this last year and it worked beautifully. Almost time to get it out again. So, if you find your kitchen a haven for fruit flies, gather these few supplies.
apple vinegar
liquid dish detergent
plastic wrap
small bowl
rubber band
Pour a little cider vinegar into a small bowl
Add just a drop of liquid dish detergent (something to do with breaking the surface tension, trapping the bugs)
Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and fasten to dish with a rubber band.
Cut a few slits in the plastic wrap so the flies can crawl in.
For almost 10 yrs, the 2 mountain ashes in our yard has had a woodpecker, or something similar, making quite an interesting pattern of peck marks in it. Hard as we’ve tried, we’ve not been able to spy the culprit. The trees were quite small when the holes started showing up, so we thought for sure they’d be dead soon. But year after year they grew, and the holes kept coming. There were often bees or wasps around, so we thought maybe it was them somehow. I finally identified those as Bald-Faced Wasps, but they just don’t make holes in trees. It really looked like some kind of woodpecker, but how could they be so secretive for so many years?
Well, finally, a few days ago, he was there. A yellow-bellied sapsucker! He was so intent on his work, I was able to get right up close and snap a few photos. And I was so intent on taking these pictures, I actually got stung by one of those darn wasps!
While being called for jury duty has nothing to do with gardening, it does call for a little planning ahead since everything will be a bit more hectic around the house. We are settling into one of the hottest weeks of the summer, following a pretty rain-free few weeks. So this weekend, I spent some time being sure everything was ready to be a little less attended to, and even possibly somewhat ignored, depending on how the jury duty went.
Things on my check list included:
Being sure my pots where all watered and the plants in them dead-headed.
Check the vegetable plants for ripe vegetables and fruit. Make note of what might need picking in the next couple of days.
Noticed rhubarb was sprouting seed pods, so got those cut off. Also checked to be sure nothing else was in dire need of dead-heading
Be sure in ground sprinkler was set to run.
Watered the first year shrubs in the garden
I recently did a thorough watering of the larger trees and shrubs, so I felt comfortable not soaking them this weekend.
This felt a bit like getting ready for vacation. The garden always needs to be prepped before you head out of town. Otherwise, you never know what you’ll come back too. Even with that prepping, Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate and “things happen”. Just part of the fun. What is part of your garden vacation planning?
As I wait at the judicial center, I am very impressed with the jury pool waiting area. While sitting and waiting to be potentially called for a case, we can look out over the county government complex’s drainage area that doubles as a well-planned wetlands area. I’ve been able to watch Barn Swallows flying gracefully about, as well as a Great Blue Heron hunting for food, a Great Egret fly right past the window, a pair of Mute Swans (unfortunately no babies right now) and Red-Winged Blackbirds sitting in the cattails. If I had binoculars, I might be able to see more, but that might require some unnecessary explaining as to why I had binoculars at the courthouse 🙂
One of the best places I’ve found to observe nature has been on the golf course. I’m not really a very good golfer (been known to just pick up my ball on occasion), but I love being out on the courses with friends and family. Right from the beginning, I’ve always had a little bag with me with binoculars, a camera and in the old days, my old trusty bird book. I am always careful though, not to slow anyone else down. That’s a good way to irritate the other golfers on the course.
Nowadays, I’m more apt to have just my iPhone, which has a great deal of memory taken up with the Audubon series of nature guides. It can also substitute for a camera, if I need to cut back on something. I’ve seen the mundane, as well as the very exciting, once in a lifetime types of sightings. It was on golf courses on Kiawah Island and in MI where I’ve seen the only Pileated Woodpeckers I’ve ever seen. I’ve also seen many interesting herons, storks, hawks, ospreys, Bald Eagles, ducks, as well as songbirds like Baltimore Orioles, hummingbirds, goldfinches, wrens, swallows, killdeer, and bluebirds. I’ve even seen one of my partners attacked mercilessly by an overprotective, nesting red-winged blackbird, and twice seen killdeer putting on their broken wing act to distract us away from its nest.
Then there’s the mammals, insects and reptiles. Many different types of squirrels, which I swear sometimes steal the balls for fun, deer, turtles, snakes, dragonflies, butterflies, and of course, alligators. You learn quickly to just leave those balls behind that roll near the ponds or into the swampy grass. That low, grumbling noise of a mother alligator calling her babies is not something to mess with.
Enjoy some of my more recent photos.
Snowy Egrets
Snowy Egrets
Wood Stork
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Great Blue Heron
Tri-color Heron
Osprey
Osprey
Anhinga
Pileated Woodpecker
White-tailedDeer
Fox Squirrel
Squirrel
Dragonfly
Alligator
Baby Alligator
Have you seen anything interesting on the golf course? Next time, be sure to keep your eyes open to see what you can find around you.
Purchase the new edition of this field guide from Barnes and Noble
A Sunday photo collage of things that remind me of many summers spent in Northern and Upper Peninsula Michigan. One sighting can throw me back to being 10 years old.
Sandy two tracks that are everywhere, taking you on an adventure.Sandy trails heading off into pine woods.Roadside pullouts that allow easy access to streams, lakes, and any beautiful spot you may want to visitTrout StreamsSand Dunes and beautiful views of Lake MichiganBracken FernsReindeer Lichen crunching underfootPixie cups (found usually with British Soldiers but couldn’t find them this year)The smell of Sweet FernsMilkweed, but absent the Monarchs this yearAbundant raspberries grown in gardens and in the wildWild Blueberries collected for blueberry pancakes while camping
As I’ve worked on the problem areas in the front yard, I created another sore spot in the area where we moved the Annabelle hydrangeas from. On the north side of the house were the 4 hydrangeas and a row of Hicks yews. The hydrangeas had to go because they were just too big for the space, leaving big gaps at either end. They look great where they are now!
It’s is a difficult place to plant because it is on the north side and under the soffit of the house. Therefore very shady and somewhat dry. The yews have done just fine, but I do give them at least about a watering can full of water dumped right down the center every 2-3 weeks during the summer and into fall. I didn’t want to add more yews, but instead wanted a deciduous plant that could take those conditions. I watched the location for a few weeks and decided it gets about 3 hours max of full sun. I settled on Wine and Roses Weigela. While it would flower better and have darker leaf color in full sun, I think it will look good in the space, and be a good contrast to the yews, even in this less than ideal location. If it does awful, I like the plant enough to move it to a different location after a couple of years.
This area still looks a little sad, especially without the mulch in yet, but I’ve learned in the past to be patient and let plants grow into the space. I’ve had to dig too much up after a few years because too many flowers, shrubs and even trees were planted too close together. Money down the drain! In a few years this will grow to be a healthy plant and not be overflowing the space.
