During the strong winds of winter, I keep my eye on the sky for hawks. I love to see them circling around on high. But, this one was a bit too close for comfort choosing to perch in the tree in my chicken yard. My girls (the chickens) knew he was there and took refuge….
Category: Observations
More on Monarchs
Monarch season is over. The last straggler I spotted in my yard was December 20, 2021, just before the first arctic blast that welcomed in 2022. I started tagging Monarchs in my urban yard in 1997. That year, in the month of October my daughters and I tagged 75 Monarchs. We have not seen numbers…
Monarch Mismatch
Monarchs have been much on my mind lately. It is fall and I live on the western edge of the Monarch Highway. I have tagged Monarchs for Monarch Watch since 1997 but quit buying tags around 2015 when the urban Monarch population became so small. I had the chance to look back at some old…
Fall Bloomers
Every fall, I look forward to seeing three of my favorite fall bloomers and the pollinators and insects they attract. First to bloom is frostweed, Verbesina virginica. One of my first posts (December 2018) was about frostweed “blooming” in winter but here it is really blooming! Terpentine bush, Ericameria laricifolia, is a late summer, fall…