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…
Blooming Blackberries!
I have been working hard to get my gardens in shape! So today, I went out to prune my blackberries, a prickly job! To my surprise they are blooming already, two to three months early. I don’t know if they will be able to set fruit. Our average last frost date here in Midland is…
A New Year
What a way to start the New Year! It has been cold: highs in the low 30’s and lows in the 20’s. When I went out to check on chickens, I was treated to this beautiful frost crystals coming from the base of a plant! My frostweed (Verbesina virginica) had “bloomed”! Not actual blooms of…