Carolina Wrens Do the Craziest Things

I was settling in on a dark and drizzly afternoon to watch the North Carolina - Maryland basketball game when a movement outside the window caught my eye. A Carolina wren hopped up from the back of a rocking chair on the porch and took shelter on top of the weight of this wind chime. It's still there, half an hour and several slightly blurred photos later. 

Carolina wrens always make me smile. They're the loudest, most curious, cheerful and fearless of small birds. Any open door or new object in the yard must be investigated. One briefly flew into the house the other day when we had the door open. Do you see the little beak peeking down? Words cannot express the pleasure this little bird gave me on a day of too many tasks and errands.

Wildflower Wednesday

It's been a long time since I posted photos of flowers. Perhaps it's because it was too hot (mid- to upper-90s) most of the summer and the plants went into survival mode. But now a few prolific fall wildflowers have exploded with color. 

Below is Eastern aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium). It takes sun or part shade, and even though it flops in my garden because of lack of sun, it blooms profusely. 

 

I adore the color of New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). 

Here is oxeye or false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), blooming happily. It is flopping (like most of my sun-loving plants), but if you have full sun it will grow 3- to 6-feet tall. I think it would look beautiful planted with the two asters above. 

I believe the plant below is Rudbeckia hirta var. angustifolia (see narrow leaves at top left of photo), but please correct me if I'm wrong. It was a freebie from my time volunteering at the N.C. Botanical Garden. 

All of the wildflowers featured here attract butterflies. Notice the nice flat landing pads and easy-access pollen. 

Native trees and shrubs are fruiting. Birds have been feasting on dogwood berries.

Below is Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite.' So far, the birds don't seem interested in it, which allows me to enjoy the beauty of the berries. It's growing in part sun and average soil in my garden, though I have read it prefers full sun and wet soil. 

Beautyberry's (Callicarpa americana) purple berries are stunning.

I'm happy to participate in Wildflower Wednesday hosted by Clay and Limestone. 

Help Me Decide: Show the Motion Contest

I never set out to photograph motion, but because the world is full of motion, it sneaks into my photos. Cathy and Steve suggested I enter one of the photographs of the robin in the birdbath photos in Gardening Gone Wild's competition this month, which is on motion.

Once I started looking at old photographs, I got a little carried away. These are some of my favorite photographs from Chebeague Island, Maine. To me, they convey the motion of wind and tides and waves and birds. I am not sure that they convey motion to others who weren't there to feel the chill of the northeasterly wind as it raced over the waters, or the power of the tide flowing in. So I'd love to hear your feedback.

Here is a photo that is similar to the one at the header of my blog. I like how the water swirls around the fern that magically grows on a rock in the rushing creek. The fern appears to be in motion, too. 

Next, some photos of butterflies in motion. I think the top one of the zebra swallowtail is the best.

This photo may be more about the water than the butterfly.

Birds are almost always in motion. Because my camera has a limited range of shutter speeds, I end up with lots of blurred photographs. But sometimes I like the effects. You can see the drops raining down on the towhee in the photo below.

This photo never fails to make me smile, though I'm not sure if it can stand alone.

I like how the robin's wings are blurred as it beats the water.

This photo amuses me, too, and I can see the robin in it looking at me while he bathes. But is it too much of a blur? The idea of a contest makes me second-guess my own photos. I'm an amateur with a basic camera and little technical knowledge, though I do bring love of nature and patience to photography.

This photo captures the typical turning of the bluebird as it flies from the box. 

I know from reading others' posts that I am now supposed to reveal my decision. But I don't have one yet. So please help. I'd appreciate your comments and votes for your favorite photo that shows the motion. 

Update: After reviewing Gardening Gone Wild's contest description and reading the comments, I have decided to enter the photograph of the robin beating the water with its wings. I agreed with commenters that the beach scene with the gulls is probably the best photo, but I am not sure it shows enough motion to fit the contest requirements. Thanks to all of you who took the time to offer feedback!

Wildlife Habitat

Renewing the Earth begins at home. Political leaders may not listen to my convictions on global warming and conservation of creation, but I am the steward of my garden. I love the creatures that live here and the ones that pass through on their mysterious daily rounds. The birds and the butterflies are showy and easy to appreciate. But I also like the invisible raccoon that picks the sunflower seeds out of the bird feeder, the skinks that skitter on the dry stone wall, and the fireflies that glow at nightfall.

I haven't been buying many things lately, but I did succumb recently to an impulse purchase. It isn't a beautiful peony, though I've been tempted. One day I was reading a blog, and a click or two later, I was on the web site of the National Wildlife Federation filling out a questionnaire to certify my garden as a wildlife habitat. A week later this sign arrived.

On one level, I know the whole thing is a bit silly. Wildlife can't read. They already know that my garden is a good place. But I was childishly pleased with the sign. I want others to care about wildlife, too, and what better way to start than a sign that might make someone think, even for a few seconds, that we share this land, this life on earth?

We don't have a lawn. Loblolly pines, sweetgums and tulip poplars cluster thickly in the front yard, and I let the pine needles and leaves accumulate as natural mulch. Bluebirds and robins and wrens and towhees and catbirds easily find insects in the leaf mulch, and I suspect that is part of the reason we have so many birds nesting in our yard.

Yesterday, I hung the sign on a sweetgum tree in the front yard near the street. I got the camera and stepped into the fallen leaves in front of the tree. Immediately I felt something sting me, looked at my leg and saw a yellow jacket attached. Wasps were swarming around me. I went flying up the driveway into the house, pulling wasps out of my leg, arm and the back of my head. Clearly I had stepped on a ground nest.

Now that the pain has subsided, it is easy to appreciate the irony in this. Wasps may not be able to read, but they sure do know how to defend their natural habitat. I mean, their certified wildlife habitat.

Adult yellow jacket, James Castner March 2003  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

I read later that yellow jackets build nests underground or at ground level, often in meadows on the edges of forests. Adult yellow jackets feed mainly on nectar from flowers. They also are important predators of other insects that can become garden pests.

Yellow jackets are aggressive when people threaten their nest. Females do the stinging, and unlike bees that die after one sting, they can sting repeatedly.

Still, I'd rather have a few yellow jacket stings and some healthy pollinators breeding in my yard than a property with a chemical-soaked lawn and few insects or birds or butterflies. All creatures have their place in nature, and who am I to interfere? We'll talk about the deer fence another time.

If you're interested in learning more about gardening for wildlife, I recommend Douglas Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home and Sara Stein's Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards.

Rhythms of Life

As a natural gardener, I strive for low maintenance. In the last few weeks, I have neglected both my garden and this blog after my husband had a heart attack. I even stopped refilling the bird feeder and bird bath for a couple of weeks. Nothing seemed to matter except caring for him.

Fortunately, the small half-sun vegetable garden was well-enough established by mid-June to survive neglect. Sungold and Sweet Million cherry tomatoes ripen by the dozens. And today I harvested a bowlful of Roma tomatoes, which will turn into sauce tomorrow.

Slowly, my interest in the garden has returned. It’s calming to watch a catbird splash joyfully in the birdbath. The cardinals and finches chase each other off the bird feeder. The ruby-throated hummingbird darts from salvias to annuals in pots, always in a hurry. The swallowtail butterflies flock to the Joe Pye weed. Today I saw six at one time on the small patch along the street. The rhythms of life continue, and when I slow down and watch, I see all’s right in the world.