A Walk in The Woods

Since I'm, shall we say, "between jobs" at present, and since the weather has been absolutely glorious this week (apart from a torrential downpour on Tuesday, I decided to go for a walk through Kleb Woods and take advantage of being able to be outside enjoying the weather on a week day!

I'm sure I have written about Kleb Woods before, it's one of my favorite places.  We are so lucky to have it close by.

The trails are easy so I headed off, looking for the marsh and bird blind I had visited before.  After swatting at mosquitoes for about half an hour, and not finding the bird blind -- note to management... more signage on that side of the woods would be a help -- I headed back over to the more familiar Nature Center and spent an hour walking around there, watching birds and other critters.

I know many people consider squirrels a nuisance, especially in  the garden, but I find them delightful.  We used to get a lot in our garden, when we were surrounded by trees.  Perhaps we will again one day as the trees in the neighborhood grow and mature.  I hope so.  I miss the lil guys.

The area around the nature center is always inspiration for my own wildlife garden.   Their Hamelia Patens is shoulder tall in summer (unlike mine, which didn't get over a foot tall this year) and I'd like to know what they are feeding this Turk's Cap. It's humongous!! (Although to be fair, this is two plants) 

I don't know if they ever open up the house to visitors, but you can look in the windows and see it's furnished and decorated as it was when Elmer Kleb lived here.

The story of Elmer Kleb and how the Nature Preserve came to be is quite intriguing.  You can read more about it here.

As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye and was delighted to see this grey fox (at least I think that's what it is)

He let me get quite close and take some photos before he trotted off into the brush.

All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon in the woods.  I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.

Linking this post with Camera Critters today.




Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Another Winged Beauty

I was sitting on the patio in the shade, browsing through the Native American Seed catalog, trying to decide what I want to plant next year, when a flutter of color caught my eye.

I looked up to see this lovely Giant Swallowtail,  Papilio cresphontes, enjoying the Profusion zinnia.  

 I have to tell you, whatever I decide to add next year, I'll be sure to include this zinnia! It shrugs off our heat and humidity and the bees, butterflies and even the hummingbirds love it.

And once it goes to seed, I suspect that the sparrows and other birds will enjoy pecking at the seed heads.

This beauty floated around for several minutes, allowing me to go indoors and get the camera to take these shots, and even take a short video.

Now *this*, is why I garden :-)

I'm linking this post to Camera Critters, do take a peek and visit some of the other Camera Critters participants this week.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Birds and the Bees

 What a fun morning in the garden today!  As I was sitting on the patio enjoying my morning coffee I had a chance to get some photos of the young birds who have been visiting the feeders this week.

This young mockingbird was hopping around in the grape vine, cheeping plaintively.

He was quite insistent, and wasn't shy about letting his wants known.

And finally his patience was rewarded when mom (or is it dad?) arrives with something tasty.  I was lucky to snap these photos.  About five seconds after the last one was taken, both birds disappeared into the hedgerow opposite, and I haven't seen them since!

Once the mockingbirds had moved on, I was happy to see the Cardinal Kids show up. They both look a little moth-eaten at the moment, the male below especially, as they get their adult plumage.

Their beaks are starting to turn color as well - they were much darker a few days ago.

And finally, the Profusion zinnia is proving irresistible to several bumble bees (as well as butterflies, but I will keep that for another post).

I'm not positive which species of bumble bee these are, as there are 46 species.  It may be Bombus auricomus, but I'm really not sure.  If anyone knows, please let me know!

I'm going to add today's post to Camera Critters.  You can visit by clicking on my link, or on the Camera Critters button in the right hand bar of my blog to see critter photos posted by other bloggers around the world.



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.