Tag: nature
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Nesting Lesser Goldfinches
We have just about every type of bird feeder in our backyard — tube feeders, sock feeders, platform feeders, house feeders, hummer feeders. The one that the birds don’t really pay much attention to are the suet feeders. I have spent a lot of time trying to get them interested, but no luck. So I…
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Butterflies
Usually, butterflies are hard to photograph. They are wary creatures, and when you turn the big eye of your camera at them, they take off, flying erratically away. But this week, I’ve been lucky to get some photos of butterflies I’ve never shot before — in some cases, I’ve never heard of before. Case in…
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Spider catching a wasp for a meal
I went for a hike today — perhaps not the best choice, because a lot of people have the day off due to corona virus, and a lot of people have the day off due to Independence Day tomorrow. By the time I arrived at the trail head at 7:45, the parking lot was full.…
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Monarch Caterpillers!
For years, my husband and I have nurtured milkweed in the lost corners of our yard. “Remember the Monarchs!” we chant, as we carefully work around the tall milk-sap plants. While Monarch butterflies eat nectar from a bunch of different plants, the caterpillars eat only milkweed as they grow. The milky sap of Milkweeds is…
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Hummer in Blue Spruce Tree
After an intense fast moving rainstorm yesterday, I happened to look out my front window to see something I’d never before seen — a female broad-tailed hummingbird zipping among the branches of our blue spruce. Although she stopped at the end of new spruce buds momentarily, she never stayed in any one place for very…
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New Friends
We’ve had some new friends in the yard this week! A charming flock of chipping sparrows stopped by! I don’t remember seeing them before, but I suspect that is merely a reflection on my lack of recognition. Their name comes from the “chip! chip!” sound they make, which is the entirety of their song. Imagine…
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Turkey vultures have returned to Front Range
Some people watch for the first robin of spring. In Capistrano, they look for the return of the swallows. I know it’s spring when the turkey vultures return to the Front Range of Colorado. (https://amylaw.blog/2013/04/08/it-must-be-spring/) Turkey vultures are big birds — the biggest you are likely to see, with the exception of an eagle or…
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Thanksgiving Bushtits
As we were cooking Thanksgiving dinner this noon, my husband happened to look out our kitchen window at the bird feeders in our back yard. “We have bushtits!” These gregarious little birds move around the neighborhood in a small flock. You know they are passing by their flitting flight, and their cheeping “contact” calls. Bushtits…
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When I could not go to nature, nature kindly came to me.
My life has been busy, hectic and stressful for the last few months. One of my problems has been that I haven’t had time to go find interesting things in nature to share. But a wonderful thing about nature is that if you are patient, and observant, sometimes it comes to you. The dogs were…
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Windy Days
We’ve had some windy days lately. Two days ago (October 20, 2019) we had gusts up to 40 mph (miles per hour) — it was hard to walk in that wind! As we battled the blustery weather while walking the dogs, I happened to look to the west, where I saw lens-shaped clouds hovering over…
Amy Law, Science Geek 