MY Urban Jungle

A recent remark by Yours Truly, in a comment to a Musings of Murphyfish post, led John (the talented writer of M. of M.) to write his most recent musing. The subject matter is the abundance of wildlife in urban settings. [NOTE - this is not a synopsis of John's post. If you haven't done so, simply click on his blog through my Blog List and read his works.] It all started when I mentioned that I believe there is a lot of overlooked "stuff" in our own backyards and vicinities. For me, it literally IS in my own backyard.

Interestingly enough, I have a few components of the "Anti-Ecosystem" in my yard. The grass is mowed all spring, summer, and fall, the weeds are killed, and the edges are tight - all compliments of my wife, I'm quick to add. In many cases, this style of lawn maintenance leaves nowhere for the critters. But, we have a LOT of things living in our yard. Partially because we plant appropriately for the fauna. We have extensive perennial gardens, and many of the plants are there specifically to attract wildlife. We also feed the birds throughout the year.

The following pictures are all from the back yard. I have some other pictures I was unable to find this evening - pheasants in the snow, and praying mantis, to name a few. Still, we have some good "stuff" in the yard, and I'm always trying to capture it on film. I have yet to get a good shot of the sole hummingbird who appears briefly each summer, but I'll get him eventually.

What is really sort of amazing, when you sit back and think about it, is that we live in the absolute WORST type of development to attract nature - essentially a recently developed cornfield. There are no substantial trees because the oldest house in the development is 12 years old. Consequently, there is little shade for diversity among the flowers planted. And we're surrounded by other developments that were very recently cornfields, so there is no plethora of wildlife waiting to come into our yard from the adjacent property.

Still, we do what we can, and we have fun watching the stuff in the yard. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

NEWS FLASH - I will actually be FISHING in the coming weeks - once next week in PA, and the following week out west. I will take so many pictures my camera explodes! So, this may be the end of the "I wish these were fish pictures, but the best thing I have right now is my Yard" posts.




A moth on the siding




Hummingbird Moth




Butterfly




Moth




A single morning's haul of toads from the window wells. My wife checks for, and rescues, the toads in window wells every day.





A baby rabbit




Hawk on the chair. We feed a lot of birds, and that in turn feeds a bunch of hawks!




Goldfinch




Mallards in the snow




TOAD!




Male Cardinal in the snow

Bumblebee quest

After looking over the pictures from yesterday's post, and the one's I didn't include, I decided to just let the camera do the work and quit messing around with specialty "SCENE" options. I went back to auto-focus and went after a good bumble bee photo.

I don't know if they are any good, but they were fun to take. My wife thinks I'm nuts for stalking the yard insects, but I like it. There are always some surprising pictures when I download them.

Here are a few from this afternoon's "Bumblebee Quest". And, a few new flower pictures.

Enjoy. And, as always, click on the picture for a much better view.











White coneflower




a cool looking Rubeckia



A little bee in the center of a Rubeckia. We always called these "Sweat Bees" when I was a kid.




Gaillardia, or "Blanket Flower"




Trumpet Gaillardia

This ought to be a post and picture fest about smallmouth bass, but it's not.

I was supposed to be returning from La Reserve Beauchene today. For the uninitiated, Beauchene is one of the absolute best smallmouth waters on the planet. No, you won't get fish as large as May smallies on Lake Erie. But you will get big bass, big numbers, and stay at a terrific resort while fishing beautiful, private water. We've had a reservation for this trip for about 6 months. I've been there once before, about 8 years ago, and can't wait to return. But, alas, some things are just not meant to be. At least until next year.

One of our party of 4 FINALLY got an offer and contract on his house. Naturally, the closing date fell while we were to be fishing. If he changed the date, it would have cost him 10 GRAND, and possibly lost the sale. We negotiated with the lodge and they allowed us to move our deposit to next year. So - no bass for me.


Toad and Gargoyle




Toad

Instead of fishing for my favorite fish on a great piece of water, I got to stay home and literally watch my grass grow. We've had non-stop rain and warm temps, and I've had to cut the grass every 3 or 4 days! THAT part of the yard maintenance is getting old in a hurry. But the flowers are growing, so I take some pictures of them when I see something I like. So if you were expecting bass pictures - sorry. The only ecosystem I've been seeing recently is in my back yard, so that's what you get. I might sneak out Saturday morning for catfish, just so I can post a picture of a fish.


Our lillies have been really nice and colorful this year, so that's what you'll get on today's pictures for the most part. I need to make some shutter speed adjustments to capture the bumblebee's that are flocking to the freshly opened bee balm, but I'll post what I have. Enjoy.








And, finally, my lame bumblebee attempt