The moon rose tonight as the sun was setting, which produced a beautiful combination of colors.
Tag: Nature
Mushroom
Another cool mushroom growing in our yard
Mushrooms
Shelf mushrooms growing on a tree stump in the woods
First Robin of 2020
They’re here!
Bird House Summer Project
We’ve been making suet and putting out seed for the birds, and I was thinking about making some nesting boxes this summer. In looking for ideas, I came across woodcrete boxes – a mixture of sawdust, concrete, and maybe clay. If I can figure out how to make a form for them, I think we’ll cast some woodcrete nest boxes this summer.
Tiny Bird Footprints
There was a little bird hopping through the snow by our suet cakes:
Suet Feeder In Action
We’ve had a week of mid-teen highs and snow squalls. The birds have been enjoying the suet we made for them. We have a large upside down suet feeder for larger birds, a standard little green cage feeder for pretty much anything that happens by, and these little citrus rinds are perfect for small birds. Larger birds don’t really have anywhere to perch to eat from them, but the small guys swing on the rinds while they eat. We’ll probably be making more suet next weekend and refill these rinds, but the suet lasts a long time when it’s eaten by chickadees, nuthatches, and sparrows.
Butterflies!
We had a red spotted purple butterfly hanging around the house today – seemed like his wings were a little wet because he stayed in one place and flapped his wings.
Butterfly Garden
We have a small pond in the back yard and a bricked in courtyard in front of the house. I am building butterfly gardens with native plants in both areas. Hopefully we’ll be able to sit in the dining room and watch butterflies hatch.
Here are the plant that I’ve ordered
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Type |
| Partridge Pea | Chamaecrista fasciculata | Host and Nectar Plant |
| Showy Milkweed | Asclepias Speciosa | Host and Nectar Plant |
| Western Sand Milkweed | Asclepias arenaria | Host and Nectar Plant |
| Wild Petunia | Ruellia humilis | Host and Nectar Plant |
| Butterfly Weed | Asclepias tuberosa | Host Plant |
| Common Milkweed | Asclepias syriaca | Host Plant |
| Whorled Milkweed | Asclepias verticillata | Host Plant |
| Blue Sage Salvia | Salvia azurea | Nectar Plant |
| Cardinal Flower | Lobelia cardinalis | Nectar Plant |
| Iron Weed | Vernonia altissima | Nectar Plant |
| Orange Coneflower, Orange Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia fulgida | Nectar Plant |
| Purple Prairie Clover | Dalea purpurea | Nectar Plant |
| Royal Catchfly | Silene regia | Nectar Plant |
| Sweet Joe Pye Weed | Eupatorium purpureum | Nectar Plant |
| Wild Bergamot, Wild Bee Balm | Monarda fistulosa | Nectar Plant |
| Golden Alexanders | Zizia aurea | Host Plant |
| Michigan Lily | Lilium michiganense | Nectar Plant |
| Rose Milkweed | Asclepias incarnata | Host and Nectar Plant |
| Purple Coneflower | Echinacea purpurea | Nectar Plant |
| Wild Lupine | Lupinus perennis | Host Plant |
| Wild Senna | Senna hebecarpa | Nectar Plant |
Baby Bird
There was a baby bird learning to fly in our back yard – so young that it still has some of the fluffy little baby feathers.
