Creatures around my home

This little spider is a Common House Spider. She's nestled against my Blue Bird nesting box that's hanging under my deck. Next to her is her egg sac, which she will guard until the tiny eggs hatch.

This is a Soldier Beetle. I found him on my rose bushes and learned that they eat pollen and other insects. You can see the tiny grains of pollen covering him as he forages along with the bees. To get an idea of his size, that's a rosebud he's climbing.

Here's a tiny fly I was able to capture as he flew about a Victoria Salvia leaf. He was very small, no more than one-eighth of an inch in length.

Here's a close-up of him showing beautiful iridescence wings, a copper body and amber eyes. I did not see these lovely colors by eyesight but only after I zoomed in on the image.

These two were a little larger and were buzzing around and landing on Blue Queen Salvia.

I believe they are all Long-legged flies but there are many species and it would take a specialist to ID them.

It makes me happy to see all of these small creatures delighting in my yard. 

All are welcome and all are safe here.

A Sun Halo

This Sun halo was caught on a Spring afternoon when there were wispy clouds above. These high clouds are made of ice crystals and due to the sunlight reflecting off of them cause this optical phenomena.

Some halos are white in color. What is particularly nice about this halo is you can see almost all the colors of a rainbow.

Wild Bleeding-heart

I'm intending on adding more native plants to my gardens. My regret, when I moved into my home, is that I did not. Planting native species is a good way to go because, over time, they are the least expensive to maintain plus, it just makes sense and restores the local ecosystem.

It's good for the plants and the insects and animals that depend on them. And it's good for us.

Below is one that I planted this spring. It's Dicentra Eximia also known as Wild Bleeding-heart or Fringed Bleeding-heart. It is a beautiful plant native to the lower Northeast and South.

Here are the wonderful blooms I've been rewarded with.

To shine with color such as this, Dicentra Eximea is truly in its element.

**Plant native**      **Plant native**      **Plant native**