A Bluebird Couple

This lovely pair, the female at left and the male at right, took up residence in one of two Bluebird boxes I have in my yard.

It took about two-years to finally attract them as they are particular and shy. From my watches, they are diligent and attentive parents.

For years they've been in decline due to habitat loss, but thanks to backyard birders and parks that have Bluebird boxes they are rebounding.

Consider adding a Bluebird box to your yard. All you need is patience and all the Bluebirds need is a place.

A beautiful Bee Balm bloom

A singular Bee Balm flower blooms in my garden. But this bloom is large and exquisite. I am certain, as the season progresses, there will be many more. This one bloom though, with it's rounded head of tubular flowers, is so loved by the bees, butterflies and other nectar seeking creatures. This one bloom is a way-station for them as spring turns to summer.

Bee Balm is also called Monarda, wild bergamot and Oswego tea. Native American used it to make tea.

Plant Mondara and you will make many nectar seeking creatures happy.

Fashionable lady

One of  Spring's hottest color is in the orange family cleverly called such delicious names as tangerine and mandarin. You see the color in tops, pants, shoes, jewelry and handbags. It is a lovely color and speaks to the cool days and crisp nights of the season.

But there is one lady I've seen, who in her year-round colors, is at the height of this Spring's fashion color.  The female Northern Cardinal. Her colors are exquisite. Soft muted browns complimented by a rich tangerine with tans and greys. Her beak, a stunning orange that dramatically highlights her beautiful plumage. Take a close look at her front, where you can see light tans dappled with a pale orange.

So ladies, take a fashion lesson from this gal. Think tans, browns, greys, tangerine and orange. You just might take flight.

I love you Earth

Earth is beautiful,

You is beautiful,

I is beautiful,

Sky is beautiful,

Land is beautiful,

Ocean is beautiful,

Plant is beautiful,

Animal is beautiful,

Bird is beautiful.

The world rejoices.

Earth Day, April 22, 2012

Photo: Nasa Goddard

Somewhere . . .

This male bluebird and his mate have begun their spring nesting activities right in my backyard - my little piece of heaven that is a sanctuary for all living creatures that call the Earth their home.

Perched up high at the top of a pine, this is his favorite lookout before he launches himself at the nest.

If I stand just right in the window, I am in his line of site. I watch him quietly as he waits for a time, with a piece of moss or other nest material in his beak, looking about to make sure the coast is clear. When satisfied,  he launches himself at a steep downward angle straight into his home - one of two bluebird boxes I've secured to my deck. The pine is no more than thirty feet from his home and his accuracy and grace of flight is a wonder as wondrous as the color of his beautiful blue feathers.

Perhaps I am on the other side of the rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Gallus gallus domesticus

An afternoon thunderstorm deep in the south gave way to this lovely view. The flowering dogwoods were a pure, radiant white, a white so pure it was hard to take your eyes off of them. This was the delightful scene my first day at Barnell State Park in Blackville, South Carolina on the transition from late winter into spring.

The time continued to delight as I saw a Great Blue Heron wading in the pond, alligators swimming, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker working a pine, three Pileated Woodpeckers foraging together and a multitude of butterflies fluttering about in the understory. It was a joyous response to the coming of spring.

But there was one visitor to my camp that keeps coming back to my mind over and over again. A chicken. She wandered up one day and caught me by surprise. She was inquisitive and she was a beauty. Her soft beige and brown colors were lovely and her tail feathers exquisite. I wondered how she had gotten there. What was she doing in a state park? Had she been abandoned? Was there a farm nearby that she wandered from? Off in the distance a rooster did crow one morning. Perhaps she was an adventurer like me and did wander off to discover the world or perhaps she escaped. I did not know. She obviously had been around humans, as she showed no fear in entering my camp but would scurry off if I came too near.

To me, she was living between two worlds, that of the domestic, she did seek human companionship and that of the wild, she returned to the woods at dusk to roost.

I was concerned for her. She was a domesticated bird – I worried if she’d survive.  I thought of her sisters, the billions suffering year after year on factory farms. I pondered capturing her and placing her in a good home. But how would I do that? And how would I transport her? I had five dogs with me. But I‘d figure something out.

 I thought deep and hard on her welfare and my mind vacillated back and forth between her and the horrific images of her imprisoned sisters. She was getting a taste of freedom, unencumbered by the demands of humans. My decision came down on her side, her side of freedom and her foray into the world her ancestors had come from. I decided not to interfere.

The day I left, I wished her well. I wished her the bliss of freedom. And, I said goodbye.

But, she will be in my memory always. As the years go by, I will think on her for a time, when the waves of memories that come and go bring her image to rest on the shores of my mind and heart.

Grandaddy Graybeard

Seen in the south draped like garland on Southern Live Oak and Bald Cypress trees, Spanish Moss is sometimes called graybeard - grandaddy graybeard. Like the Saguaro cactus of the southwest, it is an icon of the deep south and conjures thoughts of sultry summer days and misty warm mornings.

A northerner, when I first saw Spanish moss I knew I was in the deep south. Where else could I be? The encounter sifted deep into my memories, to memories of pictures and old art that I had seen. Yes, I was finally in the South - finally with the icon.

Spanish moss is not a true moss but an epiphyte, which is a plant that derives its food not from the tree but from the air and rainfall (how lovely is that?) It causes the tree no harm although the growth of the tree may be limited by the amount of sunshine reaching its leaves.

Graybeard has been used for many things including insulation, mulch and packing material. It is also used in arts and crafts and you've most likely encountered it as the grey, soft filling on top of plants from a florist. It was once used to stuff car seats and mattresses. Have you checked your mattress lately?

I'd rather see it on the trees of the deep south where it provides shelter for animals as one part of an intricate web, from tree to graybeard to snakes to bats to memories.

Spanish moss hangin' down
Lofty as the southern love we've found
Spanish moss ~ Gordon Lightfoot