Last week a small flock of 5 golden-crowned kinglets visited the garden. They are about the size of a hummingbird and can survive temperatures up to -40 degrees Fahrenheit by snuggling together in the cold. They don’t really sit still for more than a second […]
All posts filed under: Up Close & Personal …
Up Close & Personal … The Downy Woodpecker
This time of year we get a lot of woodpeckers visiting the suet feeders. The female downy woodpecker identical to the hairy woodpecker, except for its size and the length of the bill. The downy has a short stubby beak in comparison to its body size. Males […]
Up Close & Personal … Purple Blaze of Beautyberries
Years ago I took a few horticultural classes at the local community college. Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion’, commonly known as beautyberry, was one of the many plants I was introduced to then. The instructor stressed that these plants like to be close to another one of […]
Up Close & Personal … Coyotes howling in the Night
It’s not very often that I see coyotes walk past our garden, but we do hear them howling during the night sometimes. Yesterday evening a group of coyotes congregated in the dark forest behind us, howling, yelping and barking loudly. They sounded almost a little […]
Up Close & Personal … Gentle Mourning Doves
This faithful pair of mourning doves has been visiting us for years during spring and summer. They usually fly in, waddle over to where the bird feeders are, in hopes of finding some morsels other birds might have dropped. After that, they always head over […]
Up Close & Personal … The very hungry Wasp
Have you ever seen these foamy masses on your plants? Spittlebug nymphs excrete a fluid and literally whip it into a bubbly foam. They then hide from predators inside it. So imagine my surprise, when I encountered this scene one summer morning! The wasp climbed […]
Up Close & Personal … The Cooper’s Hawk
The view from my kitchen window is fabulously distracting! I was in the midst of making a salad for dinner one night recently, when I happened to glance out the window. The yard was eerily quiet and not a bird in sight! That’s when I […]
Happy Friday from my favorite Spot in my Garden!
Love-in-a-mist, or Nigella damascena, are some of my very favorite flowers! These particular ones are extra special because they were given to me many years ago. I sprinkled the seeds throughout the flowerbeds around our deck. I waited, and waited, and waited some more … but […]
Up Close & Personal … One not so Elusive Dragonfly
We’ve lived in this house for 13 years now and I don’t remember ever seeing this many dragonflies in our yard. Despite not having a pond or water feature, I see them zooming through our yard all day long. This is the third species I […]
Up Close & Personal … The Whitetail Dragonfly
This whitetail skimmer, or dragonfly, made an appearance in my garden about ten days ago. I was relaxing in the shade that afternoon when I suddenly noticed something moving and squirming clear across the yard. With camera in hand I slowly approached the spot of […]
Up Close & Personal … The Elusive Dragonfly
When I looked out the window the other day, I spotted this reddish-orange dragonfly sunbathing on a poppy seedpod. I grabbed my camera and quickly went outside in hopes of taking a few pictures of this incredible flying machine. The dragonfly however, did not cooperate […]
Up Close & Personal … Painting with Sunlight
Sometimes I’m green or blue other times just plain see-through. Cold or hot … frozen or not … Tell me what and where I am … When the sun comes out ordinary everyday things can take on a whole new look! I came across this […]
Meditation in Moments … Dainty Dandelion
The circle of life Dandelion … seed to flower flower to seed always on autopilot. Dandelions are once again abundant this year so I thought I’d look at them in a different way. They really are quite a pest around my yard and annoy me. […]
Up Close & Personal … The Lone White Tulip
There aren’t very many tulips in my garden anymore. Of all the bulbs that I planted over the years, tulips seem to do the worst, and I’m not sure why. Most of them stop coming up after a couple of years. After a rain shower, […]
Meditation in Moments … Spring Cherry Blossoms
For just a moment a minute or five breathe in and delight delicate cherry blossoms flutter in the breeze. For just a moment a minute or five breathe in and delight it’s easy, it’s free I promise that the world will wait for you. Do […]
Up Close & Personal … Sunshiny Springtime Forsythia
Spring has sprung where I live! The garden is beginning to awake from hibernation. We’ve had some sunshine, some rain showers, and even a day of 72° sunshine! I stopped everything that afternoon and went outside to bask in the warmth of the sun. These […]
Up Close & Personal … Nature’s Crown Jewels
Just a few days ago I sat outside in the sun enjoying a cup of coffee while daydreaming about spring. It didn’t seem that far away…. …. until it started to snow! We got a nice dusting over the weekend, then several inches more last […]
Up Close & Personal … Droplets of Rain
It’s been a warmer than usual winter here in Portland without much weather other than the usual rain. During a rain break the other day I went outside and took a closer look at raindrops through the lens of my camera. As I am writing […]
