Sunday Sights ~ butterflies

The first butterfly spotted in our new garden was a little orange one dusting itself off:

Northern Crescent

 Well, actually this was the first butterfly:

I was hand watering the struggling plants a few days later, when a yellow swallowtail playfully fluttered past my head.

I think the butterflies are as eager as I am for their garden to grow!!

I also saw my first Monarch in the general area. No photos. I wasn't able to catch up with it, but I was able to capture this beautiful Giant Swallowtail in action across from our house:

Sunday Sights

Blooming sights, all transplanted from my previous home:

clematis

clematis

Several other clematis did not make it at their new sites. I cut way back on garden beds (really, I did!!) and there are not as many good spots. I tried growing a couple clematis to climb up trees. Didn't work for me. It was worth trying, better than leaving them to get plowed under. I moved a tiny struggling one to see if I can get it to grow and vine down the rock retaining wall.

japanese painted fern (naturalized) 



wider view of where I put 5 ferns last year (enchanted forest)

Japanese painted ferns are my fav fern. I transplanted others in my garden beds, as well as a couple natural areas. I am happy to say they have all survived to date!

naturalized white bleeding heart


a hidden garden area with various naturalized transplants

silly struggling helleborus, trying to bloom

I am considering moving my two helleborus into the barn garden bed. I thought they would naturalize. At least the smaller "blooming" one needs a new home. 

 

a healthier helleborus, no blooms again this year

my mom's perennial geranium blooms are beautiful

She originally planted it at our home, when I was a young teenager.

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Native sights:

cactus buds are forming

pink honeysuckle are almost done blooming

ditto with the white/yellow honeysuckle

Honeysuckles are considered invasive here. I find them spreading everywhere. I do like the scent and so do winged wonders. Some will stay, others will need to go.

black cherry tree

The above tree sure is annoying. Scrappy tree branches droop down blocking trails. Blossoms are pretty, but very messy. I am sure black cherry trees serve a purpose for wildlife, but the less desirable smaller tilted ones will need to go. Just like the honeysuckle.

sooo many wild strawberries

cute dwarf dandelion (?)

false solomons seal (not a fan of either)

no clue

I find trying to ID wildflowers frustrating. There are SO many ever changing varieties. What I see often doesn't match the ref websites.

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Non-plant related ranch sights:

Brad cowboy cooked breakfast



fly mask season

(Cierra, Harmony and Koda) 

Sunday Sights

 

Flutterby Dreams

We planted my butterfly plants yesterday! Despite predicted night time low temps. There were SO very many plants. It was a bit overwhelming. All good once I got my hands in the dirt. I had the garden planned on paper. Brad was laughing at me as I tossed (literally) plants here and there, making adjustments on the fly.

I purchased a 16 plant pack during an early bird sale from an Prairie Plant vendor in January. They are an excellent resource and share a plethora of information about native WI plants. Almost everything is sold out by May. There were limitations on what could be chosen for the special purchase price. This is what I selected, with a few plants in addition to the pack: Western Sunflower, Hoary Vervain, Lupine, Smooth Aster, Royal Catchfly, Hairy Penstemon, Beardtongue, Rough Blazing Star and Sweet Joe Pye Weed.

We included the plants I had started: Hello Yellow Milkweed, Orange Butterflyweed, Echinacea, Black eyed Susans, Lupines, Asters and Zinnias. Today I will plant remaining/collected seeds.

The garden will be hand watered for a while, and then it's up to Mother Nature. 

archive photo

Brad marked off a walking path in the middle of the garden. Wavy, of course! A tree stump remains. It apparently wants to be garden art or a home for toads/garden fairies. Eventually there will be butterfly mud puddling & possibly art. Depends on if the garden takes.

This is my second Butterfly Garden. I led my younger daughters Girl Scout Troop and we planted one in the village park. That was a long time ago. It is grass now. 

It has been decades since I laid out a garden from scratch, especially such a gigantic one. My largest garden scheme to date, and probably my last. I had decided to do minimal gardening after our move here. My plan was no garden beds to not keep up with. Clearly, that plan didn't stick.

This butterfly garden will be different. It can be mowed/burned annually. That is my hope. If the garden fails, it won't hurt my feelings to plant it with grass. It may very well get plowed under, but you don't know unless you try.

~~~~~

 

" There is freedom waiting for you,

On the breezes of the sky,

And you ask What if I fall?

Oh but my darling, What if you fly? "

~ author unknown ~

Sunday Sights

Sunday was a good, but long anticipated hard day. It was my first Mothers Day, without my mom.

Mom's tree & inscribed Bench

I wrote my mom a long two-sided letter in Spanish. I haven't written any letters, especially in Spanish, in what feels like forever.

After folding my heartfelt letter, I sealed it with a small heart cut out of red Mulberry fiber paper. She loved mulberries. We had them growing in our yard.

The same red fiber paper was used to wrap and line a small cardboard box, to hold some of her cremains.

Two ribbons adorned the box. One translucent red, the other a bright accent yellow. The colors of Spain. Her beloved home country.

A bloom cut from the orchid she gave me, was added to the box top. She loved orchids. A similar orchid is laser cut into her bench, along with her favorite bird. Cardinals. 

I cut out paper heart shapes for the grandkids to color. Our younger daughter decorated her own. We planted my letter, their heart shapes and my mom, along with her memorial tree.

Crab Apple Tree "Showtime"

Everyone pitched in and helped fill in the dirt. I truly hope this special tree thrives for many years.

My moms bench was a surprise for all our kids. We unwrapped it together.

Brad suggested a great location, it overlooks our property and allows us to put the tree and bench together. He worked hard at clearing the area of scrub trees, piled up dirt and remaining junk. Left behind from previous landowners. There is more to be done. I will post a finished photo in the future.

We plan to pour a concrete base and secure the bench, add a few more trees/pines/shrubs and finish landscaping. The area looks SO much better already. I look forward to peacefully enjoying the beautiful landscape, sunsets and clear night sky views. With my mom in mind & heart.

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A couple Winery sights from last week:

walking through the wine cellar for more wine tasting & cheese pairing

I thought of Shirley when I saw the largest Helleborus I've ever seen (it went up to my knee).

Mine never looked anywhere close to this pretty and healthy.

At the winery I learned if storing their full bodied red bottle of wine over 3-5 years, it should be opened and allowed to rest for a couple hours. I mentioned an old bottle of wine I have. My friend suggested opening it on Sunday, in honor of my mom. What an absolutely PERFECT and meaningful idea!! 

My oldest daughter and I shared the bottle. I opened it a couple hours prior. No one else in our family drinks red. They thought we were crazy. Much to our surprise, the wine was delicious! Tasted exactly like the table wine my grandmother served with every evening meal. I think my Aunt gave us this bottle, when she came to visit around 1988. Notice the little attached bull decor.

34 year old Spanish wine

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Last but not least, some not Sunday bird sights:

Yellow-rumped Warbler

No photos (yet) from this years Hummers, Orioles & Whippoorwills, but they are back!! 

Yellow Warbler

Sunday Sights

Another Tuesday, another trip north to the car dealer. This time to replace transmission lines on my truck. I figure it's better to spend two & a half hours waiting inside with all their amenities, than stranded on the side of some road.

I almost went straight home afterwards. Almost. 

Instead, I went back to the hot spot I was at last Tuesday. Before it is overflowing with fishermen and all the waterfowl go somewhere else. I have been there more than once and not seen anything but a seagull or two. 

Of course, the first thing I saw were American Pelicans. They are in all larger bodies of water around here right now. There was a good sized flock of 35-ish floating around. I couldn't help but shoot one as it flew overhead:

A Blue Heron flew within reach of my camera:

Red-winged Blackbirds were making a fuss

Pied-Billed Grebe

Any idea what bird this is?

It was small, and ducked under water for extended dives. It was floating alone. Notice the white tipped bill & red eye. Perhaps a juvenile of some kind of red-eyed waterfowl. An Eared Grebe??

Update: the above bird is a Horned Grebe!! The difference between Eared & Horned is this bird has a white bill tip & thicker/flatter head (and is not rare). I used Merlin’s photo ID for the first time, to confirm.

I will try to get better photos of these two, someday:

Bonapart Gull

American Coot

The three amigos below caught my eye right way. I had no clue what they were. They floated on the log the entire time I was taking photos, until I pointed my camera at them. 

Double-breasted Cormorant
(male, female, male)

Apparently they don't like their photo being taken and took to the water. These photos are very cropped. They were waaay out in the water.

The older male went last (see trio pic above, he is far left). His mate was floating the entire time, even further out. He eventually flew over the other pair and landed near her. 

They took off so fast!! Double-breasted Cormorant have big webbed feet. It looked as if they were walking on water. I've never seen them before. They were my favorite find of the day.

A mature pair of Wood Ducks caught my eye at the very end, right before I headed home. 

Sunday Sights

Life has been busy this past week. Consequently, pending posts are piling up. Which translates to, they may or may not ever be completed/shared. I am glad I gave myself A LOT of flexibility with my attempt at regular Monday posts. They wouldn't happen otherwise.

This weeks sights did not happen on Sunday...they are from Tuesday. I packed my camera and took advantage of already being on the road for an oil change appointment.

After finding swans, I decided to change my focus to looking for different ducks. No clue why. I never paid attention to the various duck species. I wished to photograph a Wood Duck. I have never seen one in person. They are so colorful!

I had just arrived at my destination and out of the corner of my eye I saw ~ EEKS ~ Wood Ducks!! I pulled over and tried to contain my excitement. I had to shoot through brush as the pair quickly swam away.  

4-19-22

I have the patience of a gnat, but Wood Ducks are worth waiting for. 15 minutes later, they returned.

male

female

pair

There were other ducks floating around within reach of my camera.

Lesser Scaup

pair

Blue-Winged Teal pair


I will have to try to get a better photo of a Blue-Winged Teal male.

Northern Shoveler

I was happy with what I found and headed back to my truck to leave. Suddenly, a large something came flying out of nowhere. It dramatically dove into the water in the distance. Multiple times. My exact words were "what the hell was THAT?!!" All I knew when I took these photos, was that it was big.

Update: What I saw was an immature Bald Eagle, not a Golden Eagle. Whoops! I thought it was awesome that ebird contacted me to let me know. Apparently Golden Eagles are rare, and this bird was not one. 

Immature Bald Eagle

I thought he was fishing


the amazing show lasted a couple minutes


eagle bathing

The eagles head was completely under water during one of the dives.

the eagle flew away

then circled back for another dunk :)))

it was SO COOL to watch!!

Even with all the excitement of watching the eagle bathe, the highlight for me was seeing these two:

Wood Duck ~ female 

Wood Duck ~ male