Birds, Flowers and Surprise!
Beau April 2nd, 2009
With days of warming sun, flowers and wild life abounding, it’s easy to find spring as a favorite time of the year. Finally we enjoy getting outside more and seeing so much of life around us. Especially birds and flowers. I love it when the wild violets emerge- I don’t know the species exactly, but isn’t this one beautiful?
But the birds are so amazing right now, and if you get the chance I hope you’ll stop over and visit Carrie at Great Auk – or Greatest Auk? and read an amazing discourse between two elderly gentlemen about birds. Elderly is a bit optimistic, considering the discussion at hand, but it’s a really enlightening and humorous effort while hosting the I and the Bird #97 blog carnival.
It’s a fitting day for the carnival anyway as I watched a Great Heron this morning by the pond… perhaps the same heron I snuck up on a couple years ago? It was poised on the shoreline in quiet contemplation (not!), until I saw it strike quickly and then wolf down a small bass. I’m a little protective of the fish in the pond, so I wandered down the hillside and the heron flew away. They can be voracious. I had to smile though- I hope it enjoyed its breakfast.
There’s so much more going on than just birds and flowers of course. Yesterday my faithful labrador was huffing and whining quietly on the porch… I wasn’t really listening. He continued nosing around a plant and then looking up at me until I realized he was trying to tell me something. I’m a little slow sometimes… but I nearly jumped as I leaned over to see what he was looking at. Turns out we had a guest, probably overwintered in a pot we brought in- raise your hand if you know what it is! (And you herpers out there… Shhhh!).
Okay, the answer is… a Red Milk Snake!
“Red on black, friend of Jack. Red on yellow, kill a fellow.”
Gorgeous violet photo. Thanks!
Herons are such beautiful and graceful birds. I guess I’ve never thought of them playing havoc on a stocked farm pond. As for the reptilian tale, I don’t know; I just know from the heads whether they’re vipers or not.
Cheers.
Lovely photos, as always. Looks like your guest is a king snake.
Beetles- Ah yes! I usually have to remember that diddy…
Edelweiss- How do they just magically appear?!
R.- They are beautiful, and it’s amazing how much they can eat. Good to know about vipers…
Sage- Not quite on the snake; Looks can be deceiving! :) I’ll post it soon-
How did he not wake up if he was vacationing in a toasty house?
Did you have a light mouse population this winter?
Pamela- I think we put a couple pots out in February for a few warm days, and then brought them back in. It must have snuck inside? At least I hope that’s what happened… otherwise we’ve got a hole somewhere! :) No mice inside yet that we’ve seen except in the barn, and one of our cats prowls around the house in and out pretty well.
* And the snake answer is a Red Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum syspila). That little saying about “red and black-friend of Jack” is a great way to remember it. Interesting Sage- I’d never seen a Prairie King Snake before, but it does kind of look like it.
When it comes to snakes, I don’t try to remember rhymes to see if they are friendly or not. I just avoid them all together. To quote Indiana Jones, “I hate snakes!”
I do love blue herons and love to watch them fish.
Ed- Well avoiding is a good idea anyway. How’d you feel about that rattlesnake on the river trip? :)
Both terrific photos. I love seeing snakes, they are so fascinating. Especially in cooler weather when they move slower than I do. :)
Ron
Slow snakes- Ha! Good point… I like seeing them too though. It says something positive about the health of the area to me, and diversity of the food chain.
[…] Someone I’ve heard of placed an interesting blog post on Fox Haven Journal Blog Archive Birds, Flowers and Surprise!Here’s a brief overview […]
REALLY INFORMATIVE POST THANKS FOR POSTING KEEP POSTING……..