To refresh your memory, here is the photo from June’s Bird Quiz. The bird was seen in Colorado during the month of June. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
Author: LAH
Pear-shaped Little Suckers
Exclaiming over the lovely colors, I went to put the bouquet of bearded irises into a vase. As I took out a sharp pair of scissors to cut the stems to size, I noticed a bumpy layer of pale green… something, tucked into the crevices between the leaves. On closer inspection, I realized they were aphids. OK, sort of gross, but not terminally so. Then I realized I had smooshed aphid bodies all over my fingers.
Ewww!!!
June’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of June. The answer will appear next week.
From Dirt to Soil
Three weeks have now passed since we took ownership of our new house. Three weeks of lugging heavy furniture from room to room until it looks “right”—or ends up in the “to sell” pile. Three weeks of unpacking boxes only to find we need to add shelving to closets before the contents have a place to land. Three weeks of making decisions—picking out new bar stools for the counter in the great room, choosing a table and chairs for the deck, researching what kind of window coverings we might want. Three weeks of spending every spare moment indoors, settling in.
Starting Over
I miss my birds. Until a month ago, we lived on almost five acres outside of town, with huge Ponderosa pine trees and a two-acre field. My yard list numbered over 60 species. I could stand at the kitchen window and watch three species of hummingbird at the feeder hanging from the eaves, and enjoy the antics of the Bluejays, Steller’s Jays, and Scrub Jays as they competed with the magpies for peanuts left on our balcony railing.
No Junipers for Me
I really don’t like junipers, but it’s not their fault. Rather, I blame the landscapers.
Think of the countless homeowners who plant Pfitzer junipers (Juniperus chinensis ‘Pfitzeraiana’) in front of their living room windows, then shear them to a fraction of their normal size. That’s not fair to the plant, it’s unattractive, and it makes a lot of work for the gardener.
Similarly, junipers are planted along sidewalks and in parking lots (where they tenaciously hang on despite compacting foot traffic and scorching summer heat). Quickly outgrowing the space allotted, they’re pruned at the edge of the pavement, resulting in a wall of dead, brown branches.
Bird Photography: Light
The word “photography” means “writing with light,” and the right lighting can make the difference between a ho-hum snapshot and an award-winning photograph. But what is the “right” lighting? And how do you take advantage of it?
In general, photographers think of light as coming from one of four directions—from the front, side, back, or overhead. Each of these has pros and cons, with widely varying results. Then there are different qualities of light, such as bright or soft. Different combinations of these conditions will greatly affect your results.
Pretty Flower, Icky Name
It took me a while to warm up to a plant named “Spiderwort.” I kept getting this mental image of a cross between the crone in a fairytale (with warts on her nose) and a sinister tarantula. Not appealing!
Of course, worts are small plants used as food or medicinally. It’s not at all the same word as “wart.” And a Spiderwort is no more likely to host a friendly spider than any other garden plant. (Their common name comes from the silk-like threads of hardened sap that seep from a cut stem.)
I was finally won over by the beautiful blossoms and all-around toughness of this worthy garden perennial.
May Quiz: Answer
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from May’s Bird Quiz. The bird was seen in Colorado during the month of May. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
What Made These Holes?
Do your lilacs look like someone took a giant hole punch to their leaves? How about your rosebushes (left), green ash, or Virginia creeper? The first time I saw the precise circle of leaf missing from a leaf, I thought someone was playing a trick on me. It didn’t look at all like insect damage.
Mountain Plover 