Posted on in Nature

The Joys of Nature-ing

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Birders have a bit of a reputation—we’re supposed to be focused on all things feathery. I know I amuse my friends and family when we’re enjoying a BBQ in someone’s backyard, or at the playground with the kiddos, and I point out the local sparrows and finches. I know all the local Red-tailed Hawks, and which poles they occupy at different times of the day, and I’m also quick to point them out as they soar over the road. (This may be one reason my husband prefers to be the driver when we venture out.)

But as much as I enjoy birds—finding them, watching them, identifying them—I also enjoy other kinds of animals, along with plants, rocks, stars, and clouds. It’s all good. One of the joys of birding is that it lures me outside where I can see creation in all its glory.

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Posted on in Botany for Gardeners

Ferns Having Babies

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“There’s something wrong with my fern! It has dots all over the leaves. It must be some sort of disease! What should I spray it with?”

I was sitting at our county extension’s Master Gardener Help Desk, answering questions when the call came in. The caller was quite agitated, afraid that her prize fern was on the verge of passing into the great garden in the sky. It took me some time to calm her down and explain that those black dots, neatly lined up in rows, were in fact a sign of health, and that her fern was not only thriving, but was on the brink of parenthood. Yes, those little bumps contained a zillion baby ferns, so to speak, in the form of spores.

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Posted on in Birding Trips

Birding India: Osmania University, Hyderabad

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The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, in south-central India, are known as a center of high tech industry. Like any Indian metropolis, they have their share of traffic and smog, blaring horns and crowded streets. But right in the middle of town there’s a green oasis full of birds. As you hike the dusty trails, trees and shrubs mute the distant sirens and motor bikes. Birds chirp. Sunlight filters through to warm your shoulders. If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend birding Osmania University.

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Posted on in Gardening, Photography

The Purpose-Driven Photo

Rosa_Rose_Columbus-OH_LAH_3536Perhaps you want to hang a huge framed photo of your prize roses over the couch. Or maybe you see some striking flowers in someone else’s garden, and you want to grow them at home—but you don’t know what they are. Maybe you simply want to record where you plant your tulips this fall, so you don’t bury them under a new perennial  come spring. I’ve taken photos for all of these reasons and more.

Perhaps the first and most important consideration when it comes to garden photography is to make clear in your mind just why you’re taking a particular photo. If you don’t have a specific goal, it’s very difficult to accomplish it!

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Posted on in Birds, Ornithology

Birds at Sea

Laughing Gull_BocaChica-Brownsville-TX_PLH_3751Birds are pretty amazing creatures. A recent question from a friend helped me realize just how amazing.

Our friends recently returned from a Caribbean cruise. At one point, when they were somewhere off the coast of Yucatan, their ship was out of sight of land. Yet, to their surprise, there were birds flying overhead. When they got back, they asked me, “How could the birds be out in the middle of the ocean like that? Don’t they need land nearby so they can rest?”

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Posted on in Gardening, House Plants, Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter

Moth Orchids

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With the holidays behind us, winter seems to stretch out as far as we can see. I don’t know about you, but I’m more than ready for a tropical vacation! We can’t afford tickets to a balmy beach or verdant rainforest, but I can manage to plunk down a mere $19.95—or less—for a blooming orchid. My imagination will have to supply the rest.

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Posted on in Gardening, Surviving Winter, Veggies

Anticipating Spring

Seed catalogs_LAH_2733Sometimes I think January is my favorite month of the gardening calendar. Temperatures plummet and the ground is frozen solid. Anything at all frost-tender succumbed to the cold months ago. My raised beds look suspiciously like burial vaults covered in mulch. Yet, in my mind’s eye, my 2018 veggie garden is flourishing.

You see, I’ve been reading seed catalogs.

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Posted on in Birding Tips, Birds

New Year, New List

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It’s a brand new year, and we’re celebrating with old traditions. Were you up late last night? Did you watch the Rose Parade this morning? Did you make resolutions? Did you decide what bird lists you’re going to keep this year?

Starting a new list, or setting a year goal, has a lot to recommend it. Birders are often passionate collectors. We’re no different from someone who collects stamps or teapots—we just collect birds, accumulating a life list. (And we don’t have to find space for our collection, or dust it.)

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