In the Yard – Page 26

More and More Warblers

November 12, 2012Rae Spencer5 Comments

Most of the yard is following the normal routine of preparing for winter, but the Yellow-rumped Warblers seem to feel that winter has already arrived.

In previous years, the wax myrtles’ abundant berries have lasted well into spring. Other birds refuse to eat the berries, and the Yellow-rumped Warblers are rarely numerous enough or hungry enough to need the entire crop. But this year, the branches may be bare as early as Christmas.

I’m a bit worried about what will happen to my favorite warblers, once their food supply runs out.

November Flowers

November 8, 2012Rae Spencer2 Comments

Somehow, in all of the recent rain and wind and clouds, I overlooked the fact that parts of the yard are still blooming.

All of the pollinators are gone, so it feels as if the flowers want only to be admired.

Home Again

October 31, 2012Rae Spencer3 Comments

Yesterday, I flew home through the southern-most remnants of Hurricane Sandy. The flight was a bit bumpy, though not as rough as I had anticipated. I went to bed early and slept late this morning, then meant to spend much of my day in the yard, which is cluttered with knotweed and wind-torn leaves. But as I knelt in a patch of damp grass, acutely aware of the contrast between the yard’s October-cold ground and a breezy sky full of summer-warm sunshine, I changed plans.

The ocean was restless, tossing sets of foaming waves onto a beach swept flat and clean. I watched as a ship pulled out of the Chesapeake Bay, and I hoped that it was headed north, carrying help to areas devastated by Sandy.

Trying to distract myself from overwhelming images of flooding and destruction, I spent the next half-hour photographing pelicans.

Eventually, my phone chimed an appointment reminder, which I barely heard over the ocean’s tumble and growl.

My route to the appointment carried me past First Landing State Park, so I stopped for a quick glance at the Chesapeake Bay.

(That’s the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, in the background.)

I only stayed about fifteen minutes, and in that short time clouds swallowed the sun. I assumed these clouds were related to the storm, or to the cold front that fed its monstrous transformation into a super-storm. Either way, I returned to my car with a heavy heart, helplessly small and weak under such a beautiful, terrible sky.

Insects in The Yard (Arachnophobia Alert!)

October 20, 2012Rae Spencer2 Comments

These images were selected for various posts in September and October, but fell short somewhere along the way. Some posts changed course, mid-process, and the photos were no longer relevant. Sometimes the photos were redundant or too tangential, sometimes they simply didn’t “fit”.

Whatever their failings, they’ve been collecting in a “Miscellaneous Insects” folder on my desktop. Today seemed like a good day to post them, before I sentence them to the External Hard Drive Archive…

Days Like Yesterday

October 18, 2012Rae Spencer10 Comments

Yesterday was sunny and mild, a perfect mid-October day. A perfect day to work in the yard. To weed the chronically late paperwhites, encourage tiring daisies, and add a few fall flowers.

My husband had purchased chrysanthemums and pansies on Saturday, so everything was ready and waiting. I started my list with the mower, trimming ragged tufts of grass, sowthistle, and knotweed.

All went well until I decided to clean out the cactus bed, where I wanted to plant the pansies. I soon had a glove full of ants. On my way into the house, to rinse my itchy hand, I spotted an amazingly furry moth on the deck. It was a turning point for my day.

(I would love some help identifying this moth. Is it one of the tiger moths?)

While photographing the moth, I noticed a foul odor coming from underneath the deck. A decomposition kind of reek. After tracing the scent to its strongest point, I traded my camera for a flashlight and began surveying the narrow seams between boards.

By aiming a flashlight just so and keeping one eye aligned just so, the space under the deck can be inspected in six-inch increments. It’s a tedious, back-cramping process, one that I perfected during Indigo’s younger years, when her toys often rolled out of sight. Or got buried.

I located the odor’s source, something furry and lifeless, but it was wedged too far under the deck to reach without removing boards. Two hours later, two boards later, I called animal control for a dead rabbit pickup.

To pass the time while I waited, I went back to the cactus bed and pansies. Three black widow spiders later, I threw down my gloves and retreated into the house, thoroughly disgusted with our stinking, venom-infested yard. (I can’t bear to post another black widow portrait. For those who are curious, previous photos appear here and here.)

By sunset, the dead rabbit was gone and my arachnophobia tremors had eased. I returned to the cactus bed, finished my clean-up work, and planted the pansies. Camera time! Except, as I went inside, something under the still-gaping hole in our deck caught my eye. Yesterday’s rabbit was not the first to die there.