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Sittin in the mornin sun...

Susquatch

Susquatch

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Ya, go ahead and sing the song!

I slept in this morning, then went and sat on the front porch and pondered my life.

So beautiful and so peaceful surrounded by silking corn fields.

20250802_092333.jpg

I remembered many new friends, and reminisced about my recent trip to the Niagara Region to visit with @CWret, @Martin w, @Mcgyver, and @gerritv. One knows he enjoyed it when it fills his mind with happy thoughts several days later.

I told my bride about it and mentioned the sandwich that @Martin w made for us. So she went out and bought some thick sliced ham, provolone cheese, some romaine lettuce, and some multigrain chiabatta buns.

20250802_090111.jpg

Such a nice simple treat! Can't beat the unexpected happiness, after a long drive, of a sandwich and a pop in the shade under Martin's tree, or the open ribbing of @CWret, but still VERY VERY NICE!

20250802_090520.jpg

Yup, one very happy hairy guy!
 
I'm not sure if you noticed the hummingbirds?

My wife is big into gardening (master gardeners). Once in a while I go to one of the BBQ events and the mostly old ladies chat about everything gardening mostly using the Latin names instead of the common names that you see in the garden stores. I commented to my wife that they seem snobby using the Latin names and she explained that there is a very good reason to use the Latin names. Most flowers for example an "Astilbe" will have many cultivars beyond the native varieties. Each of these will have a specific Latin name. Often the cultivars in the garden store are more "showy" but may have little to no benefit for the birds and bees etc. My wife is introducing more and more native cultivars to our gardens to attract the birds and butterflies, and it's working.

So a good analogy would be if we simply referred to any and all wrenches as a "wrench" instead of saying pass that 9/16" box-end wrench.

Once a year we attend the annual through the garden gate tour, where they pick a neighbourhood with a lot of nice gardens and then you walk about the area visiting the various gardens just for the pleasure of seeing them but also to get ideas for your own gardens. They post one master gardener at each house on the list to answer questions.

One particular garden was really impressive last (middle of Toronto) visit. It was a smaller yard that was designed specifically to attract birds, and it was pretty amazing, there were so many varieties of birds packed in that yard, birds that you never or rarely see. We were really impressed, we're going to try and reproduce that bird/butterfly friendly environment.
 
slow-poke said:
Each of these will have a specific Latin name.
Click to expand...

If you look at the title of my Lilly photos you will see the name of the cultivar.

Edit - I guess not all are labelled. But I do know what they are. I also know most of the wild flowers around here too.

slow-poke said:
Often the cultivars in the garden store are more "showy" but may have little to no benefit for the birds and bees etc. My wife is introducing more and more native cultivars to our gardens to attract the birds and butterflies, and it's working.
Click to expand...

I am a huge fan of all wildlife, especially birds. Our yard is usually a cacophony of bird song and other critters. The variety of habitat here (Carolinian forest, softwood groves, shrub gardens, dead trees, edges, fields, pond, wildflowers, etc etc) attracts a huge variety and volume of birds. It doesn't exactly hurt to be on the flyway to Point Pelee. Some birds rarely come up to the house (eg wood thrush), but we hear them in the forest and love them just the same.

I am careful about controlling the bugs. We have two wild honey bee hives in our forest.

But we are not members of any gardening clubs. We just love nature.
 
16 or so years ago I drove a concrete truck for a while. It was this time of year and we had a job going in a subdivision from the 80's. I was staged at a corner of the main road and the smaller side road we were working on. In checking my load I noticed a scent in the air and so I went off sniffing, a couple of houses away I came across an elderly lady at the side of her house and I asked about the scent. Her face lit up up and she asked if I'd like to see her garden. It wasn't big, but the colours, layers and scents could only be described as purely magical. I was totally blown away, and I'm a gardner who is limited to excavators and chainsaws. I know my limitations.
 
I have a love, hate relationship with the birds in my yard. Nice to watch and they control bugs, bastichs keep crapping on my deck and new truck. :(
 
My wife also loves gardening and I often find myself a partner in crime in this endeavor. Yesterday we were sitting together under the shade trees in our back yard and enjoying the hummingbirds and butterflies. This morning when I got up and looked out the front window there was our first Giant Swallowtail of the year! Made my day! The Black Swallowtails are common, the Tiger Swallowtails are less common but reliable, the Giants are rare and a special treat. Last year we even had a Pipevine Swallowtail at our Pipevine. a real rarity here. Now I'm considering trying to acquire a Sassafras and Pawpaw trees to attract other rarities.
 
Not on purpose, but usually once or twice a winter we'd drop a tree and find a not very amused raccoon. Most tree markers would mark wildlife trees and we'd avoid them, but it happened.

Remember how in school they teach you about levers? What they neglect to mention is how FAST that lever moves, like when the skidder pulls the dropped tree around a bumper tree. The back half moves disproportionately faster than the front half, tossing the faller watching this, into a patch of stinging nettles

Or the bush full of hawthorn. Two jackets a sweater and a raincoat and still getting poked

Mother Nature plays dirty
 
6.5 Fan said:
I have a love, hate relationship with the birds in my yard. Nice to watch and they control bugs, bastichs keep crapping on my deck and new truck. :(
Click to expand...

Ah yes, I almost neglected to talk about those parts of nature that I DON'T LIKE.

Racoons and I are NOT FRIENDS. They wake me up in the wee hours trying to dig a hole into my attic. And they poop nasty vile piles of goeey stinky black crap crawling with intestinal worms. Far too many around here have racoon distemper. They are 20x as likely to spread disease as the coyotes which are pretty much harmless.

We had a beaver wander through here a few weeks ago. I don't want that contractor renovating my pond or harvesting my trees so I politely ushered him along on his way. He never knew he just missed paradise.

I am not fond of the Canada geese, the Cormorants, or the blue herons, but I love all the different kinds of ducks. On occasion, I've had thousands on my pond all at once. My grandkids gave me a wood duck box a few years after we moved here and they have used it to raise a brood each year ever since.

The boat tail grackles, house sparrows, starlings, and cow birds are all shot on sight. It's funny to watch the Tree Swallows, Purple Martin's, and Carolina Wrens cuz they know that I protect them. They will come alone or in small groups to find me and get me when a house sparrow tries to take over. Then they lure them to the fence by lining up on it with a space knowing that I will shoot the sparrows there. They don't even flinch when the shot goes off or the feathers explode. Instead they anticipate it. I've even had tree swallows perch on my shoulders or the back of my chair while I sit there. Of course, the Chickadees, Cardinals, Buntings, and sometimes the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks will readily sit on your hand if you feed them. The hummers and orioles will come when you feed them but I have not gotten them to perch on me yet.

I think every bird lover has their favourites. Who doesn't like the hummers? You might think my favorites are the swallows. But my biggest soft spot is actually for the Carolina Wrens. Such a tiny busy little bird with a voice so beautiful and strong that it would fill the grand canyon. They often nest in the wreath on our front door and then spend the winter nights there enjoying the extra warmth the door provides. There were none here when we first moved in. I remember when I heard the first male. We were so excited when he chose to start a nest in our wreath on the front door and then attracted a lady wren. Thankfully, they usually raise several broods each year so the area has lots of them now. You can hear them calling throughout the area from miles away. My dad chose to stay here to die when he got cancer. I used to leave the front door open so they could come in to entertain him. When our pair dies, I hope another will move in to take their place.
 
Susquatch said:
The boat tail grackles, house sparrows, starlings, and cow birds are all shot on sight
Click to expand...
I have an apple tree in my yard that has struggled for a few years and hasn't produced much of anything until this year. This spring the tree was loaded with blooms and subsequently fruit. We were well on our way to having apples this year!

20250729_173237.jpg20250729_173003.jpgLast week the birds came in and in one day destroyed nearly 20250729_172947.jpgevery last apple on the tree. Any bird that comes near the tree is now an "endangered" species.
 
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