The Nature of Things

I've been checking periodically on the bluebird nest box outside my kitchen window which a pair of Carolina Chickadees have claimed as their own this spring. The pair chose the box early on and started building a nest and then they paused for a while, during a period in which it rained almost every day for about a week. But a week or ten days ago, they resumed construction on the nest, and yesterday, I decided it was time to check on their progress. Well, progress, indeed! Guess what I found?    The nest, it seems, is complete and the female had already deposited five tiny eggs there. The eggs are indeed tiny - no bigger than the tip of my smallest finger. It is hard to believe that it is possible for a fully formed chick to develop in one of them and hatch within a couple of weeks. Of course, the parents themselves are among our tiniest birds, weighing no more than a third of an ounce each. Surprisingly for such little birds, they do have fairly large clutches of five to eigh...

While I was weeding the area around my little backyard goldfish pond last Saturday, I happened to interrupt the nap of this handsome fellow. He is a Southern Leopard Frog ( Rana sphenocephala ) and he and a number of his relatives inhabit my pond and its immediate environs. Leopard Frogs are pretty common anywhere there is shallow water. This can include lakes, marshes, streams, or backyard goldfish ponds. They are nocturnal and become active at night. Throughout the day, they generally hide among the plants, like my little friend. Sometimes, if they are startled, they will leap into the water. This guy, though, seemed too sleepy to bother. These frogs are large and slender and can grow up to about five inches long. They can be green or brown or, as this one is, green AND brown. with the large dark spots which give them their common name. Southern Leopard Frogs breed from March to June. Once mated, the female frogs lay egg masses of up to 4,000 eggs in shallow water, usually attached t...

I have this "weed" in my garden. Actually, I have many weeds in my garden. The weeds may even outnumber the plants that I've planted on purpose, but this particular weed turns out to be special. In the first place, it came to me from the nursery. I had bought a white mistflower from one of my favorite nurseries. I brought it home and planted it. I noticed there was a separate little plant in the pot, but it was mixed in with the mistflower and I actually thought at first that it was part of the plant I had bought. As the mistflower grew, it became obvious that this was a separate and different plant. I dug it out from the mistflower planting and normally would have put it on the compost pile, but curiosity got the better of me. I planted it in a bed nearby and it flourished. All of this happened last year and in the late summer, the mystery plant bloomed. The plant was still fairly small and the flowers were few but I set about trying to identify it. I decided pretty quic...

( Cross-posted from Gardening With Nature . ) As the earth heats up and droughts become more prevalent across the country, American gardeners are learning, in many cases to their chagrin, that the broad expanses of green lawn that have long been a staple of the American landscape may no longer be sustainable. These lawns are water-guzzlers and, as water becomes more dear, it is more and more obvious that the traditional lawn has to go. Moreover, that traditional lawn as it has evolved over a century and a half has become a time-consuming, synthetic chemical-sucking monster. It is not good for the environment and it is not good for the humans who must spend an inordinate amount of time grooming it. Although it may appear an inviting place for kids and pets to play, its dependence on chemicals which remain in the ecosystem can make it a dangerous place for even those activities. John Greenlee, a nurseryman and garden designer with decades of experience behind him, thinks that he has a be...

This is a Texas rat snake, an absolutely beautiful and very useful reptile. This particular one was curled up in the corner of my back porch where he had been herded by my cat, Nicholas. At first I didn't know what species he was but since he didn't appear to be aggressive, I ran for the camera to take a picture hoping I could identify him later, and it worked! Peterson Field Guides' Reptiles and Amphibians revealed his identity. All that was left was to distract Nicholas so the snake could be on his way. Mission accomplished, I congratulated myself on having such a worthwhile resident in my backyard. It's enough to make a habitat gardener proud.