Guess the Gourd!

This "volunteer" gourd showed up in our garden and we let it grow.
now it's time to "Guess the Gourd!" Do you know what kind it is?
it has small paperwhite blooms, and large leaves.
We have never grown any gourds and it just showed up in our garden
among the chives and onions!?!

Lycoris radiata

These lillies are blooming now. some people call them Hurricane lillies,
my Grandmother called them "naked ladies" because they bloomed without their leaves, which grow up later.

Find out more here at
http://msucares.com/news/print/sgnews/sg98/sg981001.htm

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36474.asp

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”

Looks like we are in for some "weather" as the ants are building up their nests here on the hill at 157 feet above sea level. The white cranes are nesting up here too.
So-I checked the weather website and found a tropical storm may form and pass over the gulf this week. The ants know. What are the ants doing in your neighborhood this week?

Clematis

The beautiful
white clematis
that we thought was
totally destroyed
by the free ranging
chickens has returned
in full bloom.

Beautiful Buteo lineatus

This morning,
when I arrived at
my office,
A large,
red shouldered hawk
landed in the big old
live oak tree
outside our building.
He paused and ate something,
then posed and looked around.
As I left my car-
he called and circled
over head twice and
flew west over the
sycamore tree.

The bees knees

This morning when
we went out early
to walk the dog
and feed and water
the animals-
We heard lots
and lots of buzzing!
We looked down and
noticed that all the
bumble-bees were
buzzing and landing
on the grass
all over the
front yard.
I photographed
them and with the
aid of a close up
camera lens and a
closer look,
you can see that
they are gathering
the pollen
from the little
purple blooms
on the grass.
They are so small
that it is hard
to see the purple
grass blossoms-
but the bees see them!-
The large yellow dots
on the side of the
bees knees are
round balls of
pollen that
the bees have
gathered.
Imagine that!




What if we had to store our lunch and dinner on the back of our knees until we could get it home to eat it?

Crawfish chimney

This is one
of the smallest
crawfish chimneys
that I have ever seen.
It was freshly made
at 6:00am
You can see
how small it is
compared to my
spectacles
on the left
and the St. Augustine
grass on the right.

Hummingbirds

I went to a
hummingbird festival
this past weekend
and they were
banding the tiny birds.
Here is one of a
bird being banded.
The numbers are
down due to
loss of habitat.
They arrive in
our area to breed
in March and leave
in October. Basically
Mardi Gras to All Saints .
The males leave in July-
although some stay
through the winter.




So keep your feeders full all year if you want to support them.
They feed on sugar and water and basically fatten up for a ong flight south to the Yucatan and South Central Mexico and Central America. If you want to make your own feed-mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts very warm water and mix well.
Change the feeders often and clean thoroughly.

Not a bear- coyotes!

OK- so we found out that it most probably was
not a bear- which are very rare in our area,
but coyotes that got our chickens and ducks.

Feel the Love - bugs!

It is THAT time of year again.
Love bug season.
(Plecia nearctica)
In their quest for courtship
they cover everything,
moving or not.
Almost always
in clusters of pairs.
I have to admit,
I do feel a bit sorry for the
one who are alone...











go here for some lovely love bug poetry

http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/lovebugs/poetry.htm

and here to learn more about these bizzare flies

http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/luvbug.html