I had about a dozen tomatoes starting to ripen in three garden boxes on my carport. Then they were gone. Every one. But I did have a cherry tomato vine in my garden, loaded with fruit. Then, they were gone. Every one. I have solved my deer problem, but the thievin’ coons are practically impossible to stop, once they find out you have tomatoes. While raccoons appear cute and … [Read more...]

  As best I know, I have never had any Towhees in my yard. I see them in my travels to the western part of Virginia, but I’ve never had one come to any of my feeders. They are pretty birds and most interesting. They look a little like a miniature Red Breasted Grosbeak, but with black, white and orange plumage. Concerning Towhees and other birds, I recently got this email from Sherman … [Read more...]

  All I know about frogs would fill a book about the size of Nancy Pelosi’s new book on “Avoiding Botox”. Yet, I am a frog-ladite. I love the little amphibians. We have a small lily pond with pads and flowers, and occasionally a frog will show up out of the blue. This spring, dozens and dozens of tiny tadpoles materialized in the pond and we have no idea who the father was or the … [Read more...]

A few weeks back, Nancy and I saw a mother rabbit building her nest against our backyard fence. Nancy checked the nest daily, and Voilà! One day they were there. Four, tiny baby bunnies. They stayed on or near the nest – with regular visits from Mom – for about a week, then left. Well, all but one left. One of the little fellows decided he liked our back yard just fine. No cats, no dogs and his … [Read more...]

  Well, my bluebirds changed their minds. Two weeks ago, it looked like the hen was on her nest for the third time this summer. Then, apparently, she said “To hell with this. Seven baby bluebirds is enough. Let’s go shopping”, or whatever bluebirds do in the summer when they are not raising chicks. So now I am the proud owner of about 9,000 mealworms. I ordered another 10,000 when I … [Read more...]

  Besides bluebirds, the most welcomed guests in my backyard are Monarch butterflies. They are like miniature, fine-art paintings flitting from bush to bush and flower to flower. They are magnificent creatures and they are threatened. Their fiercest enemies happen to be human beings, who are rapidly destroying meadows and the milkweed plants that Monarchs must have in order to survive. One … [Read more...]

  Damn! My bluebirds are nesting again. They started early in April and fledged four babies, then they were at it again in May and added three more little puffs of blue to the world, and now the hen is on the nest again. Only once have I had bluebirds build three nests, and that was because the second nest failed that summer. I hate to see the birds in those hot boxes in the intense … [Read more...]

  It’s been a strange year, weather-wise. It was summer-like weather in March, then rain, then cold, then more rain, then hot. My garden doesn’t know whether to start producing or give up. But stuff is growing, My tomatoes aren’t producing Jack-In-The-Beanstalk stalks this year, which is a good thing. The plants are shorter, but healthier. Last year it would have taken Shaquille … [Read more...]

Two for two means you’re batting 1.000, not a bad average, and that’s the current stat for my resident pair of blues. Two successful nests in just over two months. The babies from the second nest fledged last Saturday. The parents were feeding the noisy youngsters in their house when I left at 10 AM, but by 3:30, the little fellows were high in the treetops. Four fledged from the first nest. … [Read more...]

  About a week ago, Nancy and I were in the back yard enjoying one of those rare, non-raining afternoons and saw a rabbit near our patio. The rabbit kept eating and stuffing her mouth with grass. Her cheeks were puffed out so much that it looked like she had bushy whiskers. We could tell we were disturbing her, so we remained quiet and watched. In a few minutes, the doe (female rabbit) squeezed … [Read more...]