Skip navigation

Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Wildflowers on our Hillside

I managed to get in one wildflower walk last week after the big rain. Everything was sweet smelling and lush with new growth. Lots of birds and insects to amuse the ears and eyes and pollinate the flowers too. This is the time of year when change happens constantly as the hillsides become more green with new grass, the flowers add color and the light changes all day long. Spring is a time of renewal for all of the senses.

 

Balsamroot

 

Waterleaf

 

Lupine – waiting for sunshine and warmth before it shows us its lavendar petals

 

Shooting Star

 

More Balsamroot

 

Serviceberry bushes have covered the hillsides with their white flowers like frosting on a cake!

 

A honey bee on a waterleaf. Another portrait of this bee may be seen at my other blog.

 

Leaves of a Bitterroot grow and disappear before the delicate flowers appear.

 

Never too much Balsamroot

Fishing Familiar

Ken referred to this bird as his ‘familiar’. Most evenings when he was surf fishing in Florida, a Great Blue Heron would join Ken, waiting for a piece of bait or a small fish or some other tasty morsel. The bird was quite tame and would walk up to within five or six feet of Ken. It had obviously done this before with other anglers. It could tell when Ken caught a fish and it seemed disapproving when Ken was not having good luck.

The plumage on the heron was fascinating and easily studied at close range. I never before noticed the red feathers on the ‘elbows’ (do birds have elbows?) or the black streaking on the front of the neck and I’ve look at lots of Great Blue Herons over the years. The red feathers must be part of the wing coverts or possibly the alula.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bird would poke around to find his own food when fishing was slow

 

It took the catch to the water to rinse it before swallowing it whole

 

 

 

Ken’s New Bees

I know, I keep flipping between vacation posts and life here at home but, you know what? Life’s Everyday Photos just never quit. There’s always something interesting happening. Look around you.

Ken’s new bees arrived early, while we were in Florida so our friends Don and Mary who had volunteered to mentor Ken in his first year of beekeeping, took them in til we returned. Last Friday Ken and Don brought them up here and yesterday they opened up the hives to see how they were doing.

 

The crew – all dressed up with someplace to go, bees buzzing around them

 

Lifting the first frame from the first hive. Look – no gloves.

 

A good sign – the bees have been busy.

 

An extra dab of comb from the feeder area

 

He likes this.

 

Examining a drone. They have no stinger.

 

The second hive

 

Is that the queen?

 

We need a better look.

 

So far, so good.

 

He wanted a new facebook image

 

Buttoning things up

 

 

Shorebirds at Sunset

In Florida, every night after dinner, we would walk to the beach. Surprisingly most other beach goers were gone by then. Just before the moment when the sun went down, a few people would wander back and all facing the sun, would raise a glass in a toast to another day well lived. It was a wonderful ritual – maybe one that we should practice at home as well as on vacation.

Ken would fish and I would walk on the beach – hoping to find interesting sea shells and watching the birds. At Sanibel, no cars are allowed to drive on the beach and almost no one takes dogs to the beach and then they are on leashses for the most part. These two factors must contribute to the tameness of the birds. Shorebirds were remarkably approachable. It’s the only place I’ve been where I could get good photos of these migratory wonders.

I have always struggled with shorebird ID. Some of these birds were in a transistional plumage – going from winter to breeding plumage – this made ID even harder for me. Field guide pictures show one or ther other generally, not the transistion. I was surprised to see that many of the species on the SE coast were the same as in the Pacific NW.

 

Willets relfecting the warm light of the sun

 

 

 

 

A plover – Black-bellied or American Golden?

 

 

 

Brown Pelicans flew by the beach all the time.

 

And so did the shorebirds.

 

Ruddy Turnstone

 

 

Sanderlings

 

 

 

 

A gull. I don’t even try to identify immature gulls.

 

There’s a dowitcher in the middle of this group. Long-billed or Short-billed?

 

 

 

 

 

Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina is a must-see stop if you are in that part of the country. According to its website –

In 1931, Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington founded Brookgreen Gardens, a non-profit 501(c)(3) garden museum, to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting. Today, Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world and has the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coast of the Carolinas.

We had half a day to spend there as we were pushing on to Florida as part of our week-long roadtrip. I would suggest that if you get the chance, you should plan for two or more days at Brookgreen. It is that large with so much to see. The sculptures alone could take a whole day. And the formal gardens, the natural areas, the art gallery, the various animal displays and there is even a butterfly house. We missed that.

We were there in the middle of the day with high harsh light. It was hot and humid – probably the most humid day of our trip. Not the best conditions for making good images. We were pretty well spent by the time we left and headed down the road to Savannah.

My first alligator sighting of the trip

I love these delicate irises

Layer upon layer of lush growth

This sculpture was very popular

Patterns in light, water and foliage

There are many contemplative spaces at Brookgreen

Live oaks and Spanish moss

Contrasts

Frogs, doin it next to magnificent pool with another cool sculpture

Tadpoles

Lots of lizards like this anole climbing on Diana

I wonder what kind of butterfly this will become?

There are several sculptures of Diana and she is always vengeful

Diana’s dog

Poppies – another favorite of mine.