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You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things………Mary Oliver 

Nature Notes-(713)~The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way….

Welcome to Nature Notes

Join Nature Notes from Mondays at 11:00 pm EST  to Sunday at 11:00 pm EST.

More information can be found at the top of the blog on a separate page, but it really is easy. What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature? 

Write a blog post with a photo, a story, a poem, or anything goes because I love to see what Mother Nature is up to in your area. Please submit one blog post per week and link back to Nature Notes in some way.

Last week’s Nature Notes Bloggers

1. Cloudia Honolulu 3. Shiju Sugunan 5. Pat in Colorado
2. Water 4. TRANQUIL

 

sand cherry tree

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my propositions. And some see no nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” –William Blake

 

Nature Journal-Last Two Weeks of April

The last two weeks of April were cold and wet with some snow and hail. I could see some freeze damage of some of the leaves and growing garden foliage. We are in zone 6 for a garden zone and we don’t plant until after May 10. But sitting here on May 10, I wouldn’t plant right now either. We are out of drought with a lot of rain but drought took a toll.

Boxwood

There was dorught and then “winter burn” and the entire half of it is dead. There is an invasive species of moth that is going to kill all of the boxwoods. We did treat our two for a couple of years, but I don’t like using pesticides and it will be expensive to now treat twice a year so we will take this one out. It’s sad.

We also did a review of the the front and back yard to note what invasive plants have to be taken out. I wasn’t able to do this last year becasue of surgery so there is a lot to do this year.

wood duck drake

Lots of returning birds

  1. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
  2. COMMON GRACKLES
  3. SONG SPARROWS
  4. AMERICAN ROBINS
  5. MALLARDS
  6. CANADA GEESE
  7. WOOD DUCKS

ALONG WITH THE RESIDENT BIRDS

  1. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
  2. TUFTED TITMOUSE
  3. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
  4. MOURNING DOVE
  5. BLUE JAYS
  6. HOUSE SPARROWS
  7. HOUSE FINCH
  8. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
  9. DOWNY WOOD PECKER
  10. RED-BELLED WOODPECKER
  11. HAIRY WOODPECKER
  12. NORTHERN CARDINAL

goose making her nest

The yard geese lost their nest again. First to flooding that covered the entire nest and then to predation, I think this is the third year they have lost their nest.

Nature Notes-(712)~Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden, and the butterflies will come. —Mario Quintana

Welcome to Nature Notes

Join Nature Notes from Mondays at 11:00 pm EST  to Sunday at 11:00 pm EST.

More information can be found at the top of the blog on a separate page, but it really is easy. What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature? 

Write a blog post with a photo, a story, a poem, or anything goes because I love to see what Mother Nature is up to in your area. Please submit one blog post per week and link back to Nature Notes in some way.

Last week’s Nature Notes Bloggers

1. Pat in Colorado 4. Ibis 7. Urban Safari
2. Lisa | Handmade in Israel 5. Shiju Sugunan 8. Pat in Colorado
3. Cloudia Honolulu 6. DAREBIN CREEK

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The lilacs are blooming but I worry about the butterflies and the bees as we have returned to cold, wet weather….

tiger swallowtail on lilacs

To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment. – Eckhart Tolle