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Prickly Pear Cactus
Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia). Tucson, Arizona. Native only to the Americas, including a couple species that are native to the East Coast of the United States. __________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
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Emerging Mayapples
A discovery yesterday. Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are just beginning to emerge from the soil. As one might expect given the lack of winter, they’re a bit early. I’m totally pleased to see them, early or not. In the past I would expect to see this swath of umbrella-like leaves at the beginning of May. These…
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Rummaging Through Leaves
This morning, an Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) rummaging through the leaves looking for something to nibble on. Note to self: toss some sunflower seeds into that leaf litter. Goodness, those piercing red eyes. Not everywhere though. In Florida and the southeast coast up through most of North Carolina you might see Eastern Towhees with white…
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Ground Cedar
Known by the common names of Ground Cedar or Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum). A Clubmoss. Though not a cedar, and not a moss. So much for common names. You can’t depend on them. That scientific name, which is a doozy to remember, is the one you can depend on for accuracy. This Clubmoss is one…
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Memories
Photographs often contain precious memories. Even photographs that were taken just a few minutes ago. That’s the case with this image. My Mom loves gardens and while she was very active, she had beautiful gardens filled with lovely flowers blooming or just waiting to come into bloom. These Daffodils, just out my kitchen window make…
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Black Birch
Black Birch (Betula lenta). A tree that’s common around my cabin. It’s a tree that is monoecious, meaning it has male and female flowers on the same plant/tree. The flowers of birch trees are called catkins. The photo, above, is of male catkins, on a branch I found on the ground after some wild winds…
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Not One But Three!
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). Most often I’ll see one at the suet feeder. Less frequently it will be one at the hulled sunflower seeds or at the shelled peanuts. But only one. Yesterday, much to my surprise there were three Downy Woodpeckers. Not at any of the feeders. Just hanging out in the woods. Of…
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A Perfect Day For Pie
Happy February 23rd. A very warm day. Like a marvelous summer day. Here in the mountains it got up to 77°. The weather forecast for February 24th, two days from now, sleet, freezing rain and snow has been mentioned. Crazy. For today, it’s a perfect day for a custard peach pie. But then isn’t every…
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Lost My Marbles?
No. Actually I know exactly where they are.
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Soon To Be Blueberry Blossoms
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). Surrounded by the branches of a blueberry bush. The buds have lasted through the winter waiting for spring, to expand and become blueberry blossoms.