Goodbye little hummingbird

Goodbye, Aurevoir, Hasta la Vista, Adios, Ciao, Auf Wiedersehen, Doei, Farvel, Zenaj, Sayonara, Namaste, Yasou, Slan, Hwyl fawr, in just a few languages—all of them goodbyes.

So long to the little hummingbirds that visit my feeders every day.  I haven’t seen them for a few days and although experts say to keep the feeders up until you haven’t seen any for 2 weeks, I am thinking that they have started their long southward trek.  Soon I won’t have to bring in that nectar feeder at night to stop Rocky raccoon and he will have to get his kool aid from elsewhere.  Goodbye to the hummingbirds and happy travels.  

ABC—N is for Nuthatch

You know when I started this nature themed ABC book I thought that the hardest letters would be letters like Q or Z.  I never dreamed that a really hard letter might be N!

Think about it, how many words that relate to nature can you think of that begin with the letter N?  Hard isn’t it?

Well, I thought and thought and thought some more and I did come up with one, and it was right on my backyard deck at the bird feeder. It was of course, a nuthatch.I quickly pencil sketched  this little guy while he was crawling down a tree in a dizzying manner. While researching nuthatches I discovered that they are one of the only species of bird that creep down trees!  Very acrobatic of you ask me!!

Nuthatches get their name because they grab nuts and seeds, take them to a tree, wedge them under some bark and whack at it with their beaks, in effect hatching the nut.  So…N in my view is for nuthatch.  How many natural items can you come up with for the letter N?

Abcdefghijkl…L is for leucism

Leucistic Grackle

What the heck is leucism?  Leucism is the term used for identifying defects in pigmentation in the skin, hair, or feathers.  It is not to be confused with albinism.  Albinos typically have red eyes while leucistic animals have normal eyes.

If you’ve ever spied an animal that appears normal in all respects, but has white patches where white shouldn’t be and you just can’t seem to identify it, well, you have seen a leucistic animal. 

While it is an exciting thing to see a leucistic bird, one must realize that he will probably face dangers that other birds will not.  The fact that he has lost his natural protective camouflage makes him vulnerable to predators. 

In all my years of feeding and watching birds I have only seen two leucistic ones.  On one occasion I was lucky to have a camera available to take photos. 

In my natural ABC book L is for leucism

Abcdefghi…we come to J. J is for jonquil

 Gee, this ABC book is getting harder.  Hmmm what could J be for?  How about Jonquil? Well, I’ve always heard that some people call a certain yellow flower a daffodil while others call it a Jonquil.  Still others insist it is a narcissus.  So what is the difference?

 “In some parts of the country any yellow daffodil is called a jonquil, usually incorrectly. As a rule, but not always, jonquil species and hybrids are characterized by several yellow flowers, strong scent, and rounded foliage. The hybrids are confined to Division 7 and the term "jonquil" should be applied only to daffodils in Division 7 or species in Division 13 known to belong to the jonquil group.”

Source: American daffodil society

The name Narcissus comes from the Greek myth.  It seems that Narcissus was a very handsome and vain hunter. Echo, a nymph, fell hopelessly in love with him.  He wasn’t interested, however, and instead looked into a pond where he fell in love with his own reflection.  Eventually he died and in his place was a beautiful flower—a Narcissus.

So what is it, jonquil, daffodil or narcissus? It's an apples and oranges conundrum it seems.

You can decide, but in my ABC book J is for Jonquil-- whatever it is.

Onward to C in the Earth Day ABC book

C is for Canada geese…or is it Canadian geese? And also Cowbirds

First of all I have to admit I used to call these large birds Canadian geese when I do know that the actual name is Canada geese.  I think they were migratory but as of the last few years, they are pretty much a year long resident of Virginia and its waterways.  It is not uncommon to hear the honking overhead as flocks of them travel from one pond, lake or river to another.

They can be problematic, however, since many airports are around rivers.  In fact National Airport is right next to the Potomac River.  They have tried all sorts of things to keep them from flying too near the planes taking off, but that is not always possible.  Usually the damage is not excessive but just last week they did have to change an engine due to a bird strike.  (My hubby works for a major airline) 

As technology and nature try and work out a viable relationship, I sit outside on my deck and listen to the geese.  They are truly beautiful creatures.  Lively, in their family groups because Canada geese mate for life.

C is for Canada, Candian, or whichever geese you decide.

I had the C entry post for my ABC book of nature all set.  And then this morning while checking the blooms on my lilies of the valley I saw a little cowbird amidst the plants. He didn’t appear to be hurt and eagerly jumped on my finger.  So I put him on a nearby branch so that no neighborhood cats would get him.  As of this writing he is still sitting there. 

Cowbirds have two defining habits.  One is that they are nest parasites.  These birds lay they eggs in the nests of other birds and since they are bigger and mature quicker, the other chicks in the nest sometimes starve.  The other is that they eat the insects off of cows helping the cow to be more comfortable, hence the name cowbirds.  So they are yin and yang, good and bad depending upon which habit you are looking at.  I hope this little guy survives.

ABC book continues…B isfor

ABC book continues…B isfor

B is for Bamboo

I love nature. I just couldn’t begin to name all the plants I adore.  On the other hand the list of those, I’m not too crazy about is a bit shorter.  It contains ones like poison ivy and oak, and maybe the thorns on blackberry vines and roses, but at the top of the list sits the seemingly unimpressive Bamboo. Why you ask?

First of all bamboo grows at an alarming rate, yes, science fiction movie speed.  I swear it grows two feet every day until it reaches heights of 50 feet.  Who needs magic beans when bamboo is around?  Trying to reign in this science experiment of the plant world is an exercise in futility.  In fact my husband just spent his entire vacation in an effort to tame the forest. 

A few hours growth!

No-- we didn’t plant it, a neighbor behind our property made that mistake. You see bamboo sends out underground shoots that laugh at fences.  If you don’t have a pet panda, planting bamboo will be a huge bamboo-boo. Unless of course, you are starting a business making bamboo furniture, fishing poles or plant stakes, all of which are great uses for the stuff.  So there’s the positive, however, I’m not planning that sort of thing so I guess I will just continue to try and contain the stuff as best I can.

Earth Day ABC’s

Yeah, that's not a ghost, it's me waving

When I was a kid my favorite kind of book was an alphabet book. You know, A is for…blah blah blah.  So I figured in honor of Earth Day, which, incidentally E is for. I know, I know, I’ve skipped ahead, but let me explain.  For my Earth Day alphabet book, I intend to try (And I emphasize try) and come up with a natural world word and photo for each letter.  So I may choose a plant or perhaps a rock, or even an animal.  It's kind of like another of my childhood faves...animal, mineral or vegetable. Geez I am worried about Q, but that is a ways off right now.  So let’s start…

A is for Azalea.  

I have this colorful flowering shrub circling my yard.  Although it was already in place when I moved in to the house, I have several colors.  It brightens up my spring even on cloudy days, like today.  Azaleas don’t have any sort of smell, but they shed little pollen so they don’t aggravate my allergies which are going crazy right about now. Yup A--it’s for Azaleas. While I'm at it A is also for Apples, but that is in every Alphabet book.  Apples, however, are a big crop in Virginia with apple festivals all over the place in the fall.  

Come back and visit to see my other Earth Day Alphabet Book entries.