A Green Heron tests the waters flowing down from a small waterfall in search of a mid-day meal.
Tag: ecosystem
Bluebird Day
A little mountain bluebird right at home in a big blue world. Even when small part of it all.
You guys…..
It was a cold snowy day just a week or two ago and it must have put the Junco’s in a foul mood that day as we watched numerous scuffles break out as they were scratching and foraging for a meal underneath an old spruce tree.
You guys….
Luckily the snow only lasted a couple of hours in the morning and just like magic the sun appears, the snow melted, and calmer heads prevailed.
Western Spring Beauties:Claytonia lanceolata
This week the fields near home are full of the Western Spring Beauties. A beautiful wildflower when viewed up close but it can appear unassuming from a distance.
Native to much of the western United States Western Spring Beauty is a short flower only growing 2-3 inches tall in our area and it begins to bloom right about the time the last patch snow has melted from the ground.
“As the name suggests, Western springbeauty blooms in the spring, barely waiting for the snow to melt. This perennial grows from a deeply buried, spherical, underground stem; when cooked, the stem tastes like a potato.” 1
A beautiful flower and one we always look forward to seeing each spring.
Reference:
1. Wildflower.org The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Fuzzball
This little fuzzball is just learning to fly and hence spent a bit of time on the ground this day.
First dance
The first wildflowers are just poking up in our area yet just as fast as they start to bloom they have found partners for that lovely dance called pollination. Above a Biscuit Root flower only a couple inches wide and tall and just fully in bloom finds dance partners both big and small.
Above a fly asks a Sagebrush Buttercup for a quick spin around the dance floor.
Yes, let the dance begin.
When Spring Has Sprung
Alone in the marsh with last seasons cattails as his home a Yellow Headed Blackbird begins to establish territory and sing his wonderful Yellow Headed Blackbird song.
The sound of Yellow-headed Black bird is a sure sign that spring has sprung.
