Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is slowly but surely establishing itself in the woodland garden. Three little plants two years ago have become a smallish colony of 7 or 8. The flowers are still shortlived as they are easily destroyed by rain and wind, but whatever time they had to attract insects must have been enough. I […]
Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category
Bloodroot – securing the next generation
Posted in Flora, Interesting on June 3, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Cypripedium acaule (pink lady’s slipper)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on June 2, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
I was quite surprised to see two of these plants in a narrow strip of woodland right near my house. I am not sure how rare these are on Cape Cod, or anywhere else for that matter, but there were only these two plants and I searched far and wide for signs of other moccasin […]
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on June 2, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
At this time the plants are still young and they have not gotten to the point of producing flowers and the signature blue berries. The two blue cohosh plants in the garden are hidden somewhat out of sight behind the stalks of asters and they are about a foot high. Eventually, in another year or […]
Spring Finally Returns on Cape Cod
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting, tagged Events on May 18, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Looking back at posts from the past few years that were written around this time, I am seeing some slight differences in the patterns of the critters that live around our Cape Cod home. I usually get large black ants running around my kitchen for several days in late April. Then these ants suddenly disappear. […]
Rare sight
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on May 15, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Do you ever kick yourself, after the fact, when you have an encounter with an unfamiliar animal or plant, because you are so engrossed in the experience that you neglect to document it on camera? This is the second time now, and both occurences involve birds. I did not bring out the camera when a […]
Cukes, anyone?
Posted in Edible, Fauna, Interesting on May 12, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Every now and again, animals and plants wash up on the beaches in great quantities. Aside from the seasonal cycles which land huge quantities of seaweed on the shores, and cyclical die-offs (e.g. mole crabs), there are the storms that dislodge anything from scallops to surf clams and cockles. I guess this weekend it was […]
Back again
Posted in Interesting, Rants & Raves on May 12, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been a long time since I posted, even though there have been several encounters in our Cape Cod plant and animal world. We took a short break from the lingering winter, thinking that we’d have plenty of time to catch the first leaves. A good plan, but we did not plan on the fact […]
View to a kill
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on February 9, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Nature often shows her seemingly cruel side, and the backyard is not immune from those demonstrations. A sharp shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus) surprised a starling (Sturnus vulgaris) near the bird feeder today, while it was feasting on the bird seed we leave out. Sharp shinned hawks are not all that uncommon around here but they […]
Nature firsts
Posted in Interesting on September 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Although work and life has kept me busy and away more than I like from my time spent in the yard and in nature, there have been some nice surprise “firsts” this year: My first bald eagle sighting (on my commute home) My first praying mantis find (at the Natural History Museum in Brewster) My […]
Fall spiders
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on September 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
I’m amazed at the variety of spiders I see in the yard or around the house. Most of the time I don’t have a camera on hand or I am rushing off to one place or another, and when I come back the spider has inevitably disappeared. With the orb weavers you have a bit […]