YESTERDAY I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I WOULD BE COMING ACROSS THIS BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK

It was on a vehicle in the parking area when we visited the pond. I noticed it as we were leaving. There was no one inside and I thought I could take a few photos without disturbing anyone. 

The main artwork on the hood was that of an American Indian on a pinto pony. 

The man is shown in a ceremonial pose with arms raised and head tilted back towards the sky. He is holding a ceremonial staff in one hand.

I would like to have had a conversation with this very talented artist, but its occupants were most likely taking a walk in the woods. Below is a close up of the spear on the side. The same design was on the other side also. Seeing this lovely artwork made our trip to the pond even more enjoyable.

Thanks for looking and 

I hope you have a great day 

and weekend.

ART IN NATURE

I have often looked at various things I photograph and thought that nature has always shown us its own form of glorious art. Nature's brushstrokes are something to behold.

Thanks for looking everyone and I hope you are having a great start to the week.

(I used a collage app on my iPad for the above)

A NICE WALK AT WALNEY

 

Hello Dear Friends!

A collage of photos from our latest walk at the visitor center and the pond today. I was hoping to see hummingbird moths. I didn’t see them but there were other things that kept our interest. 

It was a lovely day, in the low 80s and not too humid. I will have the larger photos and explain more when I can put a post together. Lots of lovely nature. I feel so good getting out in it. It's like a tonic and a breath of fresh air all rolled into one.

More photos either tomorrow or at least within the next few days.

I hope you all have a great day, wishing you peace and thanks for stopping by. 

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE AND WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

When we went to Walney the other day, we had fun looking at the bird feeders behind the visitor center, and managed to get photos of a Black-capped Chickadee. The other birds proved to be more elusive.

They are non-migratory and are an all-year round visitor.

I was also very happy to see the White-breasted nuthatch.

I have only just learned how to tell a male from a female. The male has a black cap on its head whereas the female's is more gray. If you scroll down the page at this website, you can read more. 

Thanks for looking and 

Happy Wednesday!

 

BEAUTY IS IN...

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

~Margaret Wolfe Hungerford~

After a lot of searching, I still can't say with absolute certainty, but I think this may be a milkweed nymph? Anyone out there who knows for sure and has its true identity, would you please let me know what you think? Thank you! It was on a milkweed plant. I have seen adult milkweed bugs but this one leaves me a little puzzled, as I know there is also a milkweed assassin bug but they are two different insects. The old saying popped in my head when looking at it. I think it is a lovely little bug but I daresay a lot of people out there wouldn't agree with me.

Added note Saturday, July 20th, 2024: thank you to those of you who offered ID’s.  David of Travel with Birds identified it as a Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus). I found a wonderful page with a very good profile at this link. It was extremely interesting reading about it. Thank you very much David!

David also has a marvelous post with extremely enjoyable photos of insects. You can see those plus much more at this link.

I got this information about the quote online: "It is believed to have first appeared in English in the 19th century. Margaret Wolfe Hungerford (nee Hamilton) is widely credited with coining the saying in its current form. Hungerford wrote many books often under the pseudonym of 'The Duchess'. In the 1878 novel Molly Bawn, there's the line "It is an old axiom, and well said, that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'".

Margaret (Apr 27 1855 - Jan 24 1897) was an Irish novelist whose light romantic fiction was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th century. She was born in County Cork, Ireland. As a child she enjoyed creating stories and she won prizes for her writing at school. Later she supported herself and her three daughters by writing books. Her first novel "Phyllis" was very successful. All my information came from Wikipedia. You can click here if you are interested in reading more.

A change of pace today as I don't often find a bug to take a photo of, but thought this was interesting.

 

Thanks so much for looking 

and have a great day!

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!

A few weeks ago we went to Walney Pond Visitor center, not to go into the visitor center but to see what they had growing in their garden. There were several young children who had been taking nature classes. They were finished and outside under the supervision of an adult, presumably their teacher in all things of nature. 

Bypassing the happy, excited little darlings who were waiting for their parents to pick them up, we headed for another bench that we call 'our' bench. In all the time we have visited this area, we have never seen anyone else making use of it. From where we sit we can see the garden and we use this vantage point to watch the activity at the bird boxes not too far away. One time in a post dated June 9th, 2021, we watched blue bird parents going back and forth to feed their young. You can see that post at this link. There is another one here that will show you the actual garden. You may have seen these before.

We sit under a very simply built arbor with grapevines trailing around the poles, and look at the overhanging grapes above us and on the side. Here you will see the arbor when it was first erected, and there were no trailing vines to give it such a pretty look. The arbor is rustic in appearance and as it is now, I find it charming. It is very peaceful once more and we take everything in around us. I am guessing that the poles originally came from the surrounding woods, where supplies are plentiful from naturally fallen trees. We stay there for quite a while but eventually walk back to the car. More photos to follow eventually. 

Thanks for looking and 

I wish you all a very happy Sunday!

HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU ALL!

I will sing you a song

Of a garden fair,

Wherein were sown seeds

That brought blossoms rare.

Love, joy and kindness,

And hearty good cheer,

Were the seeds that were sown

And flowered here.

The garden fair 

Was a little child’s mind,

And the seeds were these thoughts,

Just the very best kind.

A Garden Fair

By

Helen A. Fussell

 

GOOD FENCES

We are still near the visitor center at Walney.  The fences you see surround the garden area, which is showing rows of veggies.  Gregg took the photo below.....

and this one.

One of the times we were there the volunteers offered us some of their produce, which I thought was very nice of them.  

The fencing is utilitarian but high enough to keep the deer out, and no doubt other critters that would enjoy the goodies.

These fences surround an excavation area.

You can see more fences if you click on the button below.  Thank you for hosting Theresa.

NATURE NOTES

Walney Visitor Center 
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park

This is another place we enjoy going to, though it is the first time we have visited this year.   It has been raining a lot lately and was muddier in parts, but here are a few photos we took from our walk.

Don't you just love the aroma of honeysuckle blossoms?  I always seem to notice it more on a warm night when sitting outside.  I am looking forward to those warm nights, it's been a bit chilly of late.

There were a lot of mushrooms around, because of all the rain I guess.

These were growing on a pile of mulch....

and there were much smaller ones between the blades of grass.

The stump of an old tree trunk attracted my attention.....

The opened seed pod looked like a piggy nose.

Say what?

This friendly little stone piggy is actually residing at Meadowlark Gardens near the Fairy Garden, but I borrowed him just to go with the photo above it.

The bird box was high up in a tree, waiting for new arrivals.

There were buttercups everywhere....

and a few other wildflowers.

I have more from Walney, to be posted at a later date.  In the meantime I am sharing these with Michelle whose blog has all kinds of wonderful photos and information.  You can click on this link to visit Nature Notes when it becomes available, and also see other participants.