Here is a song sparrow enjoying the bubble rock. He goes at it with a frenzy!

Some insect mysteries! I haven't been able to identify this caterpillar. Do you know what it is? 

These two kinds of worm were on my dogwood seedling. A few days later, it was completely stripped of its leaves. They were hungry! Do you know what either of these worms are?

 I found a monarch chrysalis in my green bean plants as I was pulling them, so I taped it to the wire of a hanging basket. Here is the butterfly that came from it!

I think it is so amazing God makes a perfect color match so this stink bug can safely hide in plain sight.

I was thrilled to find this small visitor in my flower bed. I hope he decides to stay!

And then I found this guy "measuring" a gloriosa daisy.

I have been finding a few Monarch caterpillars in my vegetable garden, and I am watching two chrysalises, hoping to find more!

This is my June picture- how fast the summer goes by! I had two bluebird houses occupied at the same time. They both fledged, and everybody disappeared! No second families, this summer.  :(

It has been a very rainy June and July. Too much rain on my vegetable garden, but my flowers seem to have liked it. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is feeding on Liatris spicata. 

This little guy and I go round and round every spring. He thinks he's going to nest in one of my purple martin gourds. Well, he does end up using one, but one that is hung away from the others. However, this year the tree swallow may have won anyway, because I have no martins interested in staying around. My dad cleaned up the area around the retention pond where his gourds are- about a quarter mile away, and his colony is full (they all went there.) I'm still hoping for a late comer- but just today I saw a starling in one of the gourds. I shall have to switch out to all starling resistant holes. I wish the martins would appreciate what I do for them, and come nest at my place!

The woods are a magnet to me in the spring. Everyday new flowers appear. Bloodroot pops up in different spots every year. What fun to spot them blooming.

I found a four-leafed trillium. 

This is toothwort.

And lovely spring beauty. The wildflowers pull me into the woods in April.
Next month, May, it will be the migrating birds!(Some are already coming through this month.)

Lost a junco at my feeder to this Cooper's Hawk. Missed seeing the hit, but watched him dine for a while. I went outside and got quite close to him while taking pictures. He must have been hungry. We'd just gotten 8 inches of snow, and he made a mess of the clean white landscape.

It was dusk, and we pulled into our driveway. And look what we found, sitting in the low branches of the maple tree, right over the drive. I hadn't seen a screech owl for 12 years, so it was a nice surprise.

Little ball of feathered fluff
I can't look at you enough.
Though I think that you're so cute,
when mice know you're around, they scoot!

When the pileated woodpecker comes to the suet feeder, the suet doesn't last long!