Opportunistic Fern in Ballard

 
  
Some folks try to grow ferns with elaborate humidity controlled environments and felicitous soil combinations. Sometimes the ferns Just Happen.

Cat Watching for Moles

 
Given the number of molehills that have appeared in the last several weeks, I don't think this cat has accomplished much on the mole front.

Buckeyes

Pecked Ball

I had tucked this over-sized badminton birdie into a nook in a tree. Birds have been at it in the meantime. That must have been frustrating for them. Boing!

Mushrooms

Bowl shaped mushroom, palm-sized:


Same, from steeper angle:


Another of the same type:


Ant's POV

Wasilla Frost Skank

The description of the species, found among Prof. W.'s effects, is sketchy.

"... indicates readiness to mate (which it does early and often) by winking. Curiously, the beast cannot blink. May be be some defect in its neurology. Judged by quantity of dead fauna in habitat the beast is carnivorous, but discovered that it will eat anything. Kills more than it can eat, a disgusting, wasteful habit in any animal. Furriers will be disappointed that the pelt, although attractive at first glance, has a loathsome oily sheen that taints everything it touches."

Mystery Shrub

Wasps in Tree

Unsurprisingly, the dead tree was host to lots of bugs. The only problematical ones were the wasps that objected to my chainsaw. I was stung on the thumb but it was less bother than a mosquito bite.

The grubs were still wriggling around when I separated the nest from the rotten branch. Both nests were gone the next morning; I assume the crows got them.

Tree Pulled Down

A tree on the southern fence line died not too long after I moved in. It has been a bird-friendly snag since then but was in danger of falling on my house or worse, on my neighbor's house. I enlisted the engineering expertise of W and we pulled it down with a bit of rope. It was completely rotten at the bottom and was probably only held up by the English ivy.

What the Moles Dug Up

I found this in one of the many mole-hills in my yard. Grape jelly jar? Grape Nehi? It's quite thin and the degree of arc is high. A puzzler.

update: Pudding, the neighbor's mackerel tabby, was scoping out one of the molehills this morning. I had a mackerel tabby named Maggie who also hunted moles.

Interesting Moth and a Rock

Moth!

Of!

Interest!

And a rock:

Bee

I could not quite get this guy in focus. He was buzzing a lot.
 

Wren Nest

Overhead view of exposed nest (The birds flew the coop!)


View from the entrance:


The entrance is at the bottom of the picture. Wrens like snakeskin-like material for their nest. In this case, weathered bits of cellophane have been used.
 

Two Wrens

The bird cam has not caught both wrens at the same time very often. In most of those pictures, both birds are not well represented. This is the first one in which both birds' faces can be seen. Also a green worm.

Baby Spiders

 
Aww! So adorable and icky!

Bird Cam

A bird made a nest in a bat-house that I neglected to put up. Next step is to weather proof the camera, 'cause this bringing home the insect action is great!

JYW identified the species in about 5 seconds from my description. It is a Bewick's Wren.

Flowers and Jays

No Mercy for Radicata!

To enter the house of Kyle is to enter the house of pain!

There is the ovening:


There is being ovened:


Introduction to Monsieur le Choppy!


The business end of Choppy:


Cozy in the steel bosom of Choppy:


Chopped!


Pulverized!


Let that be a lesson to the rest of you weeds!

Dandelion with a Stout Root

It's not the biggest dandelion I have ever come across in my yard, but it may be the one with the thickest root. It is not really a dandelion either, more along the lines of catsear. My first thought when it came out was that it looked a lot like a turnip. A Google search turned up this page on the OSU site which has more information than I really needed. It is an invasive species to this continent. The OSU page mentions the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Ohio specifically which are, coincidentally enough, the same areas of North America that I have invaded. Dunh, dunh, du-u-u-h!


The bad news is that it can best be controlled by hand weeding. As if I did not know that already. The worse news is that it is a perennial, so it will keep on giving and giving until I do weed it.

For the luvva Pete, it's snowing!

That's a record.