This morning I found this brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) in the corn barrel in the feed room. It stared at me, but didn’t move. My father says that’s typical thrasher behavior. ‘They’re weird birds,’ he said. It even waited for me to jog to the house, grab a camera and jog back. Or maybe it
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The common violet is one of my favorite spring flowers. It’s fragrant, pretty, tough and prolific. What’s not to love? This particularly sturdy violet pushed its way through a layer of sand deposited a couple weeks ago when the creek overran its banks and flooded the crossing we use to access the back fields. A
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We’ve had quite a lot of rain lately, which created much more run-off than our little creek usually carries. A lot of debris washed down from the woods, and a couple trees that have been leaning over the embankment fell right in. Branches caught on fallen logs, new and old, and the mess piled up
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Some days it’s nice to stay inside and watch the birds from the comfort of a warm house.

Me and the titmouse are still working on the goals and plans for 2008. We’ll let you know when the list has been whittled down from grandiose to what can reasonably get done in 2008 even if all goes precisely according to plan.

Tickseed sunflower (Bidens aritosa) This daisy-like flower appears in late August and blooms well into the fall. I suppose they can grow about anywhere, but I see them mostly in the lower ends of pastures and prairies where the soils tend to be a bit more moist. I saw great sweeps of tickseed yellow in
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I’d feared that the late spring freeze had wiped out this year’s crop of wild grapes, but I spotted these beauties among the leaves of a pecan tree at the edge of the back pasture. They’re unusually large for wild grapes, too. I suspect that’s partly due to the location. This vine has its roots
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Wild bergamot aka horsemint, bee balm Monarda fistulosa I didn’t see so much of it during the drought the last two years, but a wet spring seems to have rejuvenated the prairie flowers. I’ve found a few small patches on my land, and several large patches down the road at the edge of a cornfield
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The male cardinal draws the eye with its flashy color and bold behavior. Spotting them is easy, particularly when snow blankets the land. The females intrigue me with their subtler coloring and their caution. They’re more challenging to photograph, and they’re more interesting to watch.

We seldom see any of the whitetail deer that live here. When we do, it’s usually at a distance. With three dogs at my heels, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to slip up close enough for a stunning photo. What I usually see is the white flag of their tails as they leap into the
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