Gardens at home

My sister, Jenny and I have been hard at work getting the gardens ready this year.  We had plants to divide and some plants to move transplant in other areas.  She grew seedlings of Tropical Milkweed for them that needed homes.  And, of course, we bought more plants to add into the landscape. Honestly, it's like a disease when we go to a plant store.  We never get out without buying something. Here's how they look today.

Back side garden

Back side garden - neighbor's view

Center back garden

Front side garden

Front garden by porch.

My Yard ~ Butterflies

 I am beginning to see more butterfly species on a daily basis.  It's exciting to have some Monarch around this early in the year.

Monarch on coneflower

Orange Sulphur

Red Admiral on rotten fruit

Question Mark on Rotten fruit.

My Yard ~ First Enclosed Monarch of 2015

Wordless Wednesday ~ Gray Catbird

Cape May Point State Park ~ More Chick Time

This was a banner day for me as I found 2 Least Tern chicks.  There also were lots of Least Terns still sitting on eggs so hopefully they will have a good year for the chicks.  Today, one of the parent's brought in a fish for this little one.  The chick gamely took the fish but couldn't eat it due to size.  The adult tern then took the fish back, ate it and flew off.  Baby tern was very unhappy about it.  I sit on the sand while observing them watching them through my bin's.  Then I use a telephoto lens to take my pictures.  Hope to get back there soon.

Cape May Point State Park ~ Chick Time

I have been looking for time to go  to the park to see if any chicks have been born yet. For me I love this time of year when the shorebirds have the babies.  Often the babies are the size of a cotton ball and are just really cute.  First, I found an American Oystercatcher with Mom.  The AO was probably at least a week old.   Later I saw 3 smaller chicks but didn't get any good pictures of them.  Dad Oystercatcher was down at the shoreline getting food for the chick.

Wordless Wednesday~ American Lady Butterfly

CMP State Park ~ Nesting birds

A return visit to the park shows that there are several pairs of American Oystercatchers on nests along with many Least Terns sitting on eggs.  Love seeing the circle of life going on in nature.  It's also amazing to see how the eggs are camouflaged in the sand.

American Oystercatcher on eggs

Least Tern on Eggs

Least Tern Eggs

My yard ~ Monarch Caterpillar

First of the Year ~ Monarch Caterpillar

Monarch Caterpillar on Tropical Milkweed

Monarch Caterpillar on Swamp Milkweed

Swamp Milkweed

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Yard ~ Summer Azure Butterfly

CMP State Park ~ Courtship~ Least Terns

It's exciting this year to see the Least Terns have returned. They are not in the great numbers we saw 3-4 years ago but the past 2 summers there were almost none.  This time of year there are courtships going on among the birds of all species.

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