My Yard ~ FOY ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird

There have been a few male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds coming through my yard but I haven't seen any females yet

 

My Yard ~ Migrating Birds

 Excited to have an Indigo Bunting in my yard & returning House Wrens

Nest building

My Yard ~ Spring Planting

 It's earlier than I usually plant but it's been getting earlier each year. My area had been rezoned to 7 when I checked last week. Lots more flowers to be planted over the next month. Good growth from most perennials except lantana which will need about another month before it really gets started. Pansies & snapdragons are cool weather starters.

My Yard ~ First Butterflies of 2025

 My yard this week - I had Monarch, Variegated Fritillary & Tiger Swallowtail on Monday. Tuesday, I added Meadow Fritillary with Cabbage Whites every day. These butterflies are earlier than prior years. I love living near the Amish farmlands & their great greenhouses. So far this year I have planted pansies & violas' (host plant for variegated fritillary), snapdragons (host plant for common buckeye), Lantana, and Zinnia. My swamp milkweed & butterfly weed are just growing enough to support a few eggs.

HCV ~ Yard birds

I have been enjoying the birds in my backyard as I look forward to going to Magee Marsh for migrating warblers & others birds in OH.  I am also getting ready to plant more native plants along with some favorite annuals in my yard as I hope for a great 2025 butterfly season.

Tufted Titmouse

Song Sparrow

Blue Jay

American Robin

Gray Catbird

White-throated Sparrow

Hairy Woodpecker

Chipping Sparrow

House Wren

House Wren

Northern Cardinal Male

Dubina, TX ~ St Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church

   I  took myself on a tour of some of the Painted Churches in TX.  They were all so gorgeous and very well maintained 

   Czech settlers in 1856 arrived here in this area.  After the Civil War they built the original church with an iron cross made by Tom Lee, who was a freed slave and blacksmith.  This church was destroyed by a hurricane in 1909.  A new church was built and again topped by the same iron cross.  It was painted inside but no records exist of who did the painting.  The interior was whitewashed over in the 1950's.  Then, in the 1980's the interior was restored to look like what it was thought to look like originally.

Ammannsville, TX ~ The Painted Churches ~ St John the Baptist Church

 Last year at this time I was spending a few days around Schulenburg, TX visiting The Painted Churches. They were all different and all are beautiful. Here's St John the Baptist in Ammannsville, TX. Originally built 1877 and rebuilt in 1909 after a hurricane destroyed it.