Common Nature

Today I took pictures around the yard. It's cloudy, so the lighting is bad, but so much is happening that I wanted to capture it. See the House Yard, South Lot, Savanna, and Prairie Garden.

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Continuing the photo tour of the yard, most of these are from the savanna and prairie garden.

See all of today's photography posts:
Photos: House Yard and South Lot
Photos: Savanna and Prairie Garden
Photos: Back Toward the House
Photos: Garden Shed

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The first flower is blooming here at Fieldhaven! :D

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The sun came out, so now the snow sparkles and much wildlife sign is visible.  This set of pictures shows the north end of the house yard, driveway, and Midwinter Grove. Cottontail rabbits like this area, as shown by their tracks. (See also House Yard, Savanna, and Back Toward the House.)

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For our Yule ritual this year, we planted our new hollies in the Midwinter Grove.

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Today I took some pictures around the yard. These are images from the house yard.

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Today we visited the marsh park.

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Cicadas are hatching! I've seen a few hatch earlier, but this morning after the rain there are lots of them. The biggest concentration is around the forest garden and edges of the patio. :D These are red-eyed cicadas, technically periodical cicadas. Their carapaces are almost hard, their wings fully extended but still too soft to fly. It's a feast for everything that eats insects. Humans can eat them too. (I'm not planning to try that.) Usually what we get here are various types of the larger green cicadas, like the dog-day cicadas.

For maximum birdwatching benefits, keep an eye out on mornings after a rain. Once the nymphs shed their shells, they are soft and vulnerable. Many birds eagerly feast on them.

See also the poem "The Flying Jewels of Spring."

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These photos are from yesterday in my yard. This batch is mostly from the prairie garden and ritual meadow.

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