Sunday, July 13, 2014

Little bits

Glorious to spend the weekend in the garden, despite mosquitos and blazing sun.. I nabbed a few happy zinnias from the yard..


But this is where they really ended up.. typical vignette in my house!


He.will.protect.them.from.the.cats....

Took my eldest for a walk on the new Town Lake (ahem, Lady Bird Lake, not used to that yet!) boardwalk, and managed to get a pic of one of the cute birds that have been hanging around my yard this summer.. (in someone else's yard, of course)..


It's a Texas Ruby Red House finch (PhoCarpodacus mexicanus) and they have an interesting story- they were native to Mexico and the Western US. About 1940 a few dozen House Finches were brought from Los Angeles, CA, to New York City by cage-bird dealers. The dealers released their captives on Long Island, NY, when they feared a raid by federal authorities. The population increased slowly and then began an explosive expansion.. 

Speaking of non-natives, I snapped a pic of a ubiquitous little guy last night while letting the cat in (again and again..)..

Love his vertical eye pupil.. He's a Common House Gecko - Hemidactylus frenatus- they came over on ships and live all over our houses, stalking insects near our porch lights. If he can clear out a few mosquitoes for me I'll be much obliged!

The new hens are settling into their new abode well. Here's a picture showing the run and summer hen house in full.. It's really meant to be used when we leave town so the girls can have room but be safe for a few days, but it is working well as a halfway house for the new ladies..


The older girls need to stop picking on my plumbago plant though! I have moved it out of their main line-of-sight in the hopes it will recover..


A sad plant indeed..

So while weeding, watering and trimming the back madly today, I found the cutest out of place plant- a bluebonnet rosette looking like it was March still..

I love these little surprises..


2 comments:

  1. Love those red finches. Realize they are all over our area but I honestly haven't seen any in my yard no matter how many bird feeders/baths I have set out. Stubborn birds - they know how badly I'd like to see them here and are holding out on me.

    Bluebonnet babies! It tickles me no end how the seedlings that pop up around here are typically everywhere - anywhere OTHER than in the garden beds where they'd be relatively safe. But oh no - they show up outside the stone bed liners, in the middle of the path, on the edges of the lawn... Also stubborn. I guess a lot of Texas natives are like that.

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    1. I have the same problem with hummingbirds- I catch sight of them only every 4 or 5 months despite trying to grow as many natives as they like. I'm sure it's about the micro-environment, not about me :)

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