Going Batty

     A few years ago I wrote a post about all the wildlife in our yard, Who's in Your Garden. We continue to enjoy visitors to our garden all year round. Like this little bunny.

Or this early robin.

Later the babies started showing up.

Here's a male duck that was waddling around our backyard. There was a female also but I was unable to get a photo.

A snake was sunning himself on the rocks and startled me when I first caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye.

Something else that has been building in our trees are paper wasps.

They can be beneficial to your garden, but when you have a family member that is very allergic, they have to go. Their nests are fasinating.

The other day someone new showed up. I was opening up our patio umbrella when something flew out very fast and landed on the window screen. Once I got the umbrella up I walked over to see what it was and I certainly was surprised to see a bat.

Some how it had gotten up into the closed umbrella.

It wandered around on the screen a bit then flew back to the umbrella. So I very carefully closed up the umbrella. Later when it was starting to get dark I opened the umbrella and the bat flew out and on his merry way. I am happy to see them around as they eat bugs, especially mosquitoes.

I was able to get this video of him.

A thought to ponder: Take a quiet walk with Mother Nature. It will nurture your                                    mind, body, and soul.

Participating in: Grand Social, Our World Tuesday Nature Notes, Bloggers Link Up

Who's in Your Garden?

     Our garden offers us many hours of enjoyment. Not only do we enjoy the beauty of our flowers and the bounty of our vegetable garden; we also can delight in numerous types of wildlife.

A finch picnic

     Our bird feeders and bird baths give us a wonderful opportunity to view many types of birds. It is always fun to watch their antics.

A classy swimming pool

A puddle will do nicely too

     It doesn't seem to matter the time of year, we always seem to have some kind of avian visitor.

This robin is wondering what happened. This picture was taken in April.

A Lazuli Bunting

Here's a Northern Flicker, a type of woodpecker. They hang around into winter. I always leave some grapes on my vines for them, well what the robins don't get. The woodpeckers love frozen grapes. 

This hawk is scouting for lunch. I know they have to eat also but I sure don't like them getting my little sparrows. Fortunately the sparrows have a nice place to hide in a prickly rose bush near the feeders.

I think this is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This is "Morty" our resident pheasant. He has been coming and going in our yard for several years now.

Here's Morty last spring with one of his female friends, he had two.

These guys showed up in our yard one day this past August. They poked around for awhile then waddled on their merry way.

We always seem to have one or two rabbits that like to make a home under our shed. Like the other wild life they come and go.

This doe stopped to take a drink last week in front of our house.

Here's the doe's friend munching on some grass. We see this buck and several does frequently this time of year roaming around the neighborhood.

    A first for us, a couple weeks ago we had raccoons in our yard. We found the dog's water dish tipped over one morning and were wondering how it happened. That evening our motion sensor light in front went off and my husband spotted four raccoons before they scooted around to the back. The next day the water dish was tipped over again. We're pretty sure they were eating fallen crab apples. They have since moved on to greener pastures. I wish I could have gotten a picture.

     These are a few examples of the wildlife that visit our yard. Over the years as our garden has grown and evolved we've noticed more birds. Not only the number of birds but also the variety.  So who's in your garden?

A thought to ponder: "When man moves away from nature his heart becomes                                         hard."    Lakota

Linked to:No Rules Weekend, Outdoor Wednesday