Dave Bonta (morningporch)
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Another of the dead cherry's limbs broke off in the night, leaving just one more forked limb and a cluster of stumps, scabrous with fungi.
about a day ago from web -
Gray as a smudge of newsprint, the pewee flits from twig to twig in the dogwood, calling, calling. It gets no answer I can hear.
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Just donated to the Wikimedia Foundation. And if I can afford it, believe me, so can you. #keepitfree!
about 2 days ago from web -
A chipping sparrow emerges from the lilac, pursued by the high-pitched cries of nestlings. It lands and wipes its bill on a dead branch.
about 2 days ago from web -
The caution of wild things. Male and female cardinal taking turns bathing in the stream. The chipmunk rising furtively to its hind legs.
about 3 days ago from web -
Cool and clear; mist rising off the trees. From around the corner of the house, the zoom and chatter of a hummingbird's courtship flight.
about 4 days ago from web -
It's not too hot to fight: a robin drives a chipmunk from the lilac. A minute later, a flicker drives a downy woodpecker off its den tree.
about 5 days ago from web -
Hot and humid. A lone 17-year cicada's uncanny call. Where last night a drunk intruder stumbled in the weeds, a cloud of gnats, hovering.
about 6 days ago from web -
At first light, the sound of deer running through the woods: the crash of hooves, the swish of blossom-heavy branches of mountain laurel.
about 7 days ago from web -
A slight breeze brings a shower of petals from the tulip tree, while a squirrel at the top of the black walnut makes it rain catkins.
about 8 days ago from web -
(And yes, I'm enough of a nature nerd to have an ID on the bug: http://bugguide.net/node/view/16391 )
about 9 days ago from web -
A black leaf-footed bug squats head-down on a porch post. Two silver-spotted skippers circle and chase, eponymous spots glinting in the sun.
about 9 days ago from web -
A catbird taps at the dining room window—the same glass that taunts the female cardinal. A tiny shadow darts through the grass: meadow vole.
about 10 days ago from web -
The first peony, which opened yesterday, is too small to topple from the weight of rain. It merely tilts its flushed face toward the woods.
about 11 days ago from web -
Drizzle. Just as I get the binoculars out, the cedar waxwings all take off whistling from the tulip tree and its outrageous yellow blooms.
about 12 days ago from web -
A pileated woodpecker lands on the dead elm right beside the flicker den hole and knocks twice. A flicker pokes her head out. He flies off.
about 13 days ago from web -
Six nuthatches—parents and fledglings—scour the trees from top to bottom, soft calls communicating who knows what instructive tidbits.
about 14 days ago from web -
Two maple keys dangle in an old spiderweb underneath the porch railing, like uneaten remnants of some unfortunate winged creature.
about 15 days ago from web -
The groundhog emerges from her sun-flooded burrow beside the porch and whistles in alarm. The shadow of a tiger swallowtail crosses my legs.
about 16 days ago from web -
Sun in the treetops. A squirrel hangs head-down from a walnut branch to eat the flowers. My lover combs the tangles from her long hair.
about 17 days ago from web