Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 19:52

Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 19:52

We had some beautiful weather last week and I was able to spend a good deal of time out-of-doors observing nature. Most of these were taken right from my front porch!

Aren’t these little house finches sweet? I just love his striped markings, they make him look like he’s wearing bloomers! They have one of the prettiest songs, you can listen to it here.

 

 

My seeds from Monarch Watch arrived. However, after talking with some people in-the-know about these things, it seems like I should have ordered them in February, to start the seedlings in March. Some even said I need to over-winter the seeds first! So these seeds will be spending the next 10-11 months in my refrigerator, and I’ll look forward to hosting the monarchs next year! I did find some butterfly weed at the local nurseries, and will probably plant more for this season. I have both red {below} and yellow in my garden.

 

 

I’m finally starting to see some monarchs around. I chased this one for about fifteen minutes the other day, and this was the ONLY time he landed! I’ve been checking the leaves of my butterfly weed and these native antelophorn milkweed, but I haven’t seen any eggs yet.

 

 

I’ve seen quite a few ladybugs in my garden this year, and that makes me happy. They are fast little buggers! and camera shy to boot! I found this little guy meandering through my blue sage.

 

 

My mom has counted up to twelve hummingbirds at her feeders at one time, and she has to fill her feeders at least once a day. Sadly, I haven’t seen near as many here at my place. Really only a couple pair of black-chinned hummingbirds and no ruby-throats at all, yet.

 

 

There are a ton of yellow butterflies flitting about. But unlike the butterflies I shared with you last week, they never seem to land! I finally captured one, but never could get it to open it’s wings. I think this is either a Sleepy Orange {Abaeis nicippe} or a Boisduval's Yellow {Eurema boisduvaliana}. I’m leaning toward the latter. I’ll continue chasing butterflies in an effort to confirm their true identity.  {It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!}

 

 

Our lesser goldfinches “Texas form” are going crazy over all the grasses that are starting to seed. These little birds are so sweet, especially the females.

 

 

I’ve been reading Beth Moore’s To Live is Christ, a wonderfully insightful look into Paul’s life. I’ll leave you with a favorite quote from my reading last week.

 

How do you measure success?

Blessings,

June

 

Sharing inspiration here: