Happy Halloween...

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-Tomorrow I am going on part 2 of the CC Lockwood Workshop, which is a hike with him through Tunica Hills. It's a beautiful area. I don't have the lens I thought I would by this time, but the one I have should work out o.k.

Just searched Tunica Hills at flickr and and some nice pictures of the area came up. I haven't been out there in ages...definitely looking forward to it.
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-I printed out the checklist for Healthy Yards/Backyard Habitats at Audubon.org a couple weeks ago.

My goal looks something like this:


Although I doubt I will have deer and my yard will never be that neat and tidy.

Even though I know it's for the best, weeding out all the invasive/nonnative plants will be the toughest step.

It's nice to see a healthy number of woodpeckers at the few snags in the yard and knowing that under the brush you have a family of box turtles that come out to visit every Spring. Or seeing the hawk swoop down over your bird feeders during midday and hearing the Barred Owls hoot all night, sometimes even waking you up. And of course, the constant parade of Raccoons and Opossums make me smile too.

And it is incredibly nice to notice that the brush piles from the Hurricane are now providing shelter and a feeding area for the squirrels and even a beautiful American Redstart family. These birds move incredibly fast while foraging and "flutter like a falling leaf" (as Roger Tory Peterson states) as they jump from branch to branch, flashing their wings and tails to flush insect prey. They are fun to watch:


Some pictures of the family in my yard:







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-This week all the little white Asters decided to bloom in unison and I have so many little bees in the backyard. I love it.





I wish they were Mason Bees b/c I would love to make one of these Mason Bee Houses:



But I am pretty sure we don't have them in Louisiana.
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Oh, and Happy Halloween....
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