Nature Friday – Honey Bees in Winter?!

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. We’ve had some crazy weather this winter. Our snow total so far this year is about a third of normal snow fall for the season and our temperatures have been above normal. This past Sunday our high temperature reached 55°F (about 13°C) and the flowers on our witch hazel burst into bloom.

Incoming!

Along with the beautifully fragrant flowers came the honey bees.

Look at those packed saddle bags.

Here is a little video clip I took of some of them in action. If you turn your volume up, you can hear the buzz from all the bees.

If you can’t see the video, you can go here to view it.

Those honey bees sure were working hard. It’s too bad somebody hasn’t invented smell-o-vision so I could share the beautiful scent of the witch hazel with all of you.

I enjoyed watching the bees do their work and hoped they all made it back to the hive before it got too cold.

The weather has turned much colder and just a couple of days ago we had an ice storm that left over a quarter of an inch of ice covering everything including those beautiful witch hazel blossoms.

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday – A Walk in the Park

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. Yesterday Charlie and I took a walk at the Webster Arboretum. I put my binoculars in my pocket but didn’t expect to find much bird action this time of year there. Now that the leaves are off all the trees we like to see if we can find birds’ nests that were previously hidden from view. It’s always amazing to see how close the nests are to the walking paths, and we never know they are there.

We were nearly back to the car when Charlie spotted a large light-colored object in a tree about thirty or so feet from the path. At first, we thought it was an old hornet’s nest but when I fished out my binoculars this is what I saw.

A Coopers Hawk staring back at me.

It certainly wasn’t a hornet’s nest but a beautiful Coopers Hawk. Based on its size we believe it was a female. Luckily, we had packed our camera equipment just in case we found something to photograph. I was sure that by the time I got my camera out and back to where the hawk was, she would be gone, but to my surprise she was there and stayed put for quite a while.

Here is a little video clip I took of her.

If you can’t see the video, you can go here to view it.

Ms. Cooper’s Hawk spent most of her time looking around for her next meal and preening a bit but wasn’t bothered by me at all. Since I had my long zoom lens on, I didn’t have to get too close to her, so I didn’t disturb her at all. Our observing the hawk pointed her out to some of the other people enjoying the park that likely never would have seen her otherwise.

The hawk kept an eye on some squirrels that were moving around behind her.

I’m glad I went back to the car and got my camera and that Ms. Cooper’s Hawk was so cooperative with me. Normally we would be joining the Nature Friday blog hop but they are on vacation until next year.

I hope all my readers have a Happy New Year!

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday With Walter

Flowers For My Love!

Hi everyone! It’s Walter here. Today I want to celebrate the life of my girlfriend, Tuiren, who left for the Rainbow Bridge about a week ago.

We enjoyed many Blogville events together and I was honored to be her boyfriend for many years. I know she is feeling young and frisky now that she is romping over the Bridge and someday, we will be reunited.

I will always love you, Tuiren.

In honor of Tuiren, I want to share some beautiful dahlia pictures my dad took over the course of the past couple of months at the Webster Arboretum.

The local dahlia society has dug out all the tubers and will keep them safe until they can be replanted next year.

I hope you enjoyed seeing all those beautiful flowers.

As some of you might have heard there is an exceptional winter storm happening in western New York state, but rest assured we aren’t being affected by it. We had a dusting of snow this morning and shouldn’t get much more than that. Don’t worry though we are sure to get our fair share this winter.

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Before I go, I have one more thing to tell you about. Do you enjoy getting mail during the holiday season and having more cards come to you than your parents? Well why not join in on the Holiday Card Exchange.

To find out how to add your name to the list just email The Swiss Cats ( swissneko AT gmail.com ). Be sure to include your blog name and your human’s name in your email. We think even our friends that don’t blog anymore could probably participate if you ask nice and reference your old blog.

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday With Fall Leaves

Hi everyone! It’s Millie here. This fall sure has been a funny one. We’ve had such warm temperatures that we’ve been able to spend lots of time outside while mom and dad work or play in the yard.

I love laying in the leaves under the Katsura tree with my Kong. What is dad doing back there?

Our dad likes to play around by taking macro pictures of the leaves that have fallen on the ground. The Katsura tree leaves still had some dew on them to make very pretty pictures.

Next, we have the beautiful leaves from the stewartia tree along with some of the seed pods they drop.

We sure have been enjoying this lovely fall weather and we hope you all get to enjoy some fall leaves in your backyard.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the beauty in our fallen leaves.

Winter might be just around the corner, but you wouldn’t know it with the warm weather we’ve had here this week. We might even break the high temperature record of 75° F tomorrow.

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday in the Garden

Hi everyone! It’s Walter here. We’ve had a roller coaster of weather here this spring. One day it’s nice and cool and the next it’s like a blast furnace.

It’s a lovely day to be outside today.

We’ve been helping our parents with the garden this spring. There is always something in the perennial garden that doesn’t make it through the winter, so dad has been planting a few more shrubs in there.

Mixed garden – View from the house

Mixed garden – View from the yard

There are lots of flowers blooming right now with more still to come.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the flowers.

Ceasar’s Brother Siberian Iris

Geum – Totally Tangerine

Therese Bugnet Rose

Those roses sure do smell sweet! We hope you enjoyed seeing how our garden is shaping up this season and we will try to keep you posted about all the other things going on here.

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday – It’s Snow Fun!

Hi everyone! It’s Millie and Walter here. We are happy to report that we got our Christmas wish to finally have some decent snow to play in! (Be sure to click on the images to get a bigger view)

It’s a winter wonderland!

The snow smooshed down the beautiful grasses in our perennial garden, but it was bound to happen eventually. 

What are you doing back there dad?

The snow wasn’t deep, but it came down wet, so it stuck to everything!

What a tranquil scene

We had fun wandering around and occasionally doing some zoomies, too.

Uh oh! I think I see Walter stalking me.

See if you can spot Walter in the next picture. You might have to click on it to make it bigger.

Do you see him?
I blend in so well Millie won’t see me coming.

We hope you enjoyed seeing our winter wonderland. Luckily, we haven’t had any warm weather, so the snow is sticking around for a while plus we’re expected to get a little more snow almost every day for the next week!

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday – Christmas Card Edition

Hi everyone! It’s Millie and Walter here. We always like to share some of the nature we find in our yard on our annual Christmas card so today we will give you a close-up view of the nature pictures on this year’s card.

Let’s see some of the interesting nature from our card this year.

Our mom loves trying to capture pictures of the birds in our yard. They move fast so sometimes she has to get lucky to get a good picture. This is one of her favorites this year.

White Breasted Nuthatch

You know we love all the flowers in our yard, but our dad had fun this year taking pictures of the dahlias in a nearby arboretum. This pink one is a real beauty!

Many of the flowers we have planted in our garden are attractive to all sorts of pollinators and butterflies.

Giant Swallowtail on Clematis, Mrs. Robert Brydon

That clematis is a non-vining or bush clematis, and our parents enjoy watching all the bugs that use it.

Finally, we have a look at a frosty Rozanne Geranium.

For those of you that aren’t on our Christmas card list here is a look at both sides of our card this year. Feel free to take a copy for yourself.

Front

Back

We hope you enjoyed seeing the nature pictures from our card this year and we wish all of you that celebrate it a Very Merry Christmas!

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Read Full Post »

Nature Friday – Fall Leaf Beauty

Hi everyone! It’s Millie and Walter here. On the days it hasn’t been raining we’ve enjoyed hanging out in the yard while our dad takes pictures of some of our fall leaves.

Let’s see what dad’s found to show us.

We like being outside when the weather is nice. There are lots of different types and colors of leaves in our yard.

What a fun day we had while dad was doing his pictures.

We hope you enjoyed seeing some of the cool things our dad photographed in our backyard. 

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

We also want to dedicate this post to our dear friend Arty from the LLB Gang who sadly went to the Bridge just over a week ago. He was a great friend to everyone in Blogville and will be dearly missed by everyone, especially his family.

Read Full Post »