The Backyard

Horse Story

Mobert — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:28:23 +0000

Here’s a little reprieve from the winter’s snow and ice. The photos were taken when Buzz and I were checking the nature preserve for invasive plants. We were near a horse pasture and they seemed to gravitate towards us – beckoning the others to come over and visit.

Hey Ed - Check this out.

Ed beckons the others.

Oh Boy!

What's that thing you're clicking?

The Bee Tree

Mobert — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:55:49 +0000

I was walking past my Peegee Hydrangia bush, which had grown to a very large size, and heard a distict buzzing noise. It was as though the entire bush was ready to ‘take off’. The humming was very loud. I looked at the flowers and noticed that upon each one were a variety of bees, hornets and wasps. I had never seen so many in one place. Every day I check back and there are hundreds of bees swarming the ‘bee tree’. We even saw the elusive honey bee. Oh, how happy that made me. The varieties were too numerous to count.

The Bee Tree (Peegee Hydrangia)
swarming with bees.

I don’t use pesticides in the yard so we have a lot of very interesting bugs, amphibians and birds. I also noticed a huge amount of toads and frogs in the yard this year. I love seeing the variety of critters that can thrive when the environment is inviting. Ours is a very friendly house for all the critters.

Monarch Butterfly Emerges

Mobert — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:09:53 +0000

I saw several monarch butterflies alight upon my swamp milkweek.

Monarch Butterfly on Swamp Milkweed

The Swallows on the front porch

Mobert — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:46:51 +0000

The Barn Swallows built a nest on the front porch this year. They built their nest out of mud and lined it with some some soft material. It was not built on a ledge, rather, it came straight out from the stucco – an amazing feat of engineering. I put a potty box underneath to catch all the dropping. The birds seemed very upset for a few days and I noticed that one of the babies had died. Buzz removed it from the nest. They seem fine now and almost ready to fly.

3 baby swallows in nest

Momma Swallow checks on babies

Baby Swallow ready to fly the coop

The Monarch Caterpillar

Mobert — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:32:47 +0000

I really like milkweed. It smells heavenly. It started coming up in the front garden a few years ago and I started to see monarch butterflies. The other day, as I was walking into the garage – I noticed one beautiful monarch caterpillar munching on the milkweed.

Monarch caterpillar on milkweed

Monarch Caterpillar munching on milkweed

Here is an interesting time-lapsed video (on YouTube) of a monarch caterpillar forming a chrysalis.

The Wise Old Talking Tree

Mobert — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:41:54 +0000

We were hiking up Oberg Mountain in Northern MN and stumbled upon this ancient talking tree. He is the wisest tree on earth and will answer any and all questions.

9 bags of trash, a ladder, a shovel and a shoe

Mobert — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:55:47 +0000

Trash pick up around the loop was successful as far as garbage collection goes. Our neighbor, Denise Webber and her son Michael, a 7th grader, showed up to help. That was 2 more than Buzz and I were counting on.

It took almost 2 hours to walk a 2 mile loop. We picked up everything in sight. Thank goodness Denise is very meticulous. She even stopped to pick up tiny pieces of glass on the sidewalk. She and her son were both tireless workers. I found it amazing that people throw out everything from beer bottles to food wrappers to old tires without a care in the world.

Thank you Denise and Michael for your help. You are both great!

Trash Pickup – April 27 – 10am

Mobert — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:37:36 +0000

Buzz and I are going to pick up trash around the entire loop next Sunday. I did it one year and it really makes a difference. There is a lot of trash on the side of the road. Would you want to come with us? Do you know anyone who hates litter who would be interested in helping?

Basically, we would just walk around the loop and then come back for the bags.

If anyone is interested, please meet us at 10 am at 170th (dirt Rd by Donna Greens) with a couple large garbage bags.

I’m thinking it would be important to wear gloves and pants in case of poison ivy.

The Marsupial sees his shadow

Mobert — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:03:35 +0000

Every year, we know Spring has come when Momar, the Marsupial, makes his first appearance. He slowly made his way up to the feeder and ate the seeds on the ground. Possums are very slow moving and can’t seem to run. The way they react to danger is to feign death by ‘playing possum’. Possums (short for opossum) are built for comfort – not speed.

Opossums have claws on all fingers fore and hind except on the two thumbs.

I noticed that Momar had a tattered ear and wondered with whom he had had an altercation. He didn’t seem any worse for the wear.

A few days later, Momar was in a life and death situation. Two black labs were making their way over from the pond as Momar slowly made his way down the path. I flew into action, ran down the stairs and out the back door. At that point, Momar was already ‘playing possum’ as the lab was heading right towards him. I screamed at the dogs and they were startled and ran away.

A minute later, Momar started his slow journey again. I watched until he disappeared into the horizon.

Oliver, the Owl

Mobert — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:16:12 +0000

As dusk was approaching, I walked by the window and looked out and took a double take. Right outside my living room, was a magnificent Barred Owl in our small black cherry tree.

Evidently, the Barred Owl does not mind the cold because Minnesota winters can be extreme. Today was rather nice out though, a balmy 25 degrees, and I’m sure the owl decided to go for little spin of the neighborhood in pursuit of his evening meal. As the owl sat rotating his head round and round – looking for something to eat, I began to fear that Trixie, the mouse, might be on the dinner menu. Fortunately, I did not witness the demise of Trixie or any of our other small critters running around the yard – at least today.

The next evening, Oliver came back to the exact same spot, patiently sitting for over an hour in the small Black Cherry tree. Finally, he hunched over, stared down at the ground and made his move. He carried away what appeared to be a vole. Once settled in a new tree, he swallowed his evening meal whole and just sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Later, as I walked by the window again – I looked out to see Oliver sitting back in the cherry tree.

I like to keep my windows open in the summer and have often heard the owls calling out to each other, hoo-hoo-to-hoo, usually around 3 in the morning or so. It is an amazing sound. They must live close by but where, I do not know. They are truly a sight ot behold.