During that nice spell of warm weather we took the opportunity to open up our backyard pond for the season. We took off the mesh covering which catches the leaves over the winter.As you can see there's always a lot of work to do at the beginning of the season. We usually have some perennial visitors when we open the pond- snakes, frogs, masses of frogs eggs, but last year was a first. We opened the pond on March 20, 2011. It was the first day of spring and a lovely way to celebrate.The following day, when my husband came home at lunch time, he found two mallard ducks happily swimming around in our little...

We had the pleasure of watching a family of tufted titmouse birds who took up residence in a birdhouse in our backyard last summer. We only observed one baby who already looked quite big when it first  made an appearance at the entrance to the birdhouse. The birdhouse was about 12 feet high on the tree, with the opening facing south. By the time the fledgling was ready to leave the nest, it appeared larger than the adult bird. Because this baby needed to be fed so often (about every 20 minutes), I was able to set up my tripod and camera and wait for the right moment to catch the mother feeding...

On a brisk Sunday in March of 2011, my husband suggested we head out on a day trip to take some pictures. The white blanket of snow was finally gone. It had been a long, harsh winter and we were anxious to get outside and shoot the first signs of spring.The branches were still bare and the landscape had not yet turned green. It was a cloudy day and everything looked dull brown. We returned home with some photographs of local landscapes, later slated for deletion. I was regretting that I hadn't stayed home to do yard work. There were leaves to be raked, brush to be cleaned,dead stalks to be removed,...

I noticed this house wren built a nest in our backyard bird house. House wrens are cavity nesters and are easily attracted to bird houses. I was surprised when a week later I saw what looked like the same species of bird carrying twigs into another birdhouse not 20 feet away. I asked a birder friend who explained to me that the male house wren starts a number of nests, shows them to his female mate, and then lets her select the one she prefers!Together they rebuild the final selection. The male may start as many as 12 different nesting sites. Wow, he really works hard to please his mate!...

  This past summer we had a garter snake who was a frequent visitor at our backyard pond. I found out why, on a hot, sultry day in July, when I witnessed the snake catch and devour a frog. A few weeks later, I spotted the snake again stalking his quarry. He was poised on a rock eyeing his prey with his tongue flickering in and out.Since I can generally be found in the backyard with my camera in tow, I caught the chase from his first leap to capture. The snake eluded me for several shots as he took his prey underwater and undercover of the shaded water lily leaves. Perhaps he was raising...

Every summer we patiently wait in anticipation of the bloom of our lotus plant. We fear it did not survive the harsh New England winter and then we are greeted by that first distinct leaf which dwarfs the other standard day lily plants. This year was no exception. Then begins the long wait until the plant matures and forms a bud. We silently exclaim," please don't burst into bloom the week we are on vacation or the day we are attending an out of town wedding!" For part of the drama of the lotus is that it lasts for only 2 days. The first day you can see the emerging bloom in hues of luminous...

A few years ago we visited the Magic Wings Conservatory & Gardens, a butterfly aviary in South Deerfield, MA. We enjoyed viewing and photographing an array of tropical butterflies. However, the highlight for me was stopping at their nursery on the way out. As I had hoped, they sold many butterfly larval plants. We decided to add to our collection and purchased a hops (humulus lupulus) plant, which attracts the question mark, red admiral and grey hairstreak butterflies.   To increase the butterfly population in your garden, you need to provide food for the caterpillars. Each species feeds...

I caught this robin red breast cheerfully singing at our backyard pond on a hot summer day.He decided to take the plunge,shook himself out, and dried off at the edge of the pond.