Nature Notes: Beginning of June

The female rufous-sided towhees have started coming on my deck for a bath.

The males have been visiting a lot more so I was glad to catch shots of the females for a change. For comparison you can click here to see a March nature notes I did with male towhee in the first two shots, if you like. The main difference is the males have black heads and top part of body where females have brown heads and top part of body. The male and female eyes differ too.

It is nice how green everything is which I thank plenty of rain for.

The fairy asters usually bloom at the end of the summer and early fall but like everything they are months early this year. 

I think the pair of ducks look like they are having a conversation.

The canada goose below looks like it's kissing a star.

The mallard teenager was hanging with the Canadian Geese.

I had to keep my distance and zoom in on the great blue heron because it was at a protected area of the creek that feeds into the lake. They tend to be in that area during breeding season and are very skittish if you get too near them in the spring and early summer.

The mimosa trees are beginning to bloom.

My black-eyed susan (rudbeckia) is gracing me with its lovely blooms.

I've been photographing it frequently because I enjoy the different stages of the blooms.

I used to plant annuals in my deck planters but now I let nature take its course and self seeders like rudbeckia come back and other volunteers grow in the planters.

If you look at the top of the shot above you may spot a frog (it's a metal frog).

The purple coneflower (echinacea) below is starting to form buds.

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