JB | Native Plant Gardener (WI)

DST returns this weekend and evening hikes are so back!

A nest box with my neighbor's small woodland in the background.

My nest boxes are all cleaned out on this dreary early-spring day. Overcast skies and fog in the air.

Common ninebark seeds have sprouted!

Also, where the hell am I going to put ninebark?

#nativeplants #nativegardening

Five Canada geese in a pond.

Five Canada geese in the pond.

#birds #nature #Wisconsin #wildlife

Just a goose being a goose.

#birds #Wisconsin #wildlife

a close-up look at a small compound umbel of white flowers, around ten or so flowers in total with three or four flowers per umbellet. each flower has five white petals, a split white style, and five white stamens capped with bright red anthers which turn black with time. the flowers are at the top of a reddish stalk growing up from brown fallen tree leaves and around a fallen tree branch.

green carroty-looking leaves poke up through brown fallen tree leaves and twigs, alongside tall reddish flower stalks bearing at their top umbels of small white flowers. the stalks of the leaf stems are hairy, while the flower stalks are smooth.

a broader look at the scene, a creek bottomland area littered with dry, brown tree leaves and abundant sticks & branches. small green shoots and leaves are pushing up from underneath the tree leaves; predominant here are the carrot-like ternate leaves of harbingers-of-spring, accompanied by their relatively tall, reddish flower stalks. small white flowers are borne in compound umbels at the top of the stalks.

🌼 HARBINGER OF SPRING 🌿
Erigenia bulbosa

winters over for real this time 😎

#nativeplants #ecoregion71

Smoke rises from fire passing under a large bur oak matriarch (5 feet in diameter)

A burn crew member stands next to a drip torch observing the fire line and the burn-out around a dead bur oak snag in the distance.

Backing/flanking fire along the fire line with a crew member standing back and monitoring the fire break and grassy fuels on the far side of the break.

Flanking and backing fire burning into prairie with old farm structures in the background.

71% RH. Who cares. A little March sun and dry antecedent conditions, and praires will burn just fine. RH was actually 82% a hour before ignition!

The pond is thawing.

Picked up trash around the Smolenski prairie restoration today. This was about half way through. Ended up packing this small bag completely full.

#prairie #parks #Wisconsin

Thank you!

Canada goose standing on a frozen pond.

Canada goose standing on a frozen pond.

#birds #wildlife #Wisconsin

All clouds here this morning. I can't complain too much though. Last March's lunar eclipse had perfect skies.

American white pelicans in Lake Michigan.

Spotted salamander found under a log in a forest.

Red Squirrel sitting on a small woodland dune.

Garter snake slithering across the leaf litter.

Happy #WorldWildlifeDay! We cannot have wildlife without protected, maintained, and restored wild spaces. All of these photos were taken in one state park. (Remember to use your own backyard as a restoration space, too! Grow native plants!)

My favorite tv show! I don't even need to play the video to know the quote. There are so many incredible (and incredibly relevant) quotes from M*A*S*H.

A wild turkey feather seen on today's hike.

This happens way too often. ☹️

Two Canada geese standing on a frozen pond.

Two geese are better than one.

#Birds #birdscrolling #wildlife #Wisconsin

Two Canada geese standing on ice. One is spreading its wings.

The geese have returned to this local pond for the first time this spring. Based on the forecast, they'll soon have some open water to swim around in.

#birds #birdscrolling #wisconsin

Two American robins standing in brown grass.

American robins hunting for food on the trail around a 13-acre prairie restoration.

#birds #robins #prairie #wisconsin

I'm curious how many they sell now compared to when it was in-person. I'm sure there's a good reason for why they do it, but it's a bummer for me. 😅

Before the local native plant sale here went to online-only, it was amazing to visit each year and come home with a few new species. I'm bummed they never went back to an actual in-person thing. Tbf I think they still do let people browse the leftovers.

Doing my part to help the native bees with my #nativeplants, and sometimes the ambush bugs in my garden take out a few honeybees!

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #FourOrMore (captures of 4 or more birds in one photo).

This was taken in May 2023 at Point Beach State Forest along Lake Michigan.

#GreatLakes #Birds #LakeMichigan #Wisconsin

A gray and white Cessna 172.

Sylvania Airport's Cessna 172 flying over yesterday afternoon.

#aircraft #planes #aviation #Wisconsin

An oriole perched on a dead swamp milkweed stem while pulling shreds of the stem off to build a nest with. Out of focus splashes of red in the foreground are eastern red columbine in bloom.

I completely forgot I took a photo of this moment! It was late spring 2020 and an oriole was in one of my native gardens collecting shreds of swamp milkweed stem for its nest.

Another reminder of how native plant gardens help wildlife!

#nativegarden #nativeplants #birds #Wisconsin

Not a bad night to spend outside by a fire.

Virginia waterleaf on the other hand did NOT like this method and the seeds completely molded. I'm also stratifying them outdoors in a stratification box as well as in milk jugs. We'll see if those make it.

Rosinweed seeds beginning to sprout on a wet paper towel.

Some of my fridge-stratified native seeds are starting to sprout! It's a long way until I can call it a success but step one is complete!

I'm soooo ready for spring.

Red-bellied woodpecker

6-year old prairie restoration

Feather. Turkey?

American Kestrel on a young tree.

Made the most out of this 58°F day. Up to three inches of snow tomorrow.

#Wisconsin #Wildlife #Birds