BANK SWALLOWS

This is a former gravel pit located on the 'dugway' just behind Tornabene's on Rte 7.  I stopped there on Monday on the off chance that there might be some active nests.  I counted seven!!!

GNATS

Thank fortune the extreme heat of the last few days has abated.  Unfortunately the gnats that appear with the heat and humidity have arrived in full force and have driven me indoors.  We just had a bit of a downpour an it seemed to me to be a good time to venture out to the garden and plant the two new miscanthus that have been sitting by the back door since Monday.  They are planted and have a good amount of compost in their holes but that was all she wrote.  My skin is crawling!!

GARDENING

Lovely morning in the nursery garden.  Pulled some weeds to uncover some perennials that I would like to transplant into the new bed in the front.  All was going well until I spotted a few leaves of the dreaded Bishop's Weed.    ARRRRRG !  I grabbed the Round Up and sprayed each leaf liberally.  I hate to use herbicides but Bishop's Weed requires extraordinary measures.  Unfortunately it has rained this afternoon and I may well need to reapply in  the morning.

In anticipation of planting in the new bed I made a trip to Whitney's in Cheshire for some new perennials.  The rain threw a spanner into that plan.  My plants are sitting in the back of the RTV having had a drink of fertilizer.  Tomorrow is another day.

ENGLISH BASKETS

English Basket

#2 English Basket

Both of these baskets came from Reading Greenhouse and I couldn't be more pleased with them.  I've been fertilizing them at 1/4 dose of Maxsea every time I water and that turns out to be once a day.  Religious picking of the faded blossoms has paid off.

You can see another speciman in a clay pot at the bottom of the steps.  That happens to be a well traveled Angel's trumpet by the name of Charles Grimaldi.  Charles spent the winter in the tack room and seemed to do reasonably well there.  The blossoms are the most heavenly shade of yellow almost a tangerine shade.

EBONY SPLEENWORT

Just up Tubs Rd from our property line is a lovely little stand of Ebony Spleenwort.  Cicero and I took a walk up there this moring and I took a few pictures.

I'd love to find the perfect spot somewhere on our patch and transplant a little of it. I'll keep looking for it.

BOB O LINK

There are some magnificent hay fields on either side of Mt Anthony Rd just as you pass around the bend from Van Shaik's property heading west toward the height of land above Tinker Baker's holding.  The either day the fields on both sides of the road were rife with Bob O Links.  I stopped to watch and couldn't resist taking a picture of this fine fellow on the post just outside my car window.  Not only was he in full plumage but also in full voice.

SORA RAIL

One day last week I stopped at the South Stream Wildlife Management Area on my way home from Bennington.  It it a lovely spot where occasionally I spot an interesting bird.  On this day I noticed a bird emerging from the reeds to walk along on the lily pads.  Hmmmmm?   What could it be?  It was definitely a marsh dweller.When I got home I hauled out my National Geographic  Birds of the Northeast and went to Corne''s All About Birds.  Success!  My bird was a Sora Rail nicknamed the Marsh Walker.  Last weekend I took my camera to the WMA and took quite a few pictures of the Sora only to find that I had inadvertantly move the mode dial on my camera which insured that every single picture was out of focus.  On my next trip there my camera was properly set and I captured quite a few decent images.