Yokel Yodels (for Sofia)

odlaydeeeee hoooo!
yokel yodels

are your brown eyes blue?
one head, or two?
second unglued?
one nose, or two noes?

Uh oh, no no
no no, grown-o
flown-o away-o

qwerty
asdf
dvorak
where's your forehead at?

duckbill
platypus
windowsill
schoolbus

wham-o
flam-o
jam-o
flubb-o

mello
yellow
jello
tub-o

where are you?
THERE are you!
fair are you
square are you

rub-a-dub-dub
love a back rub

Roses, Jasmines, and Lilies

Some of our recently potted rose plants have begun blooming already!












The first of the new batch of Canna Lilies is up


Jasminum sambac - Grand Duke of Tuscany
About ready to explode in new blooms




Jasminum tortuosum - African Jasmine

Birds nesting in our back porch

A few months ago we had one of our electric hurricane shutters repaired on one of the French doors leading onto our semi-enclosed back porch.

I noticed when they took down the shroud at the top of the shutter that there was a lot of plant matter stuck back in the corner.



It was a bit mysterious, but we have a lot of wind, and things just grow everywhere. We have gardens in our gutters, too.


A few weeks ago I noticed that a pair of small birds had landed on a hanging lamp we have at the opening of the porch, looking around, checking out the area. Nesting, I thought.

Then a couple of days ago I saw one of them again, same place, with a caterpillar in its beak, and then it flew back into the corner of the covered porch. Ah, baby birds, I thought.

Went out today and looked, and indeed the plant matter is back again, and it is a nest.


The nest is sort of a messy pile of twigs and leaves and ticks on the outside, looks indeed like some junk blown in from somewhere.







But looking closer, it has a little opening, a throat, and inside the material is finer.



To get a shot looking into the mouth of the nest, I had to get the camera way back in against the wall, as close as I dared without alarming the birds too much.

And there they are, eyes and hungry mouths. Click on the picture below so it goes fullsize, and you'll see them.




The adult bird is very shy, hard to see clearly, but it like it is probably a Carolina Wren. That site has the call and some pictures of nests

Giant Mushrooms, Giant Ichneumon Wasp

On June 28, 2008, while driving along General DeGaulle on the West Bank of New Orleans, I saw these giant white mushrooms in the "neutral ground" (median strip) while stopped at a light. Grabbed my Treo smartphone, snapped this picture out the window. Diameter of the larger one is about 6" i'd estimate.


Then on Wednesday evening 7/9/08, while having dinner at Applebee's with Anthony on General DeGaulle, I noticed a really large wasp on one of their windows (outside), and again grabbed the Treo and snapped this picture. I believe it is likely an Ichneumon wasp of some sort, but unusually large, full length from antennae to tip of ovipositor was at least 5". She was twisting her wings lengthwise, back and forth in their sockets, and moving her head, looking around, with eyes that sure looked green to me.
Here is an article on another species of Ichneumon Wasp, but the one I saw was somewhat larger, basically tan body and ovipositor, but greenish head/eyes.