Flowers!
Click on the photo for a slide show of our flowers.
Wildlife!
Newsflash: autumn, 2010: Ron and I have been trying for years to establish frogs in our little backyard pond. We tried bull frogs (who were such beasts, we got rid of them!). Then we tried green frogs and they almost made it but then something mysterious killed off the two adults who had survived two years and all the tadpoles disappeared. Then we tried leopard frogs a second time (the first time the bullfrogs ate them!). Just this summer I SAW two tiny adult leopard frogs at the pond's edge, so I had a lot of hope. But then they disappeared and I thought a big ate themm.
I started getting gloomy about our efforts. I told Ron we just couldn't catch a break. He'd go out with me some nights and help me look for the frogs. One night recently I was flashing my light around the pond and Ron said, "Hold it, Jill. Move that light over to the left. Easy now." And then we saw it -- a huge, full grown leopard frog. Beautiful! It's kind of a blueish gray with a leopardy pattern. I was so thrilled and so releived that they had made it. Or one had, anyway.
Leopard frogs are nocturnal. I had forgotten that. And they are characterized as "elusive and cautious." This one HAS to be two years old. Which is amazing because we had the worst winter on record last year. There may be another one around. We're so excited and happy about this because it means out little eco-system is working. And now these gentle creatures have a home.
Intro to Urban Wildlife
Even though we live in mid-town Baltimore, we get our share of wildlife. There are red-tail hawks in our neighborhood (feeding on pigeons), and a wide array of birds -- finches, woodpeckers, cat birds, cardinals, mocking birds, and hummingbirds. A few times a year we see great blue herons gliding over us -- because we live near lots of water. Our own little pond has its share of wildlife. Here's a slide show to prove it.
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