Blooms

Native Spring blooms at Eastside Cats:

White Trillium

Wood Poppy (yellow) and Rue Anemone (white)

Red-berried Elder

Trout Lily (first year coming up!)

Bloodroot

Pussytoes

What is a native plant?

"Native plants" are plants that were wild before Europeans settled in Michigan in the 1700s.

These plants are well-adapted to the local climate and ecosystem, meaning they require less time and effort from their gardener, generally requiring little fertilizer, pesticides, or supplemental watering to keep them looking great. 

Native plants provide valuable habitat to birds, insects, mammals, amphibians, and other wildlife.

In addition, we 'leave the leaves' every autumn, as we are encouraging a woods-like habitat in our yard.

Am thankful for the natives!

Let's Hop!

Go Dark

 Lights Out for Birds 9/6 to 10/6

Downy Woodpecker

Kensington Metropark, Milford Michigan

March, 2017

Respect our feathered friends:

-Turn off exterior decorative lighting

-Extinguish pot and flood-lights

-Substitute strobe lighting wherever possible

-Reduce atrium lighting wherever possible

-Turn off interior lighting especially on higher stories

-Substitute task and area lighting for workers staying late or pull window coverings

-Down-shield exterior lighting to eliminate horizontal glare and all light directed upward

-Install automatic motion sensors and controls wherever possible

-When converting to new lighting assess quality and quantity of light needed, avoiding over-lighting with newer, brighter technology

🐦‍⬛ 

Flying Flippantly

January 5 is National Bird Day

Recognized on the last day of the annual Christmas Bird Count, National Bird Day is widely celebrated to raise awareness of the treatment of birds in captivity and promote the conservation of wild birds.

I love birds; love to watch them as they flit about in the trees, but am crap at identification despite the four bird books within easy reach.

Am very aware that outside cats will try to snatch birds for a meal, yet we only witnessed one bird killed by our outside cats...and that was by Celestial Paddy O'Malley.

Sweetie was an excellent mouser, by the way.

In honor of birds, here are a few joking cartoons and meme re: birds and cats.

 Have already warned Trout Talkin Tabbies about today's post, as they really don't like 'burds'.

😹😹😹

World Bee Day

 May 20 is World Bee Day!

The observance of World Bee Day worldwide aims to: 

• Draw the attention of the world’s public and political decision-makers to the importance of protecting bees.
• Remind us that we depend on bees and other pollinators.
• Protect bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries. 
• Halt the further loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

A bee visiting milkweed blossoms in our yard.

Our native bee house is busy.

Bats are also great pollinators; look at those wings.

Video taken in our yard, at dusk.

There are more than 450 kinds of bees in Michigan, 3,600 types of bees in the USA, and 20,000 bee species around the world.

Be nice to bees, birds, butterflies, and bats.

October 4: World Animal Day

Each and every one of us can make a difference for animals.

Make animal issue front page news - a vital catalyst for change.

Help make this world a fairer place for all animals.

Go to: https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk for more information!

One of our choices for helping animals:

Planting native-to-Midwest plants.

Native plants and native animals evolved together, and are co-dependent.

My gardens attract bees, birds, and bats.

We don't use pesticides.

Virginia Bluebells, in early Spring

Wild Petunia, in early Summer

Hyssop in Autumn

Be nice to Mother Nature and all of her children.

Don't buy furs or give your business to any company that promotes the fur trade.

Two-zday!

Sitting on the newspaper, so technically, they are NOT on the table!
CB left, Manny right

🐈🐛🌿

Bonus image!

The rose milkweed garden in our yard had a Monarch butterfly visit this weekend!  Hope for more butterflies, hummingbirds, or native bees to stop by for sustenance!

Or go here: https://youtu.be/bs0x-WCG-Ig

Vacation Travels: The Birds

I love cats, yet I have always been an amateur bird-watcher.  On the stay-cation part of my recent vacation, my friend BG and I traveled all over the area to observe some of Mother Nature's feathered children.

Kensington Metropark allows folks to feed the birds, so we had some sitting right on our fingertips!

Howell Nature Center helps all types of animals with rehabilitation and to teach folks about our furry, feathered and scaly friends.

Lake St. Clair Metropark (formerly Metro Beach) has an owl show, plus much more when you walk the nature center paths.

Here are a few of the photos that I snapped, and please forgive me, Trout Talkin' Tabbies for showing BASS-TERD BURDS on my post today!

Black Capped Chickadee
Kensington Metropark

Female Downy Woodpecker
Kensington Metropark

Something is budding!
Kensington Metropark

Sandhill Cranes
Kensington Metropark

Kestrel
Howell Nature Center

Bald Eagle
Howell Nature Center

Great Horned Owl Mama and owlets 'way
up in the tree bucket
Lake St. Clair Metropark

Male Screech Owl
Lake St. Clair Metropark

Female Screech Owl
Lake St. Clair Metropark

Barred Owl
Lake St. Clair Metropark

Saw Whet Owl
Lake St. Clair Metropark

Kitty and Birdy Gifts!

"Be My Kitty!"

"My Little Sweet Tarts"

Aren't these adorable?  Cat friend BG (who introduced me to holistic Sheppard Alternative Animal Care) gave me a these two kitty figurines, for the credenza.  So cute!

(The school photo in the background is The Hubby as a boy; he's the only human in the collection!)

She also gifted me with this suet feeder, filled with soft fur materials to hang up for the birds to use. Not sure when to hang it up (now, wait until Spring?), but I will attach it as high and as far away from Patty O'Malley and Sweetie as I can!

How cool are these gifts?  Do my friends know me, or what?  Thank you, BG!

Nest

Nest!

This nest fell out of the pine tree in the back yard.  It's surprisingly heavy, and it's built well!

Patty O'Malley photobomb

But, as usual...if I'm outside taking pics, Patty has to insert himself into the action!

At least you get a sense of the size of that nest.  There were no occupants, so hopefully the family who built and used the nest left for a vacation before the storm and wind brought it down.

P.S.  Sorry, Trout Talkin' Tabbies!  Don't read this post, since it mentions bass terd burds!

Biting Heads Off

As I left the house this morning, for the drive to work, The Hubby looked at me square in the eyes and said, "Don't be like Patty O'Malley and bite someone's head off!"

Work has been a bit trying recently, so sometimes I'm the opposite of happy and bouncy, if you catch my drift.  And recently, we've witnessed Patty O'Malley in the yard, munching on...something.  He's still eating full meals (and treats!), and yet, he's ridding the world of many, MANY mice and birds.

I shot a video too, but it's much too graphic!  Who knew we had so many rodents around?  And now, when I call Patty 'Fatty Patty' because he's getting so BIG, it's not all my fault!

P.S. I promised not the 'be like Patty' today at the office!