Wednesday, April 18, 2012

All Creatures

We have spent a great deal of time getting to know our neighbors.

Hummingbirds by the hundreds. They have an incredible pecking order. (Pun intended) And will knock each other away from the feeders. We even have a golden hummingbird. No ruby throat. Just gold. Amazing.

Wrens, who are now comfortable enough to begin building nests in our hanging bird house. They bounce on the front porch getting to the fallen bird seed. Close enough to touch.  (just as an aside, have you ever watched a wren try to get a twig, bigger than they are, into a little hole in order to make a nest? Patience and Persistence. )

Woodpeckers reminding me of a Robert Louis Stevenson poem:
  The woodpecker pecked out a little round hole
And made him a home in a telephone pole
One day while I watched, he poked out his head
And he had on a hood and a collar of red. 

Turkey vultures lining the fences. Spreading their wings with their backs to the sun. Warming themselves. Huddling before they rise to find food in the fields and forests around them. (I tried to get a picture but they took off. I think I stink to them)

But this morning, as the dogs went about their business, I discovered a moth sitting on our porch. Wings upright. Not moving.

It crawled onto the piece of board that we offered. And this is his thank you to us:



The amazing way that this creature opened as the sun dried his wings and the air warmed was awe inspiring. S/he did not try to avoid us so our first thought was that S/he had just emerged from a cocoon nearby.

We do not know the name of this beautiful creature.

If anyone knows its name (Latin or otherwise) just leave a comment.

For right now, it is just Beautiful .

1 comment:

  1. Amazing pictures Gael....good to hear that you're enjoying your new space in the world.
    Jody

    ReplyDelete