Ticks

A few weeks ago it was thick with ticks out in the yard. I would pick off 5 or 6 in the time i took me to smoke a cigarette. Then it cooled off and was wet and they had seemed to have dissapated. And the last two days I had only found a few ticks on my clothes so it wasent a big deal.

Well now im a little worried.

I just found 2 ticks on me. Both had biten me. Im not very good at ID'ing things.

The first tick I found was attached to my bicep. Obviously had only been there for a few hours or less. I am pretty sure its just your average wood wick but.... I dont know. Even if it is a deer tick apparently it takes 24 hours for the tick to be attached for the bacteria that causes Lyme's Disease to be transferred.
I put him in a nyquil cough syrup cup to give you an idea how big it is.

The second tick however, is what worries me. Its tiny. I actually thought it was just a new freckle. (i seem to get new freckles/moles almost daily). But then I realized it wasent a freckle.

Yes, that little black dot on the q-tip is a tick.

I have no idea what kind of tick it is. All i know is it was more difficult to get off than the bigger tick. And there is an obvious sign of irritation to the area. I dont have a picture of the bite because its in a location i would rather not be sharing with the world.

I guess my only option is to wait. See if anything changes by Monday and go to the doctor.

And as I was typing this post, I found a 3rd tick.

Im guessing the wildflowers I brought in to ID brought little friends.....

The Garden

So I finally got around to planting some things. I put in 7 mounds of potatos this week. Which is half as many as i did last year. I went and bought some tomato plants and an Eggplant and put them in the ground today. I pulled up the last of the parsnips and they are being cooked on the grill as I am typing this. I also started hoeing and raking out the terrace beds. I think I may just grow Acorn Squash in the terrace this year. I need to get the trellis netting up for the cucumbers before I can plant the seedlings. I plan on putting some beets in the ground in the next few days.

I am dissapointed I dont have as much time to grow as much veggies as I did last year. But with the spring being as slow as its been I may somehow find time to put more seeds in the ground than I am anticipating right now.

Had a fun day hauling woodchips and digging in the dirt even in the light rain we have been having.

Other than that nothing stands out as being note worthy animal wise today.

A Good Day Part III: Peter Rabbit had a kid

Ok i cant say for certain the genetic relation of this baby bunny freshly kicked out of the warren and into the world. But it sure looks like Mr. Pater Rabbit from last year. Except this lil guy is a bit more skidish than Mr. Peter Rabbit was.

The Plum Trees in bloom.

The marsh

one of my veggie beds. The bird house last two summers was used by a Wren. this year the Chickedee's have moved in.

I found some lettuce popping up from seeds that dropped last summer.

The yard.

 

A Good Day Part II: Native Plants and the marsh

I have only been interested in native plants since i moved back here to Minnesota. And after last summer I am glad that i can recognize a few native plants at various stages by sight alone. Last year I had to carry books around with me.

EDIT: (may 23 2011) This is not Waterleaf i was mistaken. Not sure what it is called. But it will have pink flowers if i remember correctly.

Wild Geranium. I transplanted two of these last summer from another area of the marsh. Only one seems to have survived.

 Spotted Touch Me Not

 A Squirrel came to investigate what I was up to.

And then he jumped away after i took his picture.

The water level in the marsh has not been this high since I was a kid. The path i usually take to get to the area behind the assited living apartments is flooded.

  Its nice that the marsh is finally turning green.

Sort of pretty sky.

A Good Day: Part I: Baby Geese and Garlic Mustard

Today was a good day. No work, all play and its warm out. I dont think i could ask for anything more. I took a lot of pictures today.So im breaking the post up into multiple posts.
And well because its that time of the year, i have a bunch of baby animal pictures. 

Here is a picture of one of the Rhubarb plants in the yard. I cant wait till its ready to be cut and i can have some yummy rhubarb sauce.  On the right of the Rhubarb is one of our Blackberry patches; another edible I cannot wait to be ready as well.

This is a picture of a Coopers Hawk. They are small and very fast hawks that catch other birds on the wing. Today I was out in the yard and saw a Coopers Hawk fly out of nowhere and grab a Red Winged Black Bird down by the marsh and fly off. I wasent quick enough to grab a picture as it happened way too fast. I couldnt find where he perched to eat his kill but it was still pretty neat to see.

 I am unsure what kind of duck this is exactly. But here is a mother duck with some ducklings out in the marsh.

Here is one of the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds at the feeder.

 This is Columbine. It is a native wildflower to Minnesota. We have 4-6 Columbine plants in the yard (that we planted) and only 2 are flowering. But it is better than none.

 Hairy Woodpecker in flight

 Pair of Hairy Woodpeckers in one of the Plum trees.

My first picture of the Canadian Goslings.

 One of the two nesting pairs of Canadian Geese with some of their goslings.

 Today I also took the inititive to remove all the Garlic Mustard from this one area down by the marsh. Garlic Mustard is a highly invasive non-native plant. It spreads impossibly easy and is just not a good thing to let run wild.
This is what it looks like up close.

This is the before picture of the area.

And this is what it looked like when I was done filling up two 40gl black trash bags.

Here is a bunch of Canadian geese and baby geese pictures.

An ideal day

Its warm and muggy. Was mostly sunny for the day and now is kind of over cast. I guess if there was a thunderstorm to enjoy i would be in heaven.

Got quite a few pictures today.  Be sure to check out the muskrat pictures towards the bottom.

Northern Oralie

 
Goldfinch

Crows

 Ruby-Throated Humingbird

I almost got pooped on

Found a nest. Not sure what kind of nest. And all the eggs were broken and or hatched.

 Orange Slim Mold. (pretty sure its the same type I found last year, just in a different location)

First Toad of the summer

 A muskrat got real close to me.  Got a few good pictures that I am proud of.

 And the cautious Mr. Chipmunk