Fuchsia to attract hummingbirds

I bought a gorgeous Fuchsia hanging basket from our local Mid-Coast Growers. We also bought a shepherd's hook to hang it on. It is now in our little triangle garden and we are hoping that the hummingbirds will enjoy its nectar. Geesh... I hope the deer leave it alone as it is hanging above their beloved hosta!

The flowers are stunning! I have friends with Fuchsia plants and they say the hummingbirds love, love, love these flowers.

2025 Maine Big Night Total Tally

2025 Maine Big Night Total Tally

Traffic Tally:  80 vehicles

Species Live: 

Spring Peepers - 138

American Bullfrogs - 6

Green Frogs - 4

Pickerel Frogs - 12 

Wood Frogs - 1

American Toads - 21

Eastern Newts - 8

Red Efts (Juvenile Eastern Newt) - 0

Spotted Salamanders - 17

Northern Two-lined Salamanders - 0

Red-backed Salamanders - 1

Species Dead:  

Spring Peepers - 17

Green Frogs - 1

Pickerel Frogs - 1

American Toads - 2

Spotted Salamanders - 2

Species Injured:

Spring Peepers - 1

NOTES: 1 live gravid crayfish helped across the road; 1 year old painted turtle dead in the road

Blueberry plant on stump

I was wandering around the yard looking at my stump gardens when I found a surprise. A small blueberry plant is growing from the top of the stump in the center stump garden!

Somebody must have dropped a blueberry or two in there at some point.

Check out the blueberry flowers on it!

Flowers at Center Point Preserve

 This is my favorite season at Center Point Preserve as I find some of my favorite flowers in bloom over the next few weeks.

I was on the lookout for Painted Trillium as they are just coming into bloom. They are close to the ground and I was looking for flashes of white in the woods. I wasn't disappointed as there were small groupings... 

and some Trillium singlets visible on the west side of the trail where the ground is often damp.

I practically jumped for joy upon finding my first grouping of Fringed Polygala, aka Bird-on-the-Wing. They really are attention grabbers!

Here is a close-up of one. They really do look like birds or butterflies flying. I found these flowers in groups on both sides of the trail.

Another flower in great abundance was the Starflower.

I love Wood Anemone as well. They are in the buttercup family.

I also saw lots of Sessile Bellwort plants which are characterized by the drooping of the top of the stem.

I wasn't surprised to find wild strawberry plants in abundance. They are in flower now, and will bear tiny strawberries in awhile.

I didn't come across many, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this wild blueberry plant right next to the trail.

There were Violets everywhere. The are incredibly prolific and provide so much color along the trail.

Clumpings of Bluets were in many sunny, poor soil areas. From what I have observed here in Maine, the bluets range from light blue in color to white.

And, I wouldn't want to leave out such a cheery flower as the Dandelion. Their nectar is a great source of food for bees and ants. The Dandelions were mostly found along the sides and in the center of the trail.

2025 Maine Big Night #8

 Maine Big Night #8. Paul was the only member of our team on the road assisting amphibians tonight. 

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

May 3 - Start time: 8:20pm.     End Time: 9:20pm

Certified Volunteers - 1

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 56F.      Ending Temp:  56F

Precipitation: Light Rain

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  18 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 2 American Bullfrog, 8 American Toads, 1 Pickerel Frog, 4 Green Frogs, 1 Red-backed Salamander

Species Dead: 1 Spring Peeper, 1 Green Frog

Species Injured:0

NOTE: 1 dead year old Painted Turtle

"Millicent the Magnificent" Magnolia

"Millicent the Magnificent" Magnolia is in her full blooming glory! And, the floral fragrance is divine...

And, it is not just me who enjoys "Millicent the Magnificent", the robins usually nest amidst her branches as well.

Acorns Ho!!!!!!

As I walked around Hix Small Cemetery, I saw flashes of red that were not that of wintergreen berries. I stopped and focused on the mossy area around some of the grave stones and found thin strips of red showing through the split shells of Northern Red Oak acorns. 

In all the years we have lived here, and on all the walks we have taken, this was the first time we have seen acorns germinating. How we have missed this, I don't know. Maybe it is because of my wobbliness that I now have to focus on the ground as I walk and I am seeing much more than ever before. 

Here is an acorn that is showing the beginnings of a root and a shoot. Northern Red Oak acorns require the cold temperatures of winter before they will sprout, and they sprout in springtime (vs White Oak acorns that sprout as soon as they hit the ground in autumn.) We will monitor the germination over the next several weeks.

Star Magnolia

Star Magnolia is such a gorgeous tree and it is in full bloom this week. 

I wish there was a "smell-o-vision" along with this post as the backyard is filled with the scent of the magnolia flowers. Oh my goodness, it is lovely. 

I did an interesting (to me) post on Maine Nature Diary, back in 2020, that explains the anatomy of the Star Magnolia flower. Check it out!

2025 Maine Big Night #7

Maine Big Night #7. Paul was the only member of our team on the road assisting amphibians tonight. Even though there was an inch of rain that fell, and we thought it would be a productive night, it wasn't. We are starting to think that the season is almost over.

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 26 - Start time: 8pm.     End Time: 9pm

Certified Volunteers - 1

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 53F.      Ending Temp:  53F

Precipitation: Foggy

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  10 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog, 2 American Toads, 2 Newts

Species Dead: 3 Spring Peepers

Species Injured:

2025 Maine Big Night #6

Maine Big Night #6. Yay! Our entire team was on the road assisting amphibians tonight.

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 25 - Start time: 7:55pm.     End Time: 9:14pm

Certified Volunteers - 3

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 55F.      Ending Temp:  53F

Precipitation: Rain

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  11 vehicles

Species Live: 41 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog, 2 American Toads, 2 Pickerel Frogs, 1 Eastern Newt

Species Dead: 0

Species Injured: 1 Spring Peeper

Paul with his sign and traffic cone to alert drivers of our presence on the road.
 

American Toad

American Toad (I had to take a side view photo as the toad told me that the other photo made his butt look too big!)

Eastern Newt

April Flowers-Daffodils

 

I am so in love with flowers that I spend every spring, summer, and autumn seasons with trowel in hand. I have many varieties of daffodils because they are a welcome sight after the drabness of late winter and early spring. AND, the deer do not eat daffodils. If you look carefully, you will see that this daffodil line extends far back along half the backyard fence line. This is just a sample of some of them. There are many more varieties yet to open in this line and other places around the yard.

This is one of my favorite varieties. I love the orange center.

This variety reminds me of Spanish dancers twirling their skirts around.

There are so many bouquets of daffodils for me to feast my eyes upon. 

I have different sizes of the traditional yellow daffodils, from petite to giant. Just the medium sized and giant sized varieties are blooming at the moment.

2025 Maine Big Night #5

 Maine Big Night # 5. Only one of my team went out as the rain barely wet the road. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 24 - Start time: 9:55pm.     End Time: 10:55pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 49F.      Ending Temp:  49F

Precipitation: None

The road is damp.

Traffic Tally:  2 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog

Species Dead: 0

Species Injured: 0

PHOTO BY PAUL:

Daffodils and Magnolia blooms

Springtime is such a joyous time as we let go of the almost monochrome winter colors and welcome in the brilliance of the first flowers of the season. I absolutely love daffodils and have planted well over 500 of them in years past. 

The fruits of my labor are eye candy for my soul. These daffodils that line the north border of the backyard are the first to bloom each year. There are many more to bloom in my other gardens over the next several weeks.

The other large flowers that are coming into bloom are those of the Star Magnolia in the backyard. 

There are so many flower buds on all the branches in different stages of development. Drew likens the blooming to that of fireworks in slow motion.

Garlic shoots

I planted the cloves from three bulbs of garlic in early November and covered them with leaves.  Drew uncovered the garlic bed this afternoon and found that 22  garlic shoots have broken through the soil. I am looking forward to cooking with the garlic scapes and then the bulbs themselves in several months!

The wood shed is almost empty

You know that cold weather is almost over in Maine when your wood shed is virtually empty. Just enough wood for a few more fires in the wood stove to heat the house. The wood shed was chock full of wood at the beginning of the season.

2025 Maine Big Night #4

Maine Big Night # 4. Only one of my team went out as the rain didn't start until after I was in bed. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 21 - Start time: 10:15pm.     End Time: 11:15pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 43F.      Ending Temp:  43F

Precipitation: None

The road is wet.

Traffic Tally:  0 vehicles

Species Live: 7 Spring Peepers, 1 Spotted Salamander

Species Dead: 2 Spring Peepers, 1 Pickerel Frog

Species Injured: 0

NOTE: 1 Crayfish laden with eggs that Paul placed in the stream that flows from the pond. Paul also said that the peepers were much more lethargic than last time.

PHOTOS BY PAUL:

Spotted Salamander

Crayfish

Crayfish with eggs

Common Digger Bee (Anthophora sp)

This is the time of year to keep an eye out for the Common Digger Bees and their nests. We were walking around Hix Small Cemetery and found so many of these solitary bee nests in the sandy areas. We have to be careful not to step on the tiny nests, although many of them will get destroyed as people drive their vehicles onto the cemetery grounds.

I stopped walking when I neared a couple of nests and just stood quietly hoping to see a bee emerge from each of them. The first nest housed a very shy bee. If you look carefully, you can just see the white tips of their antennae in the nest. This bee never emerged while I was there.

The second nest, next door, had a braver bee who moved into the nest opening and seemed to sun itself while I was standing as still as I could, nearby. Sweet! Did you know that solitary bees live alone, although they may have their nests near each other? The majority of the native bees in the United States are solitary species. They are important pollinators. Here is a nice article on Solitary Bees by the National Wildlife Federation.

2025 Maine Big Night #3

Maine Big Night # 3. Only one of my team went out as I go to bed much earlier. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 19 - Start time: 10:15pm.     End Time: 11:30pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 64F.      Ending Temp:  62F

Precipitation: Sprinkling

The road is wet.

Traffic Tally:  4 vehicles

Species Live: 37 Spring Peepers, 6 Pickerel Frogs, 1 Bullfrog, 9 American Toads, 3 Spotted Salamanders, 3 Eastern Newts

Species Dead: 5 Spring Peepers, 2 American Toads

Species Injured: 0

Note from Paul as to the number of toads: I suspect some were just hopping back on the road to hang out cuz it was warm and they know I won't eat them.

Photo of an Eastern Newt by Paul.

Marcescence

Do you want to increase your woodsy vocabulary? Here is a word you might not have heard before: "Marcescence". Marcescence refers to plants that retain their leaves all winter long even after the leaves have withered and died. If you live in a northern state such as Maine, go outside and peer into the woods. No doubt you will see a smattering of young trees that still have crispy, browned leaves hanging on (even though we are now into mid April!) What species do you see? 

Mostly oak, beech, and hornbeam are my guess! (Down south, palm trees show marcescence.) 

Scientists don't know the reason for this retention of dead leaves, but some theories exist. For example, deer and moose prefer tender buds and not crinkly leaves for browse, thus allowing the tree to retain their branch tips. Another theory is that the leaves are shed by wind and storms and as spring advances, some of the leaves drop and provide moisture trapping around the base of the tree. The list of possibilities goes on... And, as new leaves start to form you might see the old leaves still hanging on. I have seen this occur with young beech trees. Interesting stuff!