Observations, reflections, and small empirical notes from an American natural philosopher practicing presence, curiosity, and the slow disciplines of attention.
Welcome. This notebook is a place for field notes, small findings, quiet observations, and the practice of seeing the ordinary world with scientific and philosophical attention. It is not a publication of polished essays, but a working ledger of thought — a companion to a life lived with curiosity.
The birds are very vocal at Sunset tonight, one thing that makes me sad is that I don’t know their songs and which of my feathered friends are being the most vocal. I can only assume it is mostly the house finches, but I can tell there are others out their chirping away. My native plants are doing fairly well, but the Wild Ginger continues to struggle and the aphids seem to be sticking around, it looks like I may have to move to insecticidal soap. Too bad their aren’t more ladybugs around.
A beautiful sunny day today with some good activity at the feeders and the native plant garden doing fairly well. The Black-eyed Susans and the Coneflowers are starting to bloom. My study plant shelf is looking better now that I have planted the natives outside and have “normal” house plants, but I do need more…LOL.
Today, I discovered that I had been misidentifying the house finches that frequent my feeders as song sparrows. I thought that house finches all had red feathers in their plume, but the females and juveniles are just brown and white. So, I haven’t seen any song sparrows in all this time. I guess that is just part of being a backyard naturalist and you learn from your mistakes.
The male and female American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) spend quite a bit of time at the feeders and that delights me. The mail with his vibrant yellow and black feathers just brightens my day. They are supposed to be late nesters, in July and August, so I am hoping that I will see fledlings later in the summer.
All of a sudden, the bird feeders are alive with activity. The Male and Female American Goldfinches are at the Finch Feeder eating thistle. A House Finch showed up as well as male and female Cardinals. A downy or hairy woodpecker works on the inverted suet cake, and the usual Song Sparrows are at the tube feeder. The male American Goldfinch has a brilliant yellow plumage that I can see from 150 feet away. All seems peaceful and good in the backyard today and the garden of native plants seems to be flourishing.
This Saturday as I sat in my study watching the rain fall onto my backyard, I wonder that after having had the bramble removed and with it many invasives, how do I now “fix” it to be more in line with the native flora and fauna? It is something that I will have to work on planning over the next few months. I will plant natives and also refurbish/renew my bird feeders.
My thoughts have turned to the wonderment of life and nature. From a single cell to a full plant or animal is amazing. That we may have all evolved from an Archaea is almost unimaginable, but even more so is the development of a plant or animal from on cell into the trillions. A single cell dividing and growing into a heart, skin, neuron, all knowing their place in the body gets me to thinking that how could this all happen just by chance.
As I have entered my 60th year on this planet, I have decided that it is time for me to retire. I have had a fabulous career, but it has been filled with a hecticness (if that is a word) and rush that I am happy to leave behind and enter into a more analog, intentional, slower live.
These observations will be about the nature surrounding my home and community. They are notes from a study, written in the hope that clarity grows as the rush of live slows.
