Gardening....

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the
anticipation it provides.
W.E.Johns

As I walk through the yard and survey my flowers I am
amazed by how many are blooming and quite beautiful.

I have been so busy with this adventure and then another
and bird watching and family picnics, and so on that
I haven't taken time to 'smell the flowers' On this day
I did. Come along and I will introduce you to what is blooming!

My clematis did quite well this year.

The Rose of Sharon is really starting to bloom.
I have the pale purple open wide.

This was one on a rainy morning with droplets of water inside.

The stunning white one is just as lovely.

This odd little flower came into my possession because I
bought a new porch umbrella and it is orange. It is called
a maple leaf flower, and matches my porch well as you can see
in the next photo.

Lantana has always been one of my favorites. The hummingbirds
and bees love it, and in the South it is grown as a shrub. Here in PA
I take mine in and winter them in my basement.

The red hot poker has pretty perky bright spikes.

I have two Tropical Hibiscus and I also have to winter them
in the basement. This one is my favorite. The flowers are deep
red and exquiste. Hummingbirds love it too.

For stunning detail click on the picture.

The yellow one is also beautiful, and I keep both of them
potted and have them on the porch/deck in the summer.

The Hibiscus seems like a 'rich man's' flower

Where the petunia shaped very much the same seems like
the poor man's flower. The bumble bee is loaded down with
pollen from this purple beauty.

Oops not a flower, but he was hopping through the grass
and all I could think, was My what a big eye you have.
Are you looking at my flowers?
I'm sure he was there for the clover.

I hope you enjoyed the garden tour.

To God Be The Glory ~ Great Things He Hath Created

Prince Gallitzin State Park ~ Part II

We continued to follow the path along the lake still in search of the Osprey nesting platforms, and seeing so many different things along the way.

The wild daisies were still in bloom as was this
purple flower, which I do not know what it is. The grass was
high and we were still beating the path with a stick... just in case a
snake was hiding there.

We could hear that ever familiar 'witchety whichety' all around us.
So we just stopped and stood and watched.



We were soon rewarded with .. yes!
The Common Yellowthroat! It was hard to get
a lot of pictures as he was darting so fast in and out of the bushes.

What a stunning little fella.

In a tree top not far away a catbird was calling.

Then back to our little Warbler... playing hide and seek

singing .. singing .. singing..

in another bush we saw the song Sparrow.

And Oh my Gosh there is the Eastern Towhee

I couldn't believe my eyes. So many birds I do not see at home.
This little yellow one is, I think, a Warbler but do not know his name.
Anyone who does feel free to enlighten me.

He was also joining in with a song! It was a happy day for these
little birds.

We continued to walk... following the lake out along the trail.
From time to time seeing boats chugging along.

I am not sure, but I think this is a Flycatcher. It had me stumped
but I think I narrowed it down.

If it is this is the first for me too.

A handsome bird for sure.

As we got nearer to our destination the heat was almost
unbearable. We picked the hottest day to do this little
'search and find' walk.

Black eyed Susans growing wild along the trail.

Oh! The Osprey! Yes we finally did see where the Osprey nesting
stations were, but they were all gone and nothing remained to
see. I guess we will have to go early next year to catch
the action of the Chicks being fed and housed.

To learn more about the project about raising Osprey young in artificial nests go here.

It will tell you about an ancient falconer procedure called Hacking.


This is the front side of the nests and


this is the back.

That was all the fuss about going to Glendale Prince Gallitzin
State Park, but we had so much fun seeing all those birds along
the way. Thanks to my friend for looking up the Osprey at the Park and getting the directions to find it.

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have,
and one of the best things you can be.
Douglas Pagels

A jane & barbie adventure...
To God be the Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done

Prince Gallitzin State Park

The 6,249-acre Prince Gallitzin State Park is in the scenic Allegheny Plateau Region of Pennsylvania. Large portions of the park can be seen from several easily accessible vistas. The major attractions to the park are the 1,600-acre Glendale Lake and the large campground. The State Park offers swimming, boating, hiking on scenic nature trails, fishing, hunting, and even birding.... We went there looking for Osprey but found much more.

Part I

An overlook gave us this view of part of the lake.

Further down Crooked Run at the 'Killbuck' mooring
we could see sailboats in the lake. This was a short distance
from 'Headache Hill'. (interesting and strange names)

We followed one of the trails, which was overgrown and
whispered promises of snakes ready to bite! But we
kept going....

The beautiful purple thistle in the fields attracted many
kinds of birds... insects!

The tiny hummingbird was making his rounds
and sipping nectar from the opened flower.

He spread his wings like a ballerina dancing atop the head of
the thistle.

Yep! I see some red on the underside of the neck..it's a male.

almost immediately another visitor flew in... my first for this
little fella.

He too was interested in the sweet nectar that awaited here.

The Hummingbird Clearwing does remind you a 'hummingbird'
hoovering there to sip.

You can see in this picture why it is a 'clearwing' moth
as you can see the purple thistle through the wing.

Then a rather odd looking butterfly came along.

At first there appeared to be two of them...

And..it looked like a second set of wings were attached

A mystery I guess.

another jane and barbie adventure.

To God be the Glory ~ Great Things He Hath Created!