12/24/17 Staying light until 5:30 PM. How long until 6?

10/21/17 Had coffee on the back patio this morning. This front clearly brought in some feathered friends:

Brown Creeper
Dark-eyed Juncos
Ruby-crowned Kinglets
Yellow-rumped Warblers
Tenneesse Warbler
House Sparrows
Black-capped Chickadees
Downey Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Red-tailed Hawk
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinals
Carolina Wren
Vireo
Pigeons

10/06/17 Annual Harris Gulls In The Neighborhood Day.

10/05/17 Autumn blooms are about spent. White Anemone and New England Asters still going pretty strong.

09/11/17 One more Inornate Pyrausta Moth makes 8 for the season.

09/09/17 Found our 7th Inornate Pyrausta Moth for the year. The Painted Lady invasion has dropped off a little.

09/07/17 Found yet another pair of Inornate Pyrausta Moths. Six for the year.

American Lady Day. At least 50 of them in the yard. I have friends texting me pictures of them saying "What are these? They are everywhere!"

09/05/17 Found another pair of Inornate Pyrausta Moths.

09/01/17 Soldier Goldenrod Beetle Day. Suddenly they are everywhere.

08/31/17 Inornate Pyrausta Moth day! Found two of them this year.

08/14/17 Hummingbirds looking absurd resting on power lines. Monarchs showing up in droves. Baby rabbits emerging from the thick parts of the gardens. Catbirds reducing their repertoire to just mewing. Woodpeckers getting noisy again. Goldfinches bobbing on coneflowers. Hostas in full flory.

06/26/17 Got panicky about all of the Passionflower shoots that I'm seeing so dug up the mother plant and put it in a large pot.

06/24/17 Put a couple of tons of mulch and river jack in the garden paths. I find that outlining the gardens helps them look a little more neighborhood friendly.

06/14/17 We call immature female Cardinals Jodis. We seem to get a lot of looks at them every year. This year's version no exception.

06/03/17 Discovered that Plant Bugs are the reason that I can no longer grow Garden Phlox. Going to cut them to the ground now and in the Autumn to see if I can get rid of these guys.

06/02/17 First of the season Wheelbug nymph!

05/18/17 One of my remaining KS/MO dream shots is of a Common Nighthawk sleeping. For the last 2 years there has been a Nighthawk nesting/sleeping in a tall tree in my neighbor's backyard, obscured by leaves. This is cruelty defined.

05/17/17 Saw an Orchard Oriole, Hummingbird and Flycatcher in the backyard. Still have 4 or 5 Baltimore Orioles and a variety of small yellow Warblers.

05/15/17 Baltmore Orioles still pounding jelly.

05/14/17 Wilson's Warbler in the gardens.

05/10/17 Baltmore Oriole Day. Up to 4 at a time coating the feeder.

05/07/17 Back from a glorious trip to Cheyenne Bottoms. Scored my first American Bittern thanks to Kervin.

05/03/17 John is getting Grosbeaks and Hummers at his feeders. I have a brand new Catbird!

05/02/17 Saw a Baltimore Oriole in the backyard.

03/26/17 Brown Thrasher flipping mulch in the gardens.

03/25/17 Brown Thrasher yelling its brains out.

03/22/17 Annual fish emulsion and soil treatment day. Also added more wee Speedwell.

03/18/17 Took a friend to Roe Park to see the Heron nests and Wood Ducks. Both were present and glorious.

03/10/17 Just back from a trip to Arizona to cold and snow. Hung around Scottsdale, Payson & Tonto Mountain. Some of the fun birds discovered:

Anna's Hummingbird
Abert's Towhee
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren (everywhere!)
Curve-billed Thrasher
Gambel's Quail
Gila Woodpecker
Gilded Flicker
Great-tailed Grackle
Greater Roadrunner (found one in the last hour of my last day!)
Lark Bunting
Lesser Goldfinch
Red-tailed Hawk
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Spotted Towhee
Verdin
Vesper Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (in abundance!)

02/28/17 Strong winds from the south the last 2 days. An easy ride for some early migrants?

02/22/17 Saw an Eastern Comma in my ratty Elm tree.

02/18/17 Rusty Blackbird sniffing around underneath the feeders.

02/13/17 A yard full of Grackles. It begins.

02/04217 Lucked into some close-ups of a Brown Creeper in the sun.

01/21/17 Was delighted to see the demise of the Heron Rookery near Roe Park was a mistake and that the trees were still there with nests in them! On the other hand, it upsetting to see a distressed hawk trapped inside the nets of Topgolf Overland Park, which looms over the rookery and lagoon that house Great-blue and Green Heron, owls, Malard, Wood Ducks and a few years ago, a Black-bellied Whislting Duck.

Yesterday I heard a Robin doing it's Springtime warbling. I also noticed that there were a dozen plants in the garden above ground. Today, on this bleak day, I heard a Cardinal singing! SINGING! Glory.