May 1, 2014
The ‘Kentucky Wonder’ pole beans are producing their first little bean pods.I saw an orange and yellow lily blooming by the back patio.
The first little cucumber appeared.
I photographed a little brown moth on the clothesline in the bean arbor.
I photographed a very hairy moth with shiny rug-like wings on the breezeway gate
May 2, 2014
The Chinese privet is blooming.As I’ve seen before, what looks like bird droppings have fallen on some of my herbs.
I spotted a sweet basil seedling on the top of the hügelkultur mound.
The nandina has flower buds.
I saw a small brown moth with black speckles in the kitchen.
May 3, 2014
I turned both of my compost piles, moving them a little towards the back of the yard in the process. I discovered it was much easier to turn the piles using a bow rake than a shovel.I photographed a large adult leaf-footed bug on the rain gutter above the compost piles.
May 5, 2014
I spotted what seems to be another Eustala species of spider.The beans on the west side of the arbor finally began to flower.
I found some insect eggs on an unidentified kind of tree near the northwest corner of the back yard.
May 6, 2014
I discovered one, or maybe even two, new species of Eustala spider.I think I found some galls on a young tree I haven’t identified yet.
The dewberry seems to be growing very slowly.
I photographed and identified drosophila melanogaster in my kitchen compost pail.
I photographed a Juniper tip moth on my kitchen window, and someone on Reddit identified it for me.
May 7, 2014
I took several pics of fruit flies in my compost pail.May 8, 2014
I photographed a black soldier fly laying eggs in an orange peel on my compost pile.I photographed a green bottle fly on what appears to be possum or raccoon feces in the northwest corner of the backyard.
May 10, 2014
Took a picture of a female Carolina anole on my ferns.The white sweet clover (Melilotus albus) is forming an inflorescence.
The wild lettuce (?) in my herb garden has gone to seed.
The sweet basil is flowering.
I took a pic of a housefly on the compost pile.
My tomato plants are producing more young fruit.
A flower has begun to form on one of the squash plants.
I first noticed crickets singing at night.
I saw erect dayflower flowering by my back patio.
May 11, 2014
One of the squash plants had one flower, with small ants inside.Alicia came over, and I showed her around the yard.
More erect dayflower was flowering in the yard.
I found a multi-colored long-legged fly on a dewberry leaf.
The Texas lantana has produced some berries.
Alicia called my attention to the small blue florets on the butterfly bush.
I saw a pair of lovebugs flying in the back yard.
May 12, 2014
I found a young orb weaver spider in a small web in my kitchen by the window. It was orange, but I’m sure it would change as it grew.May 13, 2014
It rained heavily today day. Much of my back yard had standing water. After the rain, it became quite cool overnight.May 14, 2014
I saw the effect of the rain today. Some of the leaves of my squash plants were partially buried in dirt that had slid down the mound on top of them.The white sweet clover is blooming fully.
I took pictures of house sparrows on the palm tree next door.
I found a nearly fledged blue jay sitting on top of my hugel mound. I approached it, and it didn’t move. I pet it a little and took a lot of pictures. It flew and hopped away from me, and I followed with my camera. I harassed it too much. At one point it flew to the iron gate of my breezeway and Max, my cat, immediately grabbed it and pulled it indoors. I ran after it and managed to get the bird. I got a ladder and tried putting it back in the tree, but it was on the ground again shortly afterward. I went back out later to try putting it in a cat box to protect it overnight, but I couldn’t find it.
The American beauty berry has formed small flower buds.
I photographed a small vine with small heart-shaped leaves near the backyard gate. I have not been able to identify the plant yet.
I found a triangulate cobweb spider in my bedroom. I didn’t see it until I swept away its web. Following a recent trend, I was able to identify it on my own using the internet instead of posting pictures on Reddit so others could tell me what it was.
May 15, 2014
I photographed a hairy brown Acrolophus moth on the arbor.May 16, 2014
I added grass and catkins to my compost piles this morning. While I was doing this, a robin landed on the ground nearby and hopped around the area. It seemed to want to dig into the piles for things to eat. This was the first robin I had seen in my yard.I found the near-fledgling blue jay dead near my woodpile, with a few green bottle flies on it.
May 17, 2014
The dead blue jay was gone, without a trace. An animal must have taken it somewhere.I started building a new bed against the east fence. I piled up most of the small logs and sticks on hand and covered the pile with one of my two compost piles.
I wrote The Quest for Great Compost. Reviewing the first draft, I found the writing subpar. As I revised it, I thought I should write another post called The Quest for Great Soil since compost is only one factor in great soil. To any extent, I keep putting my compost in a bed or Hügelkultur mound long before it finishes decomposing.
May 18, 2014
I photographed a silver and black muscidae fly.I photographed a house fly indoors.
Noticed that the unidentified grape-like vine had spread over more of the star jasmine on the back fence.
Saw more black soldier flies.
Saw a robin by the water oak.
Saw more ants in the squash flowers, the black-eyed peas, and the mound in general. I don’t think they are fire ant, but I’m not sure.
Some of the nandina flowers have opened.
May 20, 2014
Photographed a beetle that resembles a lady beetle but whose elytra are helmet shaped.May 22, 2014
I dumped leaves on my new raised bed.Turk’s Cap and white autumn sage are flowering.
May 23, 2014
I photographed the potter wasp Euodynerus bidens on my collards.Erect Dayflower is flowering more and becoming more prominent around the back yard.
I found what I believe to be black soldier fly larvae squirming in my compost pile.
I photographed a flower that was about to bloom on a new unidentified plant, but the next day the plant had been bent in half and the flower was gone.
I found two new kinds of sedge, but could not identify them right away.
May 24, 2014
The oregano is flowering.The white sweet clover is still in full bloom.
The American nightshade berries have ripened.
The spinach and basil on the mound are starting to grow more quickly.
The cantaloupe has started flowering. There are two flowers overall.
I noticed small beet roots on my beet plants.
I found that my black-eyed peas are infested with cowpea aphids. Ants, which I have not yet identified, are tending to them, and there are also ants and tiny white critters crawling around, which might just be very young cowpea aphids or a kind of wooly aphid. The ants are getting the “honey” from the aphids.
I photographed a hoverfly, Dioprosopa clavata, laying eggs among the aphids. Its larvae eat them. The ants will likely do their best to repel the hoverflies and other predators. It will be interesting to see who wins.
The ‘California Wonder’ bell pepper plant has a few nascent fruits.
Some violet wood sorrel is still blooming.
The broccoli plant, which I cut back a while ago, is producing new leaves and a few flowers.
The strawberry plants are growing faster now, but the birds get to the strawberries before I can.
I photographed a large ant in the birdbath near the house. It had a black head and abdomen, but its thorax and legs were orange.
I photographed a plant with small oval opposite leaves growing out of a crack in my driveway. I feel like I have already ID’ed it once but can’t remember what it is.
May 25, 2014
Some crows were briefly in the area. It was the first time for me to see crows here.In the morning, noisy house sparrows gathered on one of my crepe myrtles.
I discovered a Dioprosopa clavata hoverfly larva on the black-eyed pea plant, with some ants harassing it (or so it seemed). I was fortunate that BugGuide had a picture of the Dioprosopa clavata larva, so I am confident that’s what it is.
Downy mildew is growing on the lower leaves of my eastern cucumber plants.
May 27, 2014
A fifteen-foot branch feel from the water oak.I found a partially eaten green tomato near the east fence.
May 28, 2014
Detritus from the standing water formed distinct patches by the east side of the house.Papaya leaves emerged near the back fence.
An unidentified small tree-like plant (which I later identified as a kind of aster) began rising above the other plants in the southwest corner of the yard.
The American nightshade had berries.
Morning glory was climbing on other plants in the southwest corner of the yard.
A green tomato was on the arbor.
The bean plant on the arbor was flowering.
May 29, 2014
Carolina Geranium was flowering.I found a dead grey fledgling bird in the grass.
Light rain in the afternoon, following at least 10 days without rain. The forecast is for rain every day this week.
When I went jogging, I saw a bird that looked like a red-eyed vireo fledgling.
I put all the bags of leaves on the back patio so they rain will wet the leaves.
