Name this plant.

Every winter I see this bright green plant in the park next door. Always in this exact spot. I don't remember ever seeing any blooms on it, and I don't notice it in other parts of the park. But it's not like I ever made a project of noticing. Maybe this year I WILL make a project of noticing. 

Happy Cold, Snowy Weather! [to those few of us who like winter.]

Wildlife in my yard.

 

A cute little chipmunk was hanging out today under my front porch bird feeder. Clarence enjoyed watching him root around.

 

This notice was just posted near our driveway. It's not a surprise; we learned months ago that it was going to happen. Soon, in theory, there could be people shooting at deer just yards away from my house, from 6 PM until 6 AM, Monday through Friday. Unless the deer figure it out and stay in my yard, where they spend much of their day anyway.

 

The green shows the protected parkland where they thrive and where the hunt will take place. Our house is on one of the white roads directly bordering the park. The deer like to linger and graze and sleep and give birth on the fringes of the park, which is precisely where our house is. It will be strange during the hunt. I'll be listening. I'm in favor of the hunt, for many reasons. But I'll be glad when it's over.

Bullfrogs. Lots and lots of bullfrogs.

 

I took this video last weekend when the bullfrogs  (I think they're bullfrogs) in the pond next door were having a spring orgy. Turn up the sound to hear them singing. Since they are said to be a bio-indicator species, I guess the pond is in good shape, despite all the poison some of my neighbors apply to their lawns and that runs into this pond. I'm not one to nag neighbors about the harmful things they do in their yards, but my family sure has to listen to me complain about it.

This is the pond in February or March, with a couple of ducks on the left standing on the thin ice.

Anyone know what kind of flower this is? It's growing in the park next door. [Nancy from WY ID'ed it as Gaillardia, or Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella).]

Isn't it a great color? Speaking of color, Tanya from Suburban Jubilee, in Tasmania, posted this wonderful hue test, a very quick and fun way to see how well you can see differences in colors.  Go here to take the test. I won't brag just yet about how well I scored but I suspect I'll have to let it out eventually. For someone with old bad eyes I was pleased.

What's this tree? And look at the babies next door! I don't get too attached b/c nature some times gobbles one up. (Update: Kitt's right, it's a horse chestnut tree.)

Not sure what this is other than a pretty red-budded tree about to bloom. I know it's not redbud.

From the park next door.

I'm going to fix these signs -- from the park next to my house.

In each case the number at the bottom is missing a zero and a decimal point. I can fix that. I'm such a rebel.

Could these be poison ivy berries?

The park next door on Thursday or Friday.

The Great White Heron in the pond next door. Look at that long skinny neck.

I'd like to say that I deliberately made these shots fuzzy. I didn't.

Moths? Blue-winged hornets or wasps or bees?

Goslings. The family was bigger last week. I suspect the turtles napped a couple. Or maybe hawks?

The pond at sunset today.

Still mostly frozen over despite warmer weather all week. No sign of the otter today.

Pond and pond ice. I love this cold weather.

I do love the snow and ice and cold, but I also miss being able to dig in my garden. In the DC area we don't always get rock-hard-solid ground in the winter. But this year is different. Tomorrow I'm going to dig in my compost piles just to get my digging fix in.

The geese and ducks are very, very still in the pond across the street.

There's a shadow on my lens. Not sure if it's from the weather or if it's a permanent shadow. You can see it in the foreground on the top picture. Almost looks like a curved path in the snow.

The pond next door. Those grasses!

The park next door.

The pond next door. Two days ago, maybe three.

On the far. far left (you really can't see it) is the beaver lodge. The park people think the family left, and I tend to agree with them. For one thing, no new trees have been felled in months. There were at least three in the beaver family, maybe more. I'll miss them but am glad I got to watch them work and build and grow (and slap their tails at me at night) for the almost two years they lived here.

Such a pretty mystery bug on Queen Anne's lace, in the park next door.

Bald cypress. A deciduous conifer. Didn't know there was such a thing.