Over the years, I have discovered that the birds in my yard eat about 300 pounds of seed in twelve months.
As I don’t like a mess of sunflower seed shells under the feeder, I feed them sunflower seeds with the shells already removed:

“Crack sunflower chips” are not sold in local stores so I must travel to rural feed stores. On one occasion I drove an hour only to find that they had no sunflower chips despite having been told on the telephone that they did. Another place where I went for years is now closed.

This year, I found this place on-line and was delighted that they had 300 pounds available. I quickly hopped in the car and drove to Caledon East.

Another year of bird happiness in the garden!
En route, I stopped on a gravel road by a small wetland:

I explored and photographed in the area for about one hour. These are the only vehicles which passed:


I found two plants that I had to look up in a guide. The first is a garden escapee:



The second was Wild Garlic:



Even though it was midsummer, two plants that I associate with fall were in flower:


Other botany:

























Some flyers:







Thanks to Ken Sproule for assistance in insect identification.






NATURE POETRY
O Earth, that hast no voice, confide to me a voice!
O harvest of my lands! O boundless summer growths!
O lavish, brown, parturient earth! O infinite, teeming womb!
A verse to seek, to see, to narrate thee. – Walt Whitman (1819–92)
Miles Hearn
Good for you, Miles! You really are for the birds, and how many times have you had to hear that one (groan), but it’s so true!
And such beautiful plants, entrancing creatures, even the road is a wonderful thing to see. Thank you so much, Miles!
I was so pleased to see your photos of wild garlic and Everlasting Pea since I, too, came across these plants on my outings recently and wasn’t sure what they were. Love your daily postings.
Perhaps, one of these days, a selection of photos you’ve taken of the birds you’ve seen at your feeder?