Postcards from the Hedge

The tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet is one of our favorite winter residents. Being just a little bit larger than a hummingbird, you would think that this bird would be shy, but it's not. These lovely little nymphs are in perpetual motion as they travel th...

The little brown Carolina Wren pair with their perky tails and loud voice builds a nest somewhere around our house each year. This year we photographed their nest in the hanging basket on the porch. This lens contains information about Carolina Wren...

The winter season is hard on wildlife, but most of all the birds. Some bird species migrate to warmer climates, but many do not. There is quite an assortment of beautiful birds that are permanent residents of, or that visit Louisiana during the wint...

The Pine Warbler is a beautiful yellow and olive green bird that inhabits Pine forests all over the United States. In the south, these birds are permanent residents, but in the north, they migrate south in winter. Because they are the only Warbler th...

A small golden yellow bird with blue gray wings darts across the creek. its clear, high, metallic rising "tsweet tsweet tsweet tsweet tsweet" song rings out through the forest. It lands and picks a clump of green moss, then flies to the hole in a ne...

Lawrence Zeleny's book, the Bluebird How You Can Help Its Fight for Survival, alerted the public about the peril of our native Bluebirds. Now people all over North America are building and maintaining Bluebird Trails. Anyone can start their own trail...

This is a tribute to the beautiful and joyful Bluebird of the fields and forests of the U.S. Young and old alike should enjoy this lens which features Bluebirds in YouTube Video, Songs and literature. Yes, this is a love fest for Bluebirds, whether t...

This Twttrlist is for all the bluebird lovers in the world. I've gathered all the best tweets about bluebird boxes and Eastern bluebirds. These tweets contain many links to videos and photos of beautiful bluebirds, that I know you will enjoy.

Every bird-watcher and most children recognize the male Northern Cardinal, a Christmas symbol, but many people know nothing about its nesting and courtship habits. Through the years, we have been able to observe and photograph most of the mating beha...

The only good thing that Hurricane Katrina did for Southeastern Louisiana was to leave plenty of broken trees in which the woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds could raise their young. The Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been very prolific this ye...

Brown-headed Nuthatches are indigenous to the Pine forests of the Southeastern United States where they are permanent residents. They are one of nature's acrobats and we never tire of their antics. Their primary food is Pine nuts, so their food suppl...

Who wouldn't want to attract hummingbirds, nature's flying jewels, to their yard? Hummingbird feeders will help bring them into view, but to really sustain them it is necessary to plant for them. Planting a Hummingbird Garden full of nectar rich flow...

Did you know that some species of hummingbirds spend the winter in the southern United States? Yes, it's true. In backyards and habitats all over the south species such as Rufous, Allen's, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Calliope, Buff-bellied...

Down here in the the Deep South, the signs and songs of spring begin to show themselves in what would be considered late winter for the rest of the country. It is not uncommon to have Taiwan Cherry tree and Wild Blueberry (Huckleberry, Vaccinium spp...

Unlike their domestic cousin, the wild turkey is an intelligent and fascinating creature. The domestic turkey does not have the survival instincts nor the hardiness of the wild turkey. When our country was being formed, Benjamin Franklin suggested t...

Eggs and Easter mean lots of fun, but they also present many learning opportunities for children. I have written a fourth grade, inter-disciplinary thematic unit on Eggs which includes many activities and bibliographies of books and audio-visual mat...

A current trend is to move away from the sterile exotic lawn landscapes and move back towards useful, food producing yards. With that, the reappearance of chickens in the backyard naturally follows. All over North America, peeps are building coops an...

When I was a child, one of my favorite chores was to collect the eggs from the hen house on our farm. When we retired and moved to the country, some of the first animals that I wanted to get were chickens. I wanted to be able to go out each morning a...

If you live in one of the Gulf Coast states and want to take a "single tank" vacation, then you should head for New Orleans to see the brand new Audubon Institute Insectarium, a museum which displays and celebrates our largest family of animals, the...

What is more beautiful than a garden full of colorful flowers with gorgeous butterflies flitting around? It's really not that hard to create a haven like this right in your own yard. All you need to create this sanctuary for you and the butterflies a...

The Senior Squids have been working hard all summer, so they have decided that it's time to have a little fun. They are all getting out their butterfly nets and mayonnaise jars with the holes punched into the top and they're running through the field...

In today's busy world, the only time that most of us have to enjoy our garden is at night, so many people are creating Moon Gardens with fragrant white flowers and plants with silvery foliage. The bonus to these types of gardens is that they attract...

One may think there's a tiny little baby hummingbird flying among the flowers, but more than likely it's a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. This moth will feed during the day and it's shape, coloration and scaleless wings give it the appearance of a small...

Nestled among the back roads of the Florida Parishes, near Folsom, Louisiana, is a very unique wildlife preserve. Global Wildlife Center is the largest, totally free roaming preserve in the country. Animals of the grasslands from all over the world,...

Welcome to the third weekly contest and tutorial lens of the new Fresh Wonders of Ning. This week's contest will feature Animal and Nature lenses. The Fresh Wonders Squid with the winning lens will be rewarded with the Wonder Squid Award, a Spotli...

As the motto says: Senior Squids may be older, but are no less bolder. When you look at the quality and quanity of the lenses by Squidoo lensmasters who are 50 years of age or older, you find the cream of the crop. This will be the first in a series...

When the sun goes down, the night creatures come out of their nests, dens and boroughs. This is their time to shine. They have adapted to living by the light of the moon and stars, so that the cycle of life (producer, consumer and predator) will cont...

Why, you might ask, would I want to write a letter to Tippi Hedren, that actress who was in Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds? Why? Well, I'll tell you why? Tippi Hedren is the founder of the Roar Foundation and the Shambala Preserve. She has been carin...

Louisiana is blessed with thirty species of turtles, tortoises and terrapins. The body form of this ancient group of reptiles has changed little in the 200 million years of its existence. Besides various freshwater and land turtles, the Gulf waters a...

Snakes are probably one of the most controversial animals. You either love them or hate them. Snakes are a very important link in the food chain and without them our earth would be overrun with vermin and harmful insects. Here in Louisiana there are...

Black Racers are very fast black snakes with a bluish cast to their scales. Other names for this handsome, non-venomous snake are Blue Racer, Blue Runner and Black Runner. The Southern Black Racer occurs in habitats all over Louisiana and through mo...

There's a new module in town and it's perfect for people like us who love to take pictures. The Caption Contest Module allows users to enter all sorts of funny and clever captions for variety of pictures. So if you like to write funny one-liners or...

Amphibians are an interesting and very important class of animals and there are certainly plenty of them here in Louisiana. We have everything from large Bullfrogs to tiny Tree frogs, Toads that keep the garden free of harmful insects and even secret...

Ever since we were children, we have loved the fruit of native plants. Now, with the Green movement and the increased use of native plants in landscaping and sustainable gardens, those delicious fruits are available to more people. This lens provides...

Here are 15 easy to grow native flowering perennials that are guaranteed to thrive in the hot, humid areas of the coastal southern United States and in other parts of North America, too. As we move toward sustainability, native plants are becoming mo...

Using native plants in the landscape and sustainable gardening are 2 hot topics, today. This lens will provide you with native plant lists, techniques, and links to more information that will get you started on the way to creating an ecologically hea...

Artists seem to run in my family and I have been drawing, painting and creating since I was a girl. My husband and I have opened an Etsy Store which features my designs, most of which are inspired by nature. I have many interests so you'll find a var...

I, Rio, the part Catahoula dog, with some input from young Amos and little 2nd Chance, have picked out some of the things that we dogs would like to receive as gifts during this holiday season. The hardest part in formulating the list was getting th...

We Feline mistresses of the house and Dax (the orange terror) need to speak out. I, Blaze Star, have been chosen, by a unanimous raising of paws, to be the spokes-cat for the group. Recently our butler, Albert, and the canine members of our troop, ha...

We are avid gardeners and we know that many non-gardeners don't know what kind of gift we would like to receive, so we are publishing a list of our most desired gift items. Most gardeners like similar things so this should help all of you gift givers...

Are you looking for a gift for the birders on your list? You've come to the right place. We are nature lovers and have searched the web to find great gifts that we would like to receive. We have highlighted the best books, binoculars, cameras, appare...

Little Dax, the sweet looking kitten that we adopted from our Vet's office, seemed to be the perfect companion for our small, rescued cat Blaze, but we soon realized that because of his wild heritage, he was filled with spit and vinegar. Then, when...

Just like people, animals have their own unique personalities. This is especially true with cats. Star Noir, our Halloween surprise, appeared as if by magic and has taken the roll of protector of little Blaze and mediator between Blaze and Dax. She i...

Through the years we have had many pets and somehow, in the grand scheme of things, most of them found and adopted us. This is the story of some of the beloved animals that have shared our lives. Though many of them were not with us as long as we wou...

We feel that pets, especially cats, who choose you are the most precious. This lens is about Blaze Star, the cat, not Uncle Earl's honey, who found us one morning in September of 2003. We have shared our home with her ever since and she brings us suc...

I really could never choose just one of my furry family over another, but if I was FORCED to, then I would have to choose our precious foundling, mostly Catahoula Leopard dog and Pointer mixed breed, Rio. He has been a joy and a loyal companion sinc...

In the coastal southern United States, Autumn is usually a season that hurries by to quickly. High temperatures remain until late September or early October and when the cool weather does finally move in, it only stays for a couple of weeks. Some yea...

We love to photograph and draw and paint nature and our Naturally Native Gallery reflects our love of nature and the outdoors. We take pictures each day when we walk our 2 rescued dogs to the beautiful Tchefuncte River and we can share our view of t...

Zazzle is the place to shop for Christmas and we've gathered a selection of designs, books and poems which any nature lover should adore. You'll find shoes, T-shirts, ties, bags, mugs and Christmas cards with matching postage. We've incl...

This lens celebrates wildlife and says, "We love and protect animals". It is here that the creatures of Louisiana, both wild and domesticated, are spotlighted (in a positive way) by displaying their photo on postage stamps. Tips on attracting wildli...

Calling all Zazzle Associates! Here's a simple way to feature attractive picture links to your own or other Zazzlers' products. Products can be grouped in horizontal rows of two or more products or with one large picture link spotlighting one product...