Yellow Belly Sap Sucker

My very first & right here at our little nestle.

I've never seen one before and he was my "wake up Deena" 

from God Friday AM.

Sharp Shin Hawk

This Sharp Shinned Hawk was very patient and then

found a bird to eat...Hubby scared the hawk away , and the hawk took its

it lunch into the woods.

Bits of Nature

A Summer Tanager way up high in one of our tallest trees about 80 feet up.

These crazy beetles have just been EATING my ROSES,I love bugs, but I'm tempted to spray them

I planted my Easter Lilly outside ..and now it's blooming

My bucket has mint and caladiums in it..I love my birdhouse above too.

Peppermint Zinnia
Mr & Mrs Goldfinch, she's on the left.
Bees LOVE this plant
I was hoping to get the BIG BLACK butterfly's pic, he flew away and this one came.

Mr Chippy..on the wood pile of our new neighbor, with Morning Glories on the fence.

I called him to see if he'd turn my way..LOL

Show & Tell Friday

Good Greetings to you! Tis another Show & Tell Friday. Check Kelli's BloG for more Friday delights.



Hi to all of you. If you frequent my BLOG , you know I love birds!! Oh yes
..above is a picture of my favorite dishes. They were a present FROM ME....when
we moved here to SingingWoods.

I love dishes too...so I thought I'd share a few of my fave dining dishes.






All of the above lovelies are availabe at
Room Service Home
A wonderful eclectic market

Happy Friday ** tis suppose to cool off here tomorrow ** I hope to get some nature pics to share with
all my BLOG friends** humbly, Deena

Wonderful Summer Note Cards

My friend Lana, Honeysuckle Lane, takes the BEST photos. This is my type of Patriotism, mixing the colors with
flowers as the theme. The Bee Balm looks like rockets bursting in air. What could be more lovely than blue
hydrangeas?, with just a touch of white?

Lana has a gift when it comes to vignette arranging & photo taking. The best quality photos on lovely cards. I just had to share.

One of these is going to my daddy in Florida to brighten up his room in the nursing center he now lives in (he has Alzheimer's & Parkinson's disease) . He has always had a love for flowers, guess that's where I got mine, comes
naturallly!!

Check out Lana's website

HoneySuckle Lane or


The Primitive Gathering for these treasures & more.
*****

Tis hot & humid here, a typical Midwest Summer day! I need a cooler day
to find butterflies & fleurs to share with you. Fondly, your gardening friend, Deena

She sings ALL day

Oh Joy, the baby wrens are hatched & mommy isn't NEAR as shy now...She sits in the tree right at the edge of the
house & sings ALL day. The bird box is on the inside of the fence right at the house edge, so the tree lets her see
her babes . My bedroom window is upstairs right where the tree is...so I love hearing her.

Today I went to the box & mama was in there taking care of her chirping babes..she flew out, they kept chirping & moving so much the bird house was moving..OH what pleasure I got..but mama started her lil cry & babes stopped
their sweet chirping. She must have been telling them *that Deena is trying to look in, BE STILL*

I hope to get a pic of the babes peeking out soon, so come back for more.

OH I also found a new butterfly today, he flew into the garage & landed on hubby's riding jacket while I was following him around with the camera..Got a couple GREAT pictures..tis a Mourning Cloak ...and it was so irridescent..and lovely..
Here he is!!!
and oh we did make SURE he got back outside..and flew off


isn't he lovely??
The Singing Woods is delightful, your friend, Deena

A bit about the Singing Woods

This is our backyard at the edge of Singing Woods.

Owned by the Peoria Park District, Singing Woods is nearly 1000 acres of wooded river bluff. It also includes several hill prairie restoration areas. Although there are no developed access it provides important migratory and breeding habitat for forest interior birds.
Sheer size makes this among the best areas to search for migrating songbirds in spring and fall. Barred, Eastern Screech, and Great Horned Owls are also common in winter. Since this is an undeveloped area, with few trails, and steep bluffs plan your hike accordingly. The area along the creek, off of Ivy Lake Road if the most productive during migration. The upland wooded bluff and hill prairies can be good for finding breeding woodland birds.

Commonly Seen Birds Spring/Fall -- Good for woodland warblers
Summer -- Red-headed & Pileated Woodpeckers, nesting owls, Cooper's Hawk, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Scarlet and Summer Tanager
Winter -- Owls
This is some info I found in the "minutes" of Illinois Wildlife Preservation meeting

Peoria Co. - Singing Woods Nature Preserve, Dedication Singing Woods is part of the 899-acre North Bluff Wildlife Preserve, owned and managed by the Peoria Park District. The Peoria Park District proposes to dedicate 694 acres of oak-hickory forest, interspersed with hill prairie, barrens, wetland seeps, and intermittent streams, as Singing Woods Nature Preserve. The natural communities of Singing Woods are representative of the Grand Prairie Section of the Grand Prairie Natural Division. Singing Woods is part of a corridor of large tracts of woodlands (known as the Peoria Wilds Resource Rich Area) within the bluffs overlooking the Illinois River Valley, north of Peoria. This site is the largest contiguous tract of oak-hickory forest in Illinois, north of the Shawnee National Forest. Singing Woods supports a diverse population of high sensitive and moderate sensitive forest breeding birds such as the Ovenbird, Hooded Warbler, Black-billed Cuckoo, Scarlet Tanager, and Louisiana Waterthrush. The state-threatened downy arrowwood (Viburnum molle ) is found at two separate locations within the proposed preserve, as are a vast array of conservative prairie and woodland plants.