April 13, 2010 | 
Author 
It has been awhile since I’ve offered a new post in this series. I’ve had wonderful feedback – so good to know that this sort of picture-centric, rambling thought offering is as much fun for others as it is for me. Hope you like this month’s offering!
I love the beautiful white, fragrant flowers of this (I think) Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana) tree. And that I told passers-by that it was a “dogwood” tree. Whoopsie.
I love inquisitive visitors who have the spunk to stare back at me and hold their ground. Even when their “ground” is the back of my hand.
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I love the simple yet exquisite sound of birdsong.
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I love it when nature volunteers to plant a tree for me, and a native one at that! (This is an Elm tree, maybe a Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia)
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I love the rich, warm, shiny-coppery color of the often dismissed and overlooked millipede.
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I love the treat that is a flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) feasting on berries, oblivious to gawkers with cameras. What a work of art this bird is!
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I love that a leaf floating in the still end of the pond, coupled with my desire to see a frog, can trick me just enough to run (I never run) to get my camera. I still think it looks just like a frog.
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I love to see that I am not the only one who talks to trees.
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I love that my first-ever sighting of Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) ducks was this serene group, with the gallant male escorting the ladies on a Sunday afternoon.
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I love that I was able to spot this epic battle between the cormorant and this very large fish from such a great distance. I only wish I knew how it ended! I admire the cormorant’s enthusiasm, but that fish looks pretty big… 
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I love that for Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), mullets are still “in.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed this ramble as much as I have enjoyed sharing the photos and the thoughts they inspire. Please, feel free to chime in!
Posted in What I Love About Nature
Comment and possible correction.
I loved YOUR comment about the Bufflehead harem. It did look like he was taking his ladies out for a stroll!
Possible correction but I’m no Jim Varnum. I believe the elm you’re showing is an Ulmus Alata (vs. crassifolia) or a “winged” elm. I discovered them last spring at Tyler State Park. According to the US Forest Service: “A North American native, this fast-growing deciduous tree is quickly identified by the corky, winglike projections which
appear on opposite sides of twigs and branches.”
Hi Sandy! I can’t believe I missed the FTLOTL cleanup this past weekend – totally forgot.
You know, I debated with myself about whether I had a winged elm or a cedar elm. If those aren’t “wings” on that sapling, then I don’t know what would be!
I agree with Sandy: I think it’s a winged elm. We have a few here and there on the property. The first time I saw one, I was sad for the poor little tree that apparently had some sort of weird fungal growth all over it.
Ok, that’s 2 for Winged Elm. Cool – a few years ago, I actually went looking for a Winged Elm to plant on my property. I went to a nursery (Shades of Green, in Frisco), but they had Cedar Elm and couldn’t say for sure if they had Winged Elm in the mix. Fun twist of fate that I know have my very own Winged Elm freebie. Maybe not the location I would have chosen, but I don’t want to disturb it now. It will be fun to watch it grow!
I’m laughing at the “talking to a tree” photo! Love it!
These are just gorgeous, Amber, and it’s such a beautiful thought to remember the little things that capture our imagination and attention. It doesn’t have to be big splashy colors to be majestic.
Great series! I’m really enjoying this.
Oh, those grackles are an endless source of fun, aren’t they? How are you coming on that “challenge” to document their flamboyant courtship dances?
No luck yet on capturing photos of attempted grackle wooing, Amber, but it’s still high on my list!
Amber, I love your “What I Love about Nature” series –thanks for the latest installment. You’re right about cedar waxwings, and put it so well–a work of art, indeed! They are so exquisite I’ve never thought they look quite real. Your photo is great.
Kay
Thanks, Kay
Just yesterday I was treated to a flock of about a dozen Cedar Waxwings, settling about 10 feet away from me in the newly-leafed-out branches of a Bald Cypress tree. Gorgeous. And I understand about them not looking quite real…kindof like Wood Ducks, IMO.
Another in a great series on “What I Love About Nature” Amber. Your narrative always puts a smile on my face, add the great photos and it just doesn’t get any better than this.
The little spider, the singing Cardinal, and the Grackle yackin at the tree super. Great shots of the Waxwing and the Cormorant but the Red-headed Woodpecker with the mullet cracks me up
Hi Larry – I’m glad you mentioned the little spider. It is hard to explain a connection with a spider, but the way he displayed his tiny might was endearing and thought provoking.
As for the mullet on the Red-headed Woodpecker – it was the very first thought I had when I saw that picture…simply had to pass that one along!