donray

donray, 4 days ago to Rabbits

#rabbit #bunny #gardening #iowa #wildlife

The cute little bunnies are starting to snip off seedling plants in the garden.

Chicken wire tent to the rescue!

A tent of chicken wire -- made by rolling out a 25 feet of wire and creasing it in the middle -- protects a row of seedling melon plants.

donray, 5 days ago to animals

#CatsOfMastodon #cats #gatos #photography

The Golden Hour;
The Orange Loaf.

donray, 9 days ago to Israel

#Gaza #Israel #Palestine #Famine #Biden

Headline:
Two more US officials resign over Biden administration’s position on Gaza war.

Alexander Smith: “I cannot do my job in an environment in which specific people cannot be acknowledged as fully human, or where gender and human rights principles apply to some, but not to others, depending on their race.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/30/two-more-us-officials-resign-over-biden-administrations-position-on-gaza-war

donray, 10 days ago to Birds

#birds #Birding #Pajaros #aves #Iowa

For #Wrensday, I'm submitting a partial house wren, and hoping for partial credit.

donray, 14 days ago to animals

#caturday #CatsOfMastodon #cats #gatos #gardening

Mulch pile!

donray, 15 days ago to Bloomscrolling

#Bloomscrolling #NativePlants #trees #dogwood #shrubs #Iowa

Mystery Dogwood. A shrub I collected locally, it's either Gray Dogwood or Roughleaf Dogwood (or a natural hybrid). It's been hard to positively identify this shrub!

It's filling a gap in the row of non-native lilacs.

Close-up of a flower cluster. Small, whitish, four-petaled flowers with thick white stamens.

donray, 15 days ago to iowa

#Toad #sapo #iowa #frogs #wildlife

Happy #FrogFriday! Not technically a frog (but similar)…

An American Toad under the streetlight last night.

donray, 22 days ago to iowa

#frogFriday #frog #frogs #iowa #rana

Another gray treefrog. This one was on the wooden side porch stoop.

donray, 23 days ago to Bloomscrolling

#Bloomscrolling #Flowers #pollinators #bees #iowa #insects

Oriental poppy with an honest to goodness honey bee at work.

In recent years, honey bees are few and far between around here. I’m sure that most of the pollinating on my fruit trees is done by smaller, native bees.

donray, 24 days ago to Dogs

#Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #iowa

Sadly, #Wrensday came and went without me being able to photograph one of those active little birds.

I did try, but I only managed to get this shot of the neighbors' dog coming through the tall grass to see what I was doing.

donray, 1 month ago to Birds

#Birds #Birding #Iowa #Aves

Happy #Wrensday! The House Wrens have been busy in the sycamore tree where their nesting box is located. One wren seems to be checking sky conditions…

A side view of a rusty brown bird. The head is lighter in color, but the eye is very dark. The bird has a narrow, sharp beak. The bird shares a branchlet with tiny new sycamore leaves.

donray, 1 month ago to iowa

#FrogFriday #frog #frogs #iowa

Gray tree frog on the front porch steps a couple of days ago.

An eye-level close-up of the frog — eyes open, smiling slightly.

donray, 1 month ago to spain

#ThrowbackThursday #Spain #España #currency #money

“Everything at 100 pesetas”
(Everything at a low price)

A throwback sign on a side street in Petrer, Alicante, Spain.

The peseta was Spain’s monetary unit from 1868 until 2002 when it was replaced by the euro. The original exchange rate was approximately: 166 pesetas = 1 euro.

donray, 1 month ago to iowa

#iowa #weather #sky

Just another afternoon in Iowa with severe weather watches and warnings…

donray, 1 month ago to Bloomscrolling

#bloomscrolling #florespondence #spain #españa #flores

These small ornamental trees are in bloom now in southeastern Spain. They are new to me, but it’s some kind of Bauhinia (“Orchid Tree”) in the Legume family. Possibly Bauhinia variegata.

Small flowering trees in a row along a fence. One tree has flowers with a darker shade of pink.

donray, 2 months ago to guatemala

#PhotoMonday #FotoMontag #Guatemala #HolyWeek

Holy Saturday 2014 (April 19), Panajachel, Guatemala.

Lake Atitlán. A large gathering of local folks (mostly Indigenous Maya) on the gravelly delta of the San Francisco River. A day of fun at the lake. 1/🧵

donray, 2 months ago to Bloomscrolling

#bloomscrolling #flowers #agriculture #iowa

An acre of purple. This part of a soybean field has a flowery mantle of henbit (Lamium amplexicaule). Not a native plant, but it does provide some early spring nectar for pollinators.

Light purple lipped, tubular flowers on a stem with small. rounded lobed leaves. Leaves are green with some purple highlights.

donray, 2 months ago to Birds

#birds #birding #Iowa

A fine-looking American Robin with late afternoon lighting. A few pink buds of the redbud above and below.

donray, 2 months ago to spain

#MarshMadness #Spain #España #Albufera #Valencia

Albufera. Just south of Valencia, Spain, is a significant wetland area call La Albufera (the coastal lagoon). The modern Albufera ecosystem has developed over many centuries hand in hand with the production of rice.

I'm hoping others in the Fediverse will add a photo or two of the marshy wonders of the Albufera. My photo shows rice cultivation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albufera_Natural_Park

donray, 2 months ago to iowa

#iowa #sky #sunset #weather

Complicated sky — 10 minutes before sunset.

donray, 2 months ago to Argentina

#otd #argentina #MemoriaVerdadyJusticia #ElSalvador #OscarRomero

Today, March 24, marks a sad and painful day in both Argentina and El Salvador.

Argentina, 1976: A military coup began a 7-year period of violent political repression.

El Salvador, 1980: Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while saying mass — just one day after he had publicly beseeched the military to stop committing violence against the people.

USA Govt, 1976 and 1980: Cheering for the bad guys. Again.

donray, 2 months ago to iowa

#SilentSunday #Spring #Iowa #Weather

Much needed rain this morning. But dark and cold (39°F / 4°C) at 9:30 a.m.

donray, 2 months ago to random

#Gaza #Biden #famine

Biden’s Gaza Port.

From the article:
Avril Benoit, executive director of the US arm of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said the US plan is a “glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/10/us-military-ship-heads-to-gaza-to-build-temporary-humanitarian-aid-port

donray, 2 months ago to Birds

#SilentSunday #birds #birding #Iowa #DailyWalk

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) yesterday in the pasture.

Another shot (a close-up) of the bluebird on the post. The bluebird is facing the left. Its rusty orange breast is similar in color to the faded red paint of the post.

donray, 3 months ago to random

#GirlScouts #Gaza #Racism
Unfortunately, it’s not surprising that the Girl Scout organization freaked out when some scouts tried to help kids in Gaza. The anti-Palestinian sentiment is pervasive in the USA.

The leader of those scouts: “What do you think a group of 10-year-old girls would want to do if they felt helpless? They would want to help. How do they want to help? They want to make bracelets. They’re 10 years old. That’s what they felt like they could do.”
https://apnews.com/article/girl-scouts-gaza-bracelets-ae0d36cf651a0e995243a85084fbd016