According to the National Park Service (NPS), June is Great Outdoors Month. Click the link to discover events and activities that may be available in your area.
“During Great Outdoors Month, I encourage all Americans to explore our Nation’s beautiful outdoor spaces. As we enjoy the great outdoors — from national parks to our own backyards — let us rededicate ourselves to conserving our Nation’s natural spaces for our own well-being, and for the health, safety, prosperity, and fulfillment of generations to come.” ~ US President Joseph Biden
Getting outdoors during June should be easy for us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. However, for my southern hemisphere friends who are enjoying winter, I know you have many ways to enjoy the outdoors this time of year, such as getting away to warm places or, for those who love the cold, skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. Tell us more, or show us your favorite summer outdoor places.
You know that I am an outdoors person, therefore most of my leisure time is spent outdoors appreciating nature. Since hubby is an adventurous spirit, anything outdoors is our first choice for time together.
Let me illustrate several ways to celebrate Great Outdoors Month.
- Plant veggies or flowers, or just stop to eat or smell them!
- Enjoy backyard or Local Birding
- Visit a local park, state park, or national park
- Explore a trail
- Paddle in a local waterway
Join me all month as I check off the rest of this list.
Plant Veggies or Flowers
“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
Aren’t these new garden shoes adorable? Thanks to Shelley at Quaint Revival for the inspiration!
Our rural property has plenty of room to plant just about anything. In addition to flowers…
… we’ve planted 25 trees so far…
…and started a berry garden. We added 2 blueberry plants and two raspberries among volunteer strawberries in the garden bed.
Local and Backyard Birding
“There is an unreasonable joy to be had from the observation of small birds going about their bright, oblivious business.” ― Grant Hutchison
This spring, we’ve had a front-row seat to nesting Say’s Phoebes (aka Dusky Flycatcher). They discovered our large patio cover and they prefer to nest in sturdy, covered man-made structures. I shared these pics in an earlier post while they were actively nesting at the end of April.
The duration from egg to fledging is about 30 days.
** A note about the following images: Most were taken with my cell phone (Samsung S23 Ultra). Some cloudy days made for less-than-sharp images. **
Curious, we stealthily climbed a ladder to peer inside the nest and quickly took cell phone pictures before Dad and Mom returned.
Once they hatch, they are voracious eaters, and both parents actively feed them live insects for hours each day! By May 20th, we could see their open beaks, and I caught these amazing views with my Lumix camera!
In case you’re wondering, I can see the nest from our guest bathroom window.
We’ve also modified that part of the deck by keeping the outside light off and moving the grill and smoker away. This is a mild lifestyle change, while keeping a sharp eye on the day they will tumble out of the nest (an 8-foot drop).
This photo was taken on May 30th. It seems that they grew twice their size in one night. There are still four active babies. The parents stopped sitting on the nest one week ago.
We’re monitoring this process closely to prevent our bird dog Brodie from gobbling them up once they fledge out of the nest. Nature can be harsh, but we will do our best to ensure the babies have a good start in life.
Partial inspiration this week from Brian’s Last on the Card, Dawn’s last spring festival, and Johnbo’s ongoing Cellpic Sunday.
At 6:30 a.m. Pacific time, the baby Phoebes fledged out of the nest! Best wishes for a long and happy life—you are always welcome in our backyard!
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post in the comments.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
Celebrate with me the entire month of June as we explore the great outdoors. Upcoming Sunday Stills themes will focus on the outdoors with the subthemes as listed here:
- June 9 Monthly Color Challenge: Pastels Found in the Great Outdoors
- June 16 Sunrises and Sunsets
- June 23 Plant Life in the Great Outdoors
- June 30 Landscapes
I can’t wait to see how you interpret THE GREAT OUTDOORS theme this week! Creativity is always encouraged, so please share your photographs, poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore pastels for the monthly color challenge.
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