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native plants | birds | writer | blog | speaker

see, hear, and feel the seasonal biodiversity joys and benefits through the lens of native plants

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Nature

From Drab to Fab

by Samantha BeanUpdated on August 17, 2021August 17, 2021

Nocturnal creatures camouflage themselves during the day while stunning butterflies are as beautiful as the flowers they land on. While one is busy blending in, …

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Nature

What is Milkweed?

by Samantha BeanUpdated on October 11, 2024July 30, 2021

    Why Milk? Why Weed? The short answer is this: A plant with leaves that emits a milky white substance when the leaf is …

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Nature

From Seed to Shining Seed

by Samantha BeanUpdated on October 11, 2024July 4, 2021

Birds in My Backyard — The American Goldfinch Did you know that American Goldfinches are known in the bird world as some of the strictest …

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Seasons of Change

We Planted Weeds, and We Couldn’t Be Happier

by Samantha BeanUpdated on October 11, 2024June 23, 2021

The Wild Nature of Native Plants Gardening for wildlife is not something we set out to do early on. But then, something happened. Waking up …

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Nature

One of These is Not Like the Other

by Samantha BeanUpdated on October 11, 2024April 28, 2021

Like an Easter egg in software, it’s something you don’t expect to find. Disney, Tesla, and video game makers have figured this out, and have …

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Seasons of Change

Nature’s Resiliency

by Samantha BeanUpdated on October 11, 2024April 14, 2021

This year, I have been taking notice of the sun setting a little further and further away in the western sky each evening as every …

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Journeys from before

Samantha Bean

flutterbymeadows

Capturing the beauty of biodiversity through my lens and words, inspired by the native plant gardens outside my window. 🌿📷
writer • blogger • birder
I don't even think I'll fix the glaring error beca I don't even think I'll fix the glaring error because it makes me laugh when I see it. Starting a new native plant journal over here @flutterbymeadows and I am off and running...over a few speed bumps to get me going. We are human and we all make mistakes. But as a former proofreader, it is so comical! Once a proofreader, always a proofreader. But never proof your own work, ever! •Journal, pencil, stickers, and washi tape from @archerandolive •Artwork, errors and all, by me, Samantha, quotation by Rumi @archerandolive.community #naturejournal #nativeplantjournal
Finally, the weather itself for this time of year Finally, the weather itself for this time of year is right as rain. Perhaps so will myself after a bout of writer's drought of late. Measurable rain finally fell. The clouds changed on Wednesday. And "normal" weather finally arrived. With the rain comes the ability to dig around through old photos like this one from September 2023 whilst I dig for ideas of what to write about. Will be interesting to see what more rain brings, especially if it turns from a pitter patter to falling silent.❄ #egrets #birds #egret #egretsofinstagram #bird #birdsofinstagram #nature #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #birdwatching #greategret #birding #photography #captures
Morning light is a brighter gift with beak and fea Morning light is a brighter gift with beak and feathers. Even though all these photographs where taken within minutes of one another, the sun only shown on this bird as it perched on my deck railing searching for breakfast. The squirrel nervously alarm calling from under the deck furniture, in repeated guttural cadence. The yard was silent except for that nervous call and a nearby barking dog. My heart was thumping though, as I truly thought I was about to witness the ravage of talons on gray fur in a hurried mess of attack. Yet, it was not to be. The bird dancing around from chair, to bath, to snag and back to railing. The squirrel at ease eventually. I swear the hawk looked right at it at one point. It was not on the menu it seems, for hawk flew up high to nearby Sycamore, and furball scurried off to under a pine. As my heart slowed, apparently the sun rose a little higher and the songbirds deemed the area safe to return to their morning rounds. Their certainty of "safe" is about as close as my uncertainty of a positive ID. I am going with sharp-shinned hawk. Singularly based on the white supercilium (plumage feature above each eye). But juvenile hawks are tough as nails to ID. Did you know the name "sharp-shinned" really does refer to the dimensions of this bird's legs? #hawk #hawks #birdofprey #birdsofprey #bird_of_prey #birds_of_prey #backyardbirds #raptors #raptor #feather_perfection #njbirds #nuts_about_birds #birds_captures #sharpshinnedhawk
Who doesn't love being a part of a community? But Who doesn't love being a part of a community? But how about something that is one of the most successful kestrel nesting box programs in the state?? Last year, @fohvos was able to hatch 81 American Kestrel chicks in my township. For 2025, we are aiming to reach 100. And they joined forces with @wildbirdresearch to make this happen. And you can help!!!!!! Here's how: FOHVOS currently collaborates with over 20 community members that host nest boxes at their homes, schools, and preserved land. You can join the kestrel nest box community in two ways: 1. If you have a big open field on your property, reach out to FOHVOS about setting up a nest box for the 2025 season! 2. Donate to our Hatch A Hundred campaign on #givingtuesday (or today!) to fund materials for and installation of kestrel nest boxes! Head over to Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space or Wild Bird Research Group to give your donations, your time, or your land and to learn more as this initiative takes flight!!! Things are happening soon!!!! Don't miss out. And thank YOU for caring about conservation. #kestrels #americankestrels #givingtuesday #raptorconservation #communityconservation #nestingboxes #birdconservation #hatchahundred
"Writer's Drought" a new short story: 💦 The la "Writer's Drought" a new short story: 💦 The lack of rain has not only set the ground into a rare state of depletion. There’s something more. Staring at the radar certainly doesn’t help, the lack of rain has left me dreaming of a dim rainy morning, little pitter patters of drops on the roof… among other things. I am looking RIGHT NOW at the radar, and if I drove one hour and thirty minutes to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, I could be indulging in a wintry mix. That sounds magical. Back to my local hourly forecast, and it is dry, dry, and fire weather, red flag warnings. Like, again? Fire, fire, where, where, here! Here! As I desperately miss my little indigo buntings of long days of summer. But I also desperately miss something else as I find my thoughts turning inwards. Normally writing is not something akin to staring blankly at a screen, waiting for the words to come rushing through my fingertips into “keys clacking”. The current state of affairs though of waiting for a hint of green to appear on the radar is no different than staring at a cursor waiting for the words to start flowing again. I am supposed to be writing a book. But somehow as the atmosphere is contemplating when to release any moisture out of a stronghold, I too am constrained. Hopefully it's only temporary. Hopefully. This, too, shall pass. Which then makes me think of a summer thunderstorm. Remind me...please. To never complain of 4 days of straight rain. Because 4 months of no rain is far worse. On more levels than just a rain gauge. *Photo from December 31 2022 #writersblock #writer #writerlife #writerscommunity
Did you know some woodpeckers like this one are mi Did you know some woodpeckers like this one are migratory? In my area they start showing up around October coming in from their more northern summer breeding grounds. Their new call kinda sounds like a cat stuck up a tree #yellowbelliedsapsucker
#sillybird Baths are out, showers are in. #sillybird Baths are out, showers are in.
Phew, it fixed itself!🍃 No tools required. Leav Phew, it fixed itself!🍃 No tools required. Leaves are nature's confetti. Leaf them be and let the party get rolling. So much lives and loves the leaves where they lay. This Fall, my yard's confetti is the fireworks for June AND July. The fireflies will be epic. 🎇 Do you spend your weekends with a heavy leaf blower? I hope not. I spend my weekends with a heavy camera at my home @flutterbymeadows. It's just more fun!!!!! #leavetheleaves
Just a little wishful planting going on @flutterby Just a little wishful planting going on @flutterbymeadows today. Spreading a little seeds here and there. I can only hope I did it right. If I didn't, let it all out on the line in comments section. Let's spread good cheer about weeds and let me learn from my mistakes. Let the comments commence! 🦋 #homegrownnationalpark #asclepiastuberosa #monarchbutterfly #fallisforplanting #nativeplants
mar•ces•cence: That's a big word and a tiny bi mar•ces•cence: That's a big word and a tiny bird. What is it? I watched this lad dance around the white oak leaves on the tree after I spritzed the young tree with water this morning. Drinking little drops and drips from the brown leaves the bird seemed to delight in the magic droplets. It resembled the same feisty behavior of a warbler gleening insects as fast as possible. Rain it seems has withered away into barely thoughts of summer-soaker thunderstorms. It's too far to look back and looking forward to thoughts of rain is all we can do. A white oak tree is one species of deciduous tree that retains its leaves throughout the fall and winter, fancily known as marcescence. The word marcescere is Latin for "to fade". Beech trees also are known for this. Later on in 2025, the crunchy brown ornaments will give way to the verdure in spring. But for now, brown is "in". Fun fact: a chickadee weighs a little more than a Reese's miniature peanut butter cup but not quite as much as a regular size Reese's peanut butter cup. #funwithbirds #backyardbirds #oak #whiteoak #marcescence #chickadee #certifiedwildlifehabitat
3 quick ways to decipher a purple finch from a hou 3 quick ways to decipher a purple finch from a house finch (last photo). And what does it have in common with a purple coneflower? 1. Thick white eyebrow (on females and juvenile) 2. More deeply notched tip of the tail on purple finch 3. Purple finches breed in the northern United States and Canada (known as "the winter finches"). A so called winter finch, like White-throated sparrows or pine siskins migrate out of Canada and the North to states further south to spend the winter. They are also very different songsters. The Purple Finch being a more smooth singer without the buzzy note at the end. Why is it called the purple finch? Their Latin name purpureus means of a purple or reddish color. Not unlike that of a purple coneflower...Echinacea purpurea. #purplefinch #finchfriday #finchesofinstagram #birdsofinstagram #birdoftheday #bestbirdshots
Perhaps Summer and Fall this Year are Too Closely Perhaps Summer and Fall this Year are Too Closely Knit People anticipate sweater weather more than the hype of NYE. For when it arrives, change is literally in the air. For now, though, the warm glow that reflects..... Read more on my blog #sweaterweather #fallvibes
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What is Flutter By Meadows?

I love to chronicle my discoveries about creatures that share my home while describing the habitats that exist for them on this blog. With a BA in Environmental Studies, I learned the natural world was a special place, and I was inspired to share the beauty in my writings.

Seeing a migratory bird in our yard, or an opportunist native plant that chooses to grow, I find joy in the unexpected. An amateur bird and butterfly photographer...trying to document what I see as much as possible, sprinkled with a touch of humor. Also a member of the Garden Club of America.

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