![]() Often when this happens, for a brief moment, my imagination takes flight and I find myself wishing that I could soar like a turkey vulture. I cannot count the number of times I have stopped working in the yard just to watch a turkey vulture glide over holding its wings in a shallow V above its head. These are amazing fetes for a bird with a six-foot wingspan yet only weighs up to four pounds. At other times, it can soar above the clouds at elevations of 20,000 feet or more. Sometimes the bird flies low enough over our backyards for us to see its distinctive red head. During this time its shadow can pass over 200 miles of the Georgia countryside. Ornithologists tell us that the turkey vulture can actually glide for up to six hours without once flapping its wings. By the same token, the turkey vulture’s ability to glide above the ground seemingly forever is unmatched by any other Georgia bird. The truth of the matter is Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters of all time. However, to say it flies above my yard is like saying Ted Williams was a baseball player. Consequently, although I have never seen a turkey vulture land in my yard, it has earned its way on my list because it routinely flies through the air space above the Johnson homestead. I am one of those that list all of the birds that either land or pass through the air space above their yard. Others list only those birds that land on their property. ![]() I have friends that count every bird they can see while standing in their yard. There are no hard and fast rules as to what can be included on a person’s yard list. Once you spot the first juniper hairstreak in your yard, you will wish you had made its acquaintance a long time ago. If you do add this plant to your yard, set it out in a place where it will not compete with other nectar plants, as it will spread. If you long to see a juniper hairstreak and red cedars grow nearby, you might want to plant mountain mint in your yard. The juniper hairstreak nectars on a variety of flowering plants, although for some reason, I have never seen a juniper hairstreak feed on any of the large array of nectar-bearing flowers in my yard. Although I have tried this trick many times, it only worked once. In fact, I have often read that the best way to see a juniper hairstreak is to flush one by shaking a limb or tossing a dead branch in the into the canopy of a red cedar. It seems juniper hairstreaks do not venture far from the trees, preferring instead to spend the majority of its time in the trees aromatic foliage. Red cedar is the juniper hairstreak’s host plant. JUNIPER HAIRSTREAK ON MOUNTAIN MINT I did not understand why this is the case since several large red cedars grow in my large backyard.
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