The Rusty Patch is a native plant ecosystem on 1/3 acre in zone 4b Ontario. It’s also the name of this project, a weekly collection of photos, facts, and thoughts about gardening amidst collapse. Also, bird bloopers and insect intercourse. I very much hope you enjoy receiving this newsletter.

The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. The ruby throat is exclusive to males, leaving this female with a name that doesn’t suit her very well. Female Red-Winged Blackbirds suffer similarly.

Many ways of being a bird in the Rusty Patch. A male mallard and a mallard. A robin and her fledgling. A mourning dove being inexplicable to me at this point.

These three red squirrel siblings were unbearably sweet to watch as they chased and tousled and mock-attacked. Seeing them adapt to using their claws to scale and dangle was a truly loving moment. And chipmunk being tough to spot at first.

Always sad to have to post so many non-native plants, like this cornflower and the following buttercup, but the Rusty Patch has a dearth of blooms at this stage, so they take what they can get.

Spiders upcoming!

It takes all kinds of creatures to balance an ecosystem. These predators would be very missed, were they to disappear.

Gobsmacked by this racket-tailed emerald dragonfly. Possibly the apex predator of the Rusty Patch insects. Took out a dozen male mosquitoes as they dumbly danced for a female to choose them. Took only a moment.