Vista Farm is a 30-acre small-wildlife habitat in Madisonville, Louisiana, where native plants and animals thrive in a flatwood (pine savanna) biome and we photograph their seasonal appearances. The soil is moist, acidic clay with sunlight and shade and the land is entirely flat and poorly drained. At home in your flowerbed and lawn weeds and grasses may be pests, but in our pond, meadow, forest and wetland habitats they are welcome. The biodiversity is amazing! Don’t Kill My Weeds helps gardeners and nature lovers identify native species through a gallery of plants and animals with articles on caring for a habitat where small wildlife are protected.
A Report on Weather Conditions & Species Sightings
May 2, 2024 -- We're clearing brush from the south side of the pond and have some interesting observations to start off the month of May. We discovered two new galls: Persimmon Leaf Blister Gall, formed by Aceria theospyri, a very tiny mite. Looks bad but doesn't seem to be harming the trees overall. The other one is as yet unknown and it is not on an oak, so I don't know. It's new on the Insects page under Galls
What’s In My Bag?
Lenses:
Zeiss Batis 18mm, 2.8
Zeiss Batis 135mm, 2.8
Nikon 24-85mm, 3.5-4.5 ED, G
Nikon 50mm, 1.8
Nikkor Micro 60mm, 2.8 ED, G, AF-S
Filters:
B+W 77mm graduated ND 0.6
B+W 67mm ND 3.0
Nikon circular polarizers
Tripod:
Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4
Manfrotto 322RC2 Ball Head with Quick Release Plate