After a mild winter and a stormy spring, flora is springing to life all over my gardens. Since I normally leave flower heads and seed stalks un-pruned during the winter to help the birds survive, spring chores are never ending.
As I prune off the thick stems of my Autumn Joy sedum, I have been rewarded with the new growth emerging from the heavily composted soil. These wonderful plants are a staple in my gardens, mainly because they are so maintenance free. Sedum requires very little attention during the growing season and it is very drought tolerant. There is lovely foliage all year long and then the flower heads start to form in late July—starting out green then turning to pink before finally reaching the deep red color that I love.
Asters are one of my favorite “wildflowers”, but they have a tendency to leave tall airy stems that need to be removed before you can appreciate the new greenery. Through experimentation I have learned that if I keep the new growth pruned back until the first of July, then the stems will not be so tall. I have some that I prune and some that I leave natural. There is just something about those tall graceful white flowers floating above all the over the flowers that makes September a spectacular month in my back gardens.
Of course the daylilies and Irises are growing inches every day and it won’t be long before they will burst into bloom. After the daffodils and tulips fade away, the daylilies and Irises will be ready to replace the garden with new colors of orange, yellow, purple and pink. I am attempting to have some type of flowers blooming all through the seasons, so when one flower have past bloom, another type is ready to take over.
The redbud trees are absolutely beautiful this year. Our first redbud tree is the most extraordinary—the tall airy branches are just hanging full of pink blossoms. We also have about eight other redbuds which are much younger than our first, and they are all blooming this year. I was lucky I didn’t lose any because of the drought last summer.
However, I wasn’t so lucky with one of my river birch trees. Even with watering during the long hot summer last year, a newly planted river birch has died. I also lost my large weeping cherry tree in the front yard. I actually cried when I realized the cherry tree did not survive the drought or winter. We plan to remove the tree and replace it with a redbud.
The hostas in the Rabbit Hole garden are up about six to eight inches, each clump looking much bigger than last year’s plantings. All my ferns seem to be reemerging after a short winter’s rest. My anticipation for this garden is very high this year; this will be the fourth year of really hard work and I’m hoping it will reward me with a spectacular display. I still have lots of bare spots in this garden, but I must wait for my plants to mature so I can divide and transplant some more. I will eventually have this type of garden surrounding three sides of my yard; even if it takes my twenty more years to get there.
I already have the lettuce bed and potatoes planted and my rhubarb and asparagus are coming on strong. This will be the first year that I will be able to harvest any asparagus; I have been patiently waiting three years for it to mature enough to used. It is very exciting when a vegetable or plant becomes “of age” under all the care you have given it. I have started some other seeds in the house, but it will be a few more weeks before I can transplant them into the garden—tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Gourds also can’t go into the ground until the soil temperature is a constant 78 degrees—hard to obtain in Kentucky’s finicky weather.
I am expanding our front garden this year. With a one acre lot, it takes a long time to finally get enough plants, time and energy to completely fill the property. My goal is to only have to do maintenance on my gardens during my retirement years. I enjoy maintaining, pruning, trimming and shaping plants into unique forms and shapes. I want the formal lawn to be completely removed and be replaced with native wildlife and flowers.
Speaking of wildlife, I think we have a fox that lives in the field behind our home. I saw the red bushy tail a few times, always late in the evening. I believe it may be one from the litter that was found near McRay Feed; McRay’s is just behind our house. I have not intentions of bothering this fox; unless he bothers me first.
I haven’t seen any snakes yet, but the bees are working overtime and I have seen an occasional butterfly. There are now so many pairs of Robins in our garden that I have lost count of them. When I was trimming the English ivy from the front garden, I found a nest way up high in the tangle of vines that is growing up the guide line for our utility post. There are four bright blue Robin nests happily resting in the nest. Through out the day, Mommy and Daddy Robin can be seen taking turns watching the nest and sitting on the eggs. There is also another nest in the jungle of English ivy that has grown up the rod iron post near our front door. It too, has four bright blue eggs.
The mourning doves are nesting in the large pine trees on the north side of our house, although I have not seen any eggs yet. Doves have a tendency to make flat nests on the branches of the trees, and they appear very fragile. However, with the population of doves in our yard, I’m not complaining.
The rabbit population has exploded, but I’m not complaining. There is enough native vegetation in our yard that the rabbits don’t tend to bother my vegetable garden. Nothing is more calming than sitting in the backyard near twilight and watching all the rabbits venturing out. Old Mr. Groundhog is still living under my old shed, but as long as he stays out of my veggies, I’m not going to complain. But the first time I catch him destroying some beloved plant, he will be history in my garden. We had to get rid of one about ten years ago because it was eating the veggies; so far this one is leaving things alone.
Spring as finally sprung for 2006—I am just praying that 2006 turns out to be a better year than 2005. Go outdoors and enjoy the scenery—after a long winter’s rest, there are some new friends waiting for you in the garden.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2006
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Monday, April 3, 2006
Friday, April 8, 2005
Spring Fever
The cold dark days of winter are finally receding with time inching forth and the days getting longer. Cold winter days make my nesting instincts kick into high gear. There is just something warm and fuzzy about being wrapped up in the warmth of your home with all the things you need to keep you comfortable. Just like animals getting ready for the winter, I have this urge stock up on all the creature comforts that make life tolerable.
For me, the first thing I need is something to write with and something to write in. Although most of my writing is done on the laptop, I still have to have a journal to jot down notes, ideas and feelings. I am partial to the half size notebooks with the cloth covering over the spiral edges. I probably have hundreds of these that I have filled with all my thoughts; occasionally I will re-read a journal to pick out patterns in my life. Of course, I also like nice pretty journals and I have many of them that I use for special projects. I have one that is especially for song lyrics, I have one for my poems and another for quotations. I also like to pick out special journals to take with me on trips. I usually have at least three or four working journals going at one time—feelings and thoughts, gardening and crafts, and story ideas. I keep a journal in my car in case I get caught in traffic, I keep one on my desk at home in case ideas come to me in the middle of the day and I keep one near my bed for dreams and other mystical thoughts.
After I have something to write on, then I need something to write with. I love to write with blue ink; I think that is because I have to write in black at work all the time. All the ink pens I use at home are blue, Pilot Easy Touch; these write smoothly and don’t bleed ink onto the paper or clog up the tip. My handwriting is large and I hate it when the ink pen leaves a big glob of ink right in the middle of a word. I also have some special pens that I use when the mood hits me. One of my favorites is a wooden pen that is carved like a fox head; it is refillable and I like to use it when I’m in a good mood. I will usually find a new pen to take on a special trip, like the lighted pens you see at the checkout stand in Wal-Mart—Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella. Special pens are good for perking up my mood, but when it comes down to serious writing, I’ll choose my Easy Touch every time.
The next thing you need to be a good nester is snacks—all the favorite foods of each family member. For me, it has to be Twisters because I’m a salty-carbohydrate kind of girl, but Keith likes his Runts from the Kountry Kupboard, and Christine’s weakness is Doritos. These are occasional snacks for us, but I get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are stocked up with all our favorites. It’s good to have nice healthy food to sustain you, but a special treat every now and then is okay too.
Spring is finally in the air. I realize we still have some cold days to look forward to, but the signs of spring are everywhere. Gardening plans are already stewing in my head and I can’t wait to finally be able to get outside and dig in the dirt. On my daily walk through my gardens recently, I was really tempted to start cleaning out flower beds and tidying everything up, but I stopped myself. Right now the birds are using flower heads and shrubbery to live. I see so many Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Finches still finding seeds to eat and a place for protection. Normally I don’t start trimming up the flowerbeds until about St. Patrick’s’ Day—that is when my Granddaddy Sallee would plant his potatoes and prepare the lettuce beds. This is about the same time my Granny Sallee would plant her sweet peas and start raking out her flowerbeds, especially her peonies.
I also have daffodils and tulips coming up and several trees starting to bud-out. I am always glad to see the first flower in spring, but I would rather delay my joy instead of having everything blooming and then get a big frost. With Kentucky weather, one day we may have 60 degree temperatures, the next day it may never reach 30 degrees.
So, as the gardening and seed catalogs start to accumulate in the mail, I will spend the next few months deciding on what new plants I will try this year. As soon as the soil is workable, I’ll be out getting the veggie garden ready for lettuce and other salad greens plus peas and a few potatoes. Even though I have spring fever, I will still have to wait on Mother Nature to tell me when spring has finally arrived. Until then, I’ll keep busy reading and learning and dreaming of my future gardens.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2005
For me, the first thing I need is something to write with and something to write in. Although most of my writing is done on the laptop, I still have to have a journal to jot down notes, ideas and feelings. I am partial to the half size notebooks with the cloth covering over the spiral edges. I probably have hundreds of these that I have filled with all my thoughts; occasionally I will re-read a journal to pick out patterns in my life. Of course, I also like nice pretty journals and I have many of them that I use for special projects. I have one that is especially for song lyrics, I have one for my poems and another for quotations. I also like to pick out special journals to take with me on trips. I usually have at least three or four working journals going at one time—feelings and thoughts, gardening and crafts, and story ideas. I keep a journal in my car in case I get caught in traffic, I keep one on my desk at home in case ideas come to me in the middle of the day and I keep one near my bed for dreams and other mystical thoughts.
After I have something to write on, then I need something to write with. I love to write with blue ink; I think that is because I have to write in black at work all the time. All the ink pens I use at home are blue, Pilot Easy Touch; these write smoothly and don’t bleed ink onto the paper or clog up the tip. My handwriting is large and I hate it when the ink pen leaves a big glob of ink right in the middle of a word. I also have some special pens that I use when the mood hits me. One of my favorites is a wooden pen that is carved like a fox head; it is refillable and I like to use it when I’m in a good mood. I will usually find a new pen to take on a special trip, like the lighted pens you see at the checkout stand in Wal-Mart—Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella. Special pens are good for perking up my mood, but when it comes down to serious writing, I’ll choose my Easy Touch every time.
The next thing you need to be a good nester is snacks—all the favorite foods of each family member. For me, it has to be Twisters because I’m a salty-carbohydrate kind of girl, but Keith likes his Runts from the Kountry Kupboard, and Christine’s weakness is Doritos. These are occasional snacks for us, but I get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are stocked up with all our favorites. It’s good to have nice healthy food to sustain you, but a special treat every now and then is okay too.
Spring is finally in the air. I realize we still have some cold days to look forward to, but the signs of spring are everywhere. Gardening plans are already stewing in my head and I can’t wait to finally be able to get outside and dig in the dirt. On my daily walk through my gardens recently, I was really tempted to start cleaning out flower beds and tidying everything up, but I stopped myself. Right now the birds are using flower heads and shrubbery to live. I see so many Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Finches still finding seeds to eat and a place for protection. Normally I don’t start trimming up the flowerbeds until about St. Patrick’s’ Day—that is when my Granddaddy Sallee would plant his potatoes and prepare the lettuce beds. This is about the same time my Granny Sallee would plant her sweet peas and start raking out her flowerbeds, especially her peonies.
I also have daffodils and tulips coming up and several trees starting to bud-out. I am always glad to see the first flower in spring, but I would rather delay my joy instead of having everything blooming and then get a big frost. With Kentucky weather, one day we may have 60 degree temperatures, the next day it may never reach 30 degrees.
So, as the gardening and seed catalogs start to accumulate in the mail, I will spend the next few months deciding on what new plants I will try this year. As soon as the soil is workable, I’ll be out getting the veggie garden ready for lettuce and other salad greens plus peas and a few potatoes. Even though I have spring fever, I will still have to wait on Mother Nature to tell me when spring has finally arrived. Until then, I’ll keep busy reading and learning and dreaming of my future gardens.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2005
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Spring Fever
The cold dark days of winter are finally receding with time inching forth and the days getting longer. Cold winter days make my nesting instincts kick into high gear. There is just something warm and fuzzy about being wrapped up in the warmth of your home with all the things you need to keep you comfortable. Just like animals getting ready for the winter, I have this urge stock up on all the creature comforts that make life tolerable.
For me, the first thing I need is something to write with and something to write in. Although most of my writing is done on the laptop, I still have to have a journal to jot down notes, ideas and feelings. I am partial to the half size notebooks with the cloth covering over the spiral edges. I probably have hundreds of these that I have filled with all my thoughts; occasionally I will re-read a journal to pick out patterns in my life. Of course, I also like nice pretty journals and I have many of them that I use for special projects. I have one that is especially for song lyrics, I have one for my poems and another for quotations. I also like to pick out special journals to take with me on trips. I usually have at least three or four working journals going at one time—feelings and thoughts, gardening and crafts, and story ideas. I keep a journal in my car in case I get caught in traffic, I keep one on my desk at home in case ideas come to me in the middle of the day and I keep one near my bed for dreams and other mystical thoughts.
After I have something to write on, then I need something to write with. I love to write with blue ink; I think that is because I have to write in black at work all the time. All the ink pens I use at home are blue, Pilot Easy Touch; these write smoothly and don’t bleed ink onto the paper or clog up the tip. My handwriting is large and I hate it when the ink pen leaves a big glob of ink right in the middle of a word. I also have some special pens that I use when the mood hits me. One of my favorites is a wooden pen that is carved like a fox head; it is refillable and I like to use it when I’m in a good mood. I will usually find a new pen to take on a special trip, like the lighted pens you see at the checkout stand in Wal-Mart—Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella. Special pens are good for perking up my mood, but when it comes down to serious writing, I’ll choose my Easy Touch every time.
The next thing you need to be a good nester is snacks—all the favorite foods of each family member. For me, it has to be Twisters because I’m a salty-carbohydrate kind of girl, but Keith likes his Runts from the Kountry Kupboard, and Christine’s weakness is Doritos. These are occasional snacks for us, but I get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are stocked up with all our favorites. It’s good to have nice healthy food to sustain you, but a special treat every now and then is okay too.
Spring is finally in the air. I realize we still have some cold days to look forward to, but the signs of spring are everywhere. Gardening plans are already stewing in my head and I can’t wait to finally be able to get outside and dig in the dirt. On my daily walk through my gardens recently, I was really tempted to start cleaning out flower beds and tidying everything up, but I stopped myself. Right now the birds are using flower heads and shrubbery to live. I see so many Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Finches still finding seeds to eat and a place for protection. Normally I don’t start trimming up the flowerbeds until about St. Patrick’s’ Day—that is when my Granddaddy Sallee would plant his potatoes and prepare the lettuce beds. This is about the same time my Granny Sallee would plant her sweet peas and start raking out her flowerbeds, especially her peonies.
I also have daffodils and tulips coming up and several trees starting to bud-out. I am always glad to see the first flower in spring, but I would rather delay my joy instead of having everything blooming and then get a big frost. With Kentucky weather, one day we may have 60 degree temperatures, the next day it may never reach 30 degrees.
So, as the gardening and seed catalogs start to accumulate in the mail, I will spend the next few months deciding on what new plants I will try this year. As soon as the soil is workable, I’ll be out getting the veggie garden ready for lettuce and other salad greens plus peas and a few potatoes. Even though I have spring fever, I will still have to wait on Mother Nature to tell me when spring has finally arrived. Until then, I’ll keep busy reading and learning and dreaming of my future gardens.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2005
For me, the first thing I need is something to write with and something to write in. Although most of my writing is done on the laptop, I still have to have a journal to jot down notes, ideas and feelings. I am partial to the half size notebooks with the cloth covering over the spiral edges. I probably have hundreds of these that I have filled with all my thoughts; occasionally I will re-read a journal to pick out patterns in my life. Of course, I also like nice pretty journals and I have many of them that I use for special projects. I have one that is especially for song lyrics, I have one for my poems and another for quotations. I also like to pick out special journals to take with me on trips. I usually have at least three or four working journals going at one time—feelings and thoughts, gardening and crafts, and story ideas. I keep a journal in my car in case I get caught in traffic, I keep one on my desk at home in case ideas come to me in the middle of the day and I keep one near my bed for dreams and other mystical thoughts.
After I have something to write on, then I need something to write with. I love to write with blue ink; I think that is because I have to write in black at work all the time. All the ink pens I use at home are blue, Pilot Easy Touch; these write smoothly and don’t bleed ink onto the paper or clog up the tip. My handwriting is large and I hate it when the ink pen leaves a big glob of ink right in the middle of a word. I also have some special pens that I use when the mood hits me. One of my favorites is a wooden pen that is carved like a fox head; it is refillable and I like to use it when I’m in a good mood. I will usually find a new pen to take on a special trip, like the lighted pens you see at the checkout stand in Wal-Mart—Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella. Special pens are good for perking up my mood, but when it comes down to serious writing, I’ll choose my Easy Touch every time.
The next thing you need to be a good nester is snacks—all the favorite foods of each family member. For me, it has to be Twisters because I’m a salty-carbohydrate kind of girl, but Keith likes his Runts from the Kountry Kupboard, and Christine’s weakness is Doritos. These are occasional snacks for us, but I get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are stocked up with all our favorites. It’s good to have nice healthy food to sustain you, but a special treat every now and then is okay too.
Spring is finally in the air. I realize we still have some cold days to look forward to, but the signs of spring are everywhere. Gardening plans are already stewing in my head and I can’t wait to finally be able to get outside and dig in the dirt. On my daily walk through my gardens recently, I was really tempted to start cleaning out flower beds and tidying everything up, but I stopped myself. Right now the birds are using flower heads and shrubbery to live. I see so many Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Finches still finding seeds to eat and a place for protection. Normally I don’t start trimming up the flowerbeds until about St. Patrick’s’ Day—that is when my Granddaddy Sallee would plant his potatoes and prepare the lettuce beds. This is about the same time my Granny Sallee would plant her sweet peas and start raking out her flowerbeds, especially her peonies.
I also have daffodils and tulips coming up and several trees starting to bud-out. I am always glad to see the first flower in spring, but I would rather delay my joy instead of having everything blooming and then get a big frost. With Kentucky weather, one day we may have 60 degree temperatures, the next day it may never reach 30 degrees.
So, as the gardening and seed catalogs start to accumulate in the mail, I will spend the next few months deciding on what new plants I will try this year. As soon as the soil is workable, I’ll be out getting the veggie garden ready for lettuce and other salad greens plus peas and a few potatoes. Even though I have spring fever, I will still have to wait on Mother Nature to tell me when spring has finally arrived. Until then, I’ll keep busy reading and learning and dreaming of my future gardens.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2005
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
The Birds Are Back in Town
As we near the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the parade of birds in my backyard have multiplied ten-fold. Actually, most birds never left—many of them make the wildlife of our backyard their permanent homes—but the migratory birds are beginning to make the first re-appearance. This year I am hoping to attract some bluebirds and some purple martins. Mosquitoes are the favored diet of the purple martin.
Mourning doves—as a group—are my favorite songbirds. Lucky for me, the mourning doves are year ‘round inhabitants to our area. During the spring they nest and raise their young in the pine trees that line our property. They pick a nice firm pine bough, throw a few pine needles on it and proceed to set up house. We have lost plenty of dove eggs because the wind really whips through our pine trees. Fortunately, the doves appear to have more than one brood each season. When I woke up this morning, there were at least 15 pairs of doves scratching for food in the bird feeding station. Their gray feathers were all sleeked back, and they all moved with a little hop and skip. Whenever one of the birds “spooks” at a noise, they all lift off in a sea of blue feathers; that sleek gray color turns into a sea of blue when the birds are in flight. Later the same day I checked the bird feeding station again, and all those doves were still there—roosting on the ground!
During the summer and fall, the doves patrol the garden edges, as well as flower bed borders. They prefer foraging the perimeter of a feeding area instead of plowing right to the middle. It is also during the summer that doves like to roost on the overhead power lines. It is not uncommon to come home from work late and find 40 to 50 birds quietly lining the power lines. Listening to the soft “coo” of the doves is a wonderful way to lower your blood pressure after a hard day’s work.
If mourning doves are my favorite musical bird, then the Cardinal is the most beautiful. Male or female, there is something about those red feathers that just makes you want to smile, especially during the winter, when the trees are bare. Cardinals are the first birds out in the morning and among the last ones seen at night. The male Cardinal always watches out for the female—who said chivalry is dead? Cardinals mate for life and you can always tell which two belong together. The female is able to forage for seeds while her mate is standing guard. This year I have been able to count eight pair of Cardinals in my backyard at one time.
Chick-a-dees, finches and wrens love thistles seeds and you can usually find them waving above the garden as they cling to a thistle flower or seed head. I purposely don’t clean up my gardens in fall and winter because they are so beneficial for the wildlife. I keep a special thistle feeder in the bird feeding station just for these birds. It is really fun to watch a finch hang upside down from a feeder to eat thistle seeds.
Of course, I have to mention my resident Blue Jay—he is so loud, he is hard to forget. Late afternoons are when Mr. Blue Jay makes his appearance—he must not be a morning person. He is great at running all other birds away from the feeding station. He usually starts on the Redbud tree in the side yard. Chirp, chirp, chirp! His cry is loud enough to wake the cats inside my house. After he has scared the other birds off, he heads to the feast. I have learned over the years that the Blue Jays prefer cracked corn and sunflower seeds, but he has to test every feeder, just in case someone changed the menu. The Blue Jay really is a beautiful bird, but I just can’t get past his rude behavior.
There is a red-tailed hawk that patrols the farm next to our home. He is a beautiful thing when he is soaring through the air! He makes his home in the fencerow bordering the property line; daily I see him sweep down through the bare tree branches. With the farmland next door to us and the brush piles I’ve created in the backyard, he has his choice of all types of food. I try not to think about the fact he may be eating the rabbits that burrow in our yard. Mice—he can eat all the mice and rats he can find. Talk about a natural exterminator.
About three weeks ago, I came home from work and as I pulled into the driveway, there was a young red-tailed hawk sitting on the ivy-covered utility pole anchor cable in my front flowerbed. I go so excited I stopped the car half in the road and half in our driveway. The care must have startled him, because he took flight and I watched until he was just a little speck on the horizon. Baby hawks—I love it! More hawks means less mice and voles.
This winter I have been reading up on birds in our area, trying to identify some of the other feather friends who fly in to visit, and I’ve been recording observations of the bird antics in my backyard. Birds are sometimes hard to photograph, but I have managed to get many shots from the windows. A zoom lens helps, but I usually end up with pictures of blurred birds or bare tree branches. I will sometimes only get three or four good pictures out of an entire roll of film. Keith is much better than me at photography; his photos are accompanying this article.
So, grab the kids, head outside and enjoy the last fleeting days of winter. Spring will be here soon enough, with Summer not far behind. Take these last few days to enjoy the cold crispness of the winter air. And while you’re bundled up, go watch the birds, take a few pictures, and thank God for the beautiful day.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, March 2004
Mourning doves—as a group—are my favorite songbirds. Lucky for me, the mourning doves are year ‘round inhabitants to our area. During the spring they nest and raise their young in the pine trees that line our property. They pick a nice firm pine bough, throw a few pine needles on it and proceed to set up house. We have lost plenty of dove eggs because the wind really whips through our pine trees. Fortunately, the doves appear to have more than one brood each season. When I woke up this morning, there were at least 15 pairs of doves scratching for food in the bird feeding station. Their gray feathers were all sleeked back, and they all moved with a little hop and skip. Whenever one of the birds “spooks” at a noise, they all lift off in a sea of blue feathers; that sleek gray color turns into a sea of blue when the birds are in flight. Later the same day I checked the bird feeding station again, and all those doves were still there—roosting on the ground!
During the summer and fall, the doves patrol the garden edges, as well as flower bed borders. They prefer foraging the perimeter of a feeding area instead of plowing right to the middle. It is also during the summer that doves like to roost on the overhead power lines. It is not uncommon to come home from work late and find 40 to 50 birds quietly lining the power lines. Listening to the soft “coo” of the doves is a wonderful way to lower your blood pressure after a hard day’s work.
If mourning doves are my favorite musical bird, then the Cardinal is the most beautiful. Male or female, there is something about those red feathers that just makes you want to smile, especially during the winter, when the trees are bare. Cardinals are the first birds out in the morning and among the last ones seen at night. The male Cardinal always watches out for the female—who said chivalry is dead? Cardinals mate for life and you can always tell which two belong together. The female is able to forage for seeds while her mate is standing guard. This year I have been able to count eight pair of Cardinals in my backyard at one time.
Chick-a-dees, finches and wrens love thistles seeds and you can usually find them waving above the garden as they cling to a thistle flower or seed head. I purposely don’t clean up my gardens in fall and winter because they are so beneficial for the wildlife. I keep a special thistle feeder in the bird feeding station just for these birds. It is really fun to watch a finch hang upside down from a feeder to eat thistle seeds.
Of course, I have to mention my resident Blue Jay—he is so loud, he is hard to forget. Late afternoons are when Mr. Blue Jay makes his appearance—he must not be a morning person. He is great at running all other birds away from the feeding station. He usually starts on the Redbud tree in the side yard. Chirp, chirp, chirp! His cry is loud enough to wake the cats inside my house. After he has scared the other birds off, he heads to the feast. I have learned over the years that the Blue Jays prefer cracked corn and sunflower seeds, but he has to test every feeder, just in case someone changed the menu. The Blue Jay really is a beautiful bird, but I just can’t get past his rude behavior.
There is a red-tailed hawk that patrols the farm next to our home. He is a beautiful thing when he is soaring through the air! He makes his home in the fencerow bordering the property line; daily I see him sweep down through the bare tree branches. With the farmland next door to us and the brush piles I’ve created in the backyard, he has his choice of all types of food. I try not to think about the fact he may be eating the rabbits that burrow in our yard. Mice—he can eat all the mice and rats he can find. Talk about a natural exterminator.
About three weeks ago, I came home from work and as I pulled into the driveway, there was a young red-tailed hawk sitting on the ivy-covered utility pole anchor cable in my front flowerbed. I go so excited I stopped the car half in the road and half in our driveway. The care must have startled him, because he took flight and I watched until he was just a little speck on the horizon. Baby hawks—I love it! More hawks means less mice and voles.
This winter I have been reading up on birds in our area, trying to identify some of the other feather friends who fly in to visit, and I’ve been recording observations of the bird antics in my backyard. Birds are sometimes hard to photograph, but I have managed to get many shots from the windows. A zoom lens helps, but I usually end up with pictures of blurred birds or bare tree branches. I will sometimes only get three or four good pictures out of an entire roll of film. Keith is much better than me at photography; his photos are accompanying this article.
So, grab the kids, head outside and enjoy the last fleeting days of winter. Spring will be here soon enough, with Summer not far behind. Take these last few days to enjoy the cold crispness of the winter air. And while you’re bundled up, go watch the birds, take a few pictures, and thank God for the beautiful day.
© Bobbi Rightmyer, March 2004
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
