Small mercies -

The kindness of the garden is still sharing spring flowers - thank you garden and 

Mother Nature.

This evening, when the season of spring officially starts, we will all have much on

 our minds which is worrisome, negative, and downright frightening. 

Everyone is offering thoughts on ways to get through this terrible time so I 

will not say anymore on this point. We all know what we need to be doing!

Instead, here are some things which have kept me busy this week.

I did some pruning, clipping the pulling in the back garden.

I took stock of the now messy potting shed - made myself a note to clean it 

out this coming week when the temperatures will be exceptionally warm.

I'm hoping to find a way to buy some plants to pot soon - one nearby 

garden center will be taking orders online and you can drive up and have 

your plants put in your car - something to consider.

Our food supply is running low on things like fresh produce - not sure

how to handle that right now other than get to a shop first thing in the morning 

before too many people are about.

I baked a lot of muffins this week (also two loaves of bread) to share with 

my neighbors - put them on their front steps, rang the bell with my elbow,

and stood in their yards within a good distance for a quick chat.

We had a raccoon visit the garden a few days ago - actually not this one
 whom I photographed a couple of years ago in the back garden - a smaller one, 
probably a female, who was under my azalea bushes.  
Bob had spent a good couple of hours out there mowing, trimming and blowing, 
but she didn't come out until I walked out there, sans camera or phone.
She looked healthy but perhaps tired from having her daytime sleep disturbed 
so just bypassed us silently and crossed the road into the wooded area. 
Don't see any babies here so maybe they are in the woods. There is a large owl 
in our trees this week - and they are predators of baby raccoons, so fingers
 are crossed!

Life definitely goes on - proven by a lot of bird activity in the garden. 

Before I could even take the now shriveled Boston ferns down from the porch
 (left up over winter for the Carolina wrens to sleep in nightly), a pair of 
House finches started building a nest!  I haven't the heart to stop them, 
especially as we need all the entertainment we can get now we're isolated
 at home, and watching their diligence creating that cozy spot for their 
coming family is amazing.

The somewhat dowdy little female does most of the nest building, but the more

colorful male always comes along and keeps watch whilst she's in the fern weaving

 the bits and pieces she carries back time and time again. It's day four of construction

 and now they get very upset if I try to look in the nest. They are messy birds so there

 will be plenty of cleaning of the porch - but what the heck we all need chores to keep 

us busy!

I'm still kitty sitting and plan to be until Nala's 'dad', my next door neighbor, gets home. 

He's due back tomorrow night IF his flight makes it. This morning I think she was 

missing him as she was snuggling up with his gardening shoes on the enclosed porch. 

I'm enjoying it because it gets me out of the house. . . . . . . I find myself going 

back and forth to see her even more times than really necessary!

Sending you best wishes - may you and your families, friends and neighbors stay well.

Chickadees - they're back!

Recently, I mentioned it appeared the Carolina chickadee pair had decided

 not to nest in the little 'Home Sweet Home' box on the porch this spring. 

Wow, how wrong I was, and how these tiny creatures never cease to amaze me.

There is now daily activity.

Quietly, the pair of tiny birds have built a nest!  

After cleaning the front porch, the pollen season just about over,

 we've been sitting outside on the last couple of beautiful calm, warm

evenings - sipping an aperitif after several hours working in the garden -

and watching this little guy bringing green grubs to the nesting box, 

obviously feeding the female who must be sitting on eggs.

Before popping into the box he sits here, makes a tiny chirp to advise her 

of his arrival, flies in and then back out in about 30 seconds and takes

off to resume his search for supper.

Note, no Boston ferns in my hanging baskets yet!

This is probably the fifth year the chickadees have nested in this now

somewhat weathered little house!

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence."

. . . . . . Robert Wilson Lynd ~ 1879-1949

Night Owl. . . . . . . . morning owl.

I've heard the Great Horned Owl calling from one of the tall

oak trees outside our windows.

Hardly a song, more a muffled low baritone HOO.

Owls usually vocalize at dusk and then again at dawn.

The low sounding hoot, mixed in with the chirpy cacophony of

 songbirds early in the morning, means being awakened from

 sleep, especially when the windows are open. . . . . . . but it's such a

 beautiful musical start to a spring day.

With the HVAC project completed, meaning early rising not as necessary,

just listening to the morning songs has been pleasant.

We feel we had the best workmen ever in our home for this huge job.

No complaints at all and we will recommend them highly to others.

This owl I photographed on a visit to a bird sanctuary in England a few years ago.

Magnificent to say the least!

Great Horned Owl : Bubo virginianus

Largest owl in the Carolinas
Carnivore : small mammals, birds, snakes, insects
Non-migrator

Average lifespan in the wild 5-15 years
Size: Body 18-25 inches : Wingspan 3.3 to 4.8 feet

Weight : 2.2 - 5 pounds
Does not build a nest, takes over nests of crows, Great Blue Heron,
 hawks, or uses a tree cavity
Winter nester, one brood per year : 2 white eggs, laid in December/January
Silent in flight due to ragged ends on wing feathers

Owls hooting in your neighborhood?
Only once have I actually seen one sitting in an oak outside my window
 It stayed there many hours - and perhaps helped rid our garden 
of annoying voles and moles gobbling the roots of many of the hostas etc.

Spring has sprung according to the birds------------------

Carolina wren on the front porch early today.

My favorite tiny bird who is waking me these mornings with raucous calls

 to its mate. I love how the wren goes to the feeder, digs out a favorite, always 

a peanut, brings it quietly to the bricks, tucks it into a groove to help hold it

 steady, then nibbling commences. Sunflower seeds are ignored. . . . .a lot

of work for one peanut meal.

The birds are very busy performing obvious mating rituals and starting nest

 building, with non-stop eating requiring the feeders to be stocked almost daily. 

They need to keep their strength up!

I'm sure I'll have the usual 'bird observations' in the coming weeks. . . . . all part

of springtime in my garden.

Enjoy a lovely Sunday - hopefully with pretty birds to watch.

. . . . . now there are three!

 This morning, such a chilly but bright and sunny one, I peeked in from my

 little step stool, camera at the ready, and found mama finch, despite the cold,

 has laid another egg. IF she decides to lay the maximum of 6 it's going to be 

very crowded in there and, because she is so tiny, I've no idea how she can

possibly sit on all those eggs for two weeks!

Will keep you updated.

Potting Shed and lovely George Taber azaleas.

Today's bright sunshine beckons us into the garden especially as next week

 will not be as pretty with clouds and rain expected.  Bob will be firing up the mower

 later as the grass is long, and we'll be digging holes to plant two new azaleas and

 a hosta purchased yesterday at a roadside stand - all plants grown here in

 North Carolina out in the country south of the city. I love buying local.

Nesting. . . . . .

One of our new hanging Boston ferns has already become a home.
I didn't even have time to put the FOR RENT sign up!

Sweet mama-to-be!

Don't even ask how long I had to sit without moving/breathing at the dining room

 window to get this shot. The slightest move near the window and she flies out 

of the fern and takes a while to come back.

This rather plain little bird has moved onto the front porch. . . . . . . . and is 

laying her eggs.

Tuesday - April 17, 2018

Wednesday - April 18, 2018

The guests - Mr. & Mrs. House Finch - on our front feeder.

Finches lay 2-6 eggs - I'll keep you updated if more appear!

Ruffled feathers. . . . . . . . . .

Spring brings the robins and from what I see in my garden, robins love water.

Bathing in it even more than drinking it perhaps.

The American robin is quite a large songbird of the thrush family, non-migratory 

here in North Carolina. It is usually the first bird to sing at dawn - I'm hearing it

 loud and clear these mornings. . . . . . . .and it often sings all night in spring!

Named after the European robin, that cute chubby little bird known as 'robin redbreast'

 in the British Isles because of its reddish-orange breast, the two species are not

 closely related. The European robin belongs to the flycatcher family and is much smaller.

Our larger - 9-11" - American robins love visiting the bird baths.

Usually easy to tell the difference, the male has an almost black head and brick-red

 chest, compared to the female's gray head and dull red chest. When wet like this

 visitor, it's harder to really tell!

Dipping a claw to test the temperature?

Not bad for a splash about in the Spring sunshine this week.

Drying off doesn't take long on a warm day.

Need to get to that itchy bit under the bill.

The American robin, a very territorial bird, is most active during the day and assembles
 in large flocks at night. It's one of the earliest birds to lay eggs, those pretty
'robin's egg blue' ones, in a nest of coarse grass, twigs, paper and feathers,
 smeared with mud, and often cushioned with soft materials. I haven't found a
 nest yet this season, but I have a feeling there's at least one in the back garden!

All photos taken on a hot April afternoon this week.

The wee interloper. . . . . . .

~ The House Wren ~

We rarely see this particular tiny bird in our garden even though it's a native

 of eastern North Carolina. It rarely comes to seed feeders preferring an insect diet.

 In winter months it sometimes migrates to other southern states and Mexico,

 but often just hangs out in North Carolina year round.

A very tiny bird, just a bit smaller than the more prolific Carolina wren - my favorite

 little bird ~ but the same size as the Carolina chickadee, this wren apparently has

 found its way to my front porch over the past few days, and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 . . . . . . . . . .guess who's having to fend him/her off from their nest site in the 

Home Sweet Home box, our pair of chickadees!

They have a plan though, when the wren shows up, one stays covering the entrance

 while the other one hangs on the Boston fern then chases the noisy wren away.

Here the House wren is sitting on the jasmine below the nest box, probably thinking

 the spider web is camouflaging it! This bird is very cute, barely 5" long and not

 as chubby as the Carolina wren.  Brown and tan, with a slightly curved bill, it also

 holds its tail erect. It lacks the white eyebrow of the Carolina wren but is also a

 prolific songster, singing loud, melodious songs from dawn to dusk during 

the mating season. I'll be keeping an eye on it as I don't want it to steal

 house and home from the chickadees - they have nested here for the past

 three years, and last year in April we were lucky enough to watch the

four babies fledge - an awesome sight.

From the wildlife habitat, my garden, yet another bird story. . . . . . . . 

 and there will be more of course!

We're back. . . . . . and we're busy!

It really doesn't take much to make me happy and excited these days.

While putting out my Springtime/Easter decor in the dining room this

 morning, I saw them flitting back and forth out of the corner of my eye.

Grabbed the camera and started shooting through the window.

Are they the very same pair of Carolina chickadees from last year, 

 maybe even the year before, building again in the tiny decorative

 HOME SWEET HOME box? Or perhaps it's an offspring

who has brought a mate back here to its birthplace to start a

new family. How will we ever know?

The mysteries of Nature are many and some we never get an answer to.

I do know these very tiny birds are awesome, and their amazing

housekeeping and nest building skills using just a tiny beak, and those

 two big feet, bring me joy just from watching them work so hard on the

 front porch now that Spring is almost here.

Last year I was privy to the fledging of four tiny babies from this same nest 

box HERE on April 27.  Not sure I'll be fortunate enough to see a repeat 

performance this year!

Good luck little Carolina chickadees. 

I hope all goes well and you raise a sweet family here.