Earth Day 2023 - Arbor Update!

Last evening I made a discovery while back under the arbor.

A tiny pale broken egg was on the ground under the arch. As I was

 looking at it, a noisy squawking House finch flew out above my head!

Within a few minutes I was balancing on a step stool trying to get a

 clear photo of the contents of a rather lovely nest of woven twigs

and grasses. How amazing little birds are when it comes to home

building with just a beak.

Inside there were three eggs, two pale blue-green finch eggs

 and what I'm certain is a Brown-headed cowbird's spotted egg!

Arrow marks the finch nest location

Female Brown-headed cowbird . . . . . . .

. . . . the only parasitic bird found in the Carolinas, she lays all eggs

in host birds' nests, leaving others to raise her young. Some birds 

reject cowbird eggs, but most raise them, even to the exclusion

of their own young at times!

This is a Female House finch, one of many, including males,

I've chased off of my hanging ferns on the porch. As mentioned in

the previous post we do not put out the FOR RENT sign as they

are messy and we like to sit on the porch. The arbor location is

fine, the birds picked a good place, and hopefully I can get more

 photos later - I really would like to see if the egg count increases.

Enjoy the lovely moments of this special day when we are

surrounded by our planet Earth's beauty and Nature's bounty.

Green, green grass of home . . . .

You just can't have it all!

You want green grass, you have to embrace rain.

I understand because I grew up in mostly soft falling English rain and

 our grass was always green!

A costly built-in sprinkler system helps, standing for hours with a 

hand held version helps somewhat.

But the real thing is always the best for the garden.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. . . . . . . . falling from ominous grey clouds and dark skies, 

and how we are getting it here in the southeast US this unusual spring. 

We are already 3 inches above normal rainfall this month and today, starting

 mid-afternoon and continuing through the evening/night hours, we could be

 caught yet again in a severe weather pattern of thunderstorms and more heavy rain.

The fig tree leaves are really opening now - I swear I can see them unfurling

if I stare hard enough!

A handsome male House finch sheltering from the rain on the front porch -

look at those long claws!

The rain is helping wash away a lot of the pollen which is good.

The Japanese maple,  Acer palmatum var.dissectum'Viridis'

is looking fabulous.  My efforts of a light pruning on some branches

in late winter, seem to have helped. 

This was another tree from an 18 inch pot planted some years ago

which has done really well. Of course I am a 'tree whisperer' of sorts, always

talking to them each season and feeding them well!

However, they are still hell bent in draping their loveliness over the grass - making

 the 'mower man' quite upset. He reseeded last fall and new grass has come

in where it was rather bare under the tree. Perhaps with warmer days and

 sunshine those lower branches will lift a bit and the new grass will be safe!

Sorry, I sound like a broken record going on about so much rain.

 We are now promised bright sunshine for Monday and Tuesday,

  Perhaps we can enjoy Easter without rain boots. 

My sandals are at the ready!

Front Porch Café. . . . . . . . . . .

Over the weekend we put out some extra birdseed on the railing of the front porch.

 Our garden birds had returned in small flocks and attacked the feeders - voracious

 appetites meant fighting for perches. The now bare fig tree was often full of birds

awaiting their turn at the feeders - some have good manners apparently, others

push and shove!

And then there are these guys!  Definitely happy when they discover in no time

 another café to have breakfast, and gobble they did. . . . . . along with a few birds,

such as this House finch pair who managed to grab a few seeds too.

We watched a marvelous NOVA 'Nature' TV program at the weekend titled

 "A Squirrel's Guide to Success."  It was awesome and I learned a lot more about

 these creatures who are SO smart!  If you have a chance to view that program on

 your PBS station, go for it, it's great!

I swear squirrels smile when happy. They can be very naughty digging out bulbs

and eating blooms, but you have to admit they can be cute when not misbehaving!

We have squirrel-proof bird feeders they cannot eat from - expensive

but seem to work well. 

Do you have these little guys in your garden?

We're off to spend Thanksgiving in Arizona so, just in case I don't

get back online for a while, we send our best wishes to each of you

for a wonderful holiday celebration.  

Fare thee well babes. . . . . . . . . . . .

Oh my, how quickly the lovely season of Spring disappears here in the southeast.

The sweet pansies and violas who brought color to the freezing days

 of Winter, then stood tall through springtime in both pots and flower beds,

 (mine actually self-seeded into the beds like magic this year), are just about over

now the days are hot and often very humid.

Carolina chickadee with spider.

Bird life in the garden has been extremely busy this Spring.

Amazing goings on in this hanging Boston fern where the pair of House finches

raised their offspring with the help of a Carolina chickadee, had us glued to the 

dining room window, and me on a step stool every day with a camera!

The three together - can't believe I actually caught a photo of this visit - parent

 finches and the chickadee.

Only two of the four eggs hatched - this was the last baby to leave the nest,

several hours after the first one fledged. The chickadee persuaded it to go,

enticing it out with juicy snacks while the parents were apparently minding the

 other one. The chickadee actually returned for several days afterward as if 

checking on the remaining unhatched eggs, very unusual. 

Finch nest in the hanging Boston fern on front porch.

Brown thrasher watching its nest.

The baby cardinals left their nest in the back garden last week, and I did see one

fly off with its mother but didn't have a camera handy.

We still have another nest with hatchlings in the garden - a Brown thrasher pair built

 a twiggy home in the large privet for their family. They are both busy now bringing

 tasty morsels but because it's just too high - and I don't want to disturb them by putting

 up a ladder - I can't see into the nest so don't know how many babes there are. 

Summer will be here all too soon for me. 

Hot now, much hotter then.

Baby birds will hopefully be sturdy and healthy to deal with the blazing sun.

We'll be traveling north soon where hopefully it will still be much cooler.

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!