April 28, 2024
Thunderstorms last night, warm southerly breezes today, and with them, the migrants from the south are wafting in. A Brown Thrasher entertained us early this morning with his amazing repertoire. I heard a nattering Bluebird before Merlin confirmed it. Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets are here, as well as Winter Wrens. Our little patch of green in the bush seems to attract birds because we have good "edge habitat". Yesterday, a small flock of White-throated Sparrows arrived and have been fossicking around in and under the tray feeder. They have such precise colouring, and some say the song they are singing is "Dear old Canada, Canada, Canada". Their song holds many memories for me, being one of the first bird songs I learned long ago.
Perhaps this Red-breasted Nuthatch also took a tuft or two.
I have moved the ball a bit, and hope to get some different pictures, and perhaps see who is pulling out the roving.
We ambled around the trails this morning to pick up the SD cards from the trail cameras. Still lots of deer showing up, some does with quite visible pregnant bellies. On our trek around, the Merlin app identified Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Blue-headed Vireo. The bush is still relatively quiet, but expect that to change soon.
The new herb bed frame is in, levelled and back filled. I sprinkled white clover seeds around the edges. Speaking of edges, the first dandelion blooms are popping out in sheltered, south-facing places.
A sure sign that temperatures are warming.
I have broccoli and cabbage plants sprouting in cell packs which are sunk into the soil in the old cold frame in front of my garden shed. They are growing with the lid up, but there is no sign of pea shoots in the barrels yet. This spring it is time to get serious about the new cold frame which was completed late last summer. It needs to be filled with soil, and I am trying to figure out ways to make it easier to access. I have a solution in mind. It involves more digging and placing something that will insulate, but be easily moved, at the front. Meanwhile, I wandered down to have a look.....Perhaps you can just see that something is pushing up against the glass....
Same stuff...outside the frame... I think it is Poor Man's Pepperweed.
So...guess it will work!
Wow, you sure get a great selection of birds! I saw a flicker a couple of times. Of course the usual: robins, red-winged black birds, blue jays, chickadees… We have plenty of dandelions, too. - Jenn
ReplyDeleteLots of birds, and more on the way! Expecting Chestnut sided warblers, oven birds...etc. etc..... next....The Hummers are just south of the lakes now. Getting some nectar ready!
DeleteOh my, the roving bag is brilliant! I could do that! In my ever progressing efforts to tidy up my crafting spaces, I've got several large boxes of spinning fleeces that are calling me to get back to spinning one of these days.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. I'm guessing you will really appreciate that cold frame!
I know some birds will take tufts out of sheep, if sheep are around, and I had a Chickadee try to take hair off my head once, so thought natural fleece would be safe. Anything man-made can be harmful to nestlings.
DeleteI wanted the cold frame totally enclosed by soil, but that has made it hard to access. Re-jigs are in the planning stage.
We have a Brown Thrasher. I only ever see the back end view of him taking off. It was three years before I got a glimpse out a window of it foraging in the oak leaves and was able to identify it. And although I have seen a Flicker for many years, I just heard it a few days ago. I was wondering what the heck sounded like a mini-donkey and Merlin said it was the Flicker. And I FINALLY identified my mystery song. Merlin came up with a Great Crested Flycatcher during one of his intros. It seems that this particular song must be special to my bird because I still can't find an exact match online. Sounds to me like "preacherpreacherpreacher... preacher preach".
ReplyDeleteBrown Thrashers have quite the repertoire. Flicker-dickers are all around, probing the 'lawn', and can be so LOUD! Watched three up in the top of the old apple tree, posturing, flaring their tails and pointing their beaks. That last you describe...sounds Oven bird-ish? I heard one Great Crested last summer. We have lots of Least Flycatchers, which I call the 'Quebec bird', as that is how their calls sound to me. They aren't here yet. This is the first spring for me with Merlin. Having a ball!
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