Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows, two mourning doves, two starlings, a female downy woodpecker, and a fox squirrel.

In the rain garden, white crocus have flowers but aren't open, yellow ones have buds. In the goddess garden, winter aconite is blooming and orange crocus have buds. Under the maple tree, yellow crocus are blooming.

EDIT 2/28/23 -- I took a few pictures around the yard.

I started using the hand fork to remove more leaves from the tulip bed, and dumped a trolley of leaves over an oak seedling.

Purple miniature irises are blooming near the daffodil bed.

EDIT 2/28/23 -- I finished raking leaves off the tulip bed and dumped them over a dogwood seedling.

EDIT 2/28/23 -- I started clearing dead stems from the purple-and-white garden.

Magpies and mango:

[mistressofmuses]

I usually accompany my partner to his physical therapy appointments on my days off, and wait for a while in the car until he's done. The last several weeks I've gotten to see a pair of magpies in the parking lot, scavenging and sometimes taking sticks, presumably for nesting.

Today I had some dried mango, so I tossed them a tiny bit, which this one was perfectly happy to take, ha.

(We also saw a bald eagle the other day in flight. Always exciting to see them!)

And apparently the birdwatching excitement in Colorado has been that we have Bohemian Waxwings visiting - we have Cedar Waxwings fairly reliably, but the Bohemian ones come through in large numbers but infrequently. I've mostly heard every 10-15 years as an estimate. I haven't seen any of them, but a few acquaintances have. :)