Birds

[ribirdnerd]

Friday

A lot of melting going on the past few days. There was a big flock of mixed blackbirds this morning - Cowbirds, Grackles plus the usual Blue Jays, House Sparrows and the Downy Woodpecker returned.

Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is mostly sunny, unseasonably warm, and windy. It drizzled on and off yesterday and last night. Today the wind is drying things out some.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen any yet.

I put out water for the birds.

Lots of flowers are blooming -- the crocuses are open and I spotted a winter aconite.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

I saw a turkey vulture wheeling overhead. I've also seen a small flock of house finches and some sparrows at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted volunteer snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I tried using a pruning saw on one of the remaining saplings in the parking lot. I managed to make a small cut, but clearly this method is too inefficient to bring down a sapling. *sigh*

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I transplanted more snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.

The first Ginger Gold apple seedling has appeared in the milk jug, and indoors, one of the apple seeds has also sprouted. :D 3q3q3q!!! All my willow cuttings are leafed out. Last night the lower stems had tiny white dots; today they have distinct little root buds. Their speed is impressive.

The first peony shoots are appearing in the tulip bed and under the apricot tree.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 3/6/26 -- I started trimming brush along the north edge of the house.

I am done for the night.

robins

[low_delta]

We saw the first robins of Spring today, here in southeastern Wisconsin. Do you have them in the winter where you are?

I had never seen them in the winter here. For most of history, our land has been covered in deep snow for three months of the year, and frozen for longer than that. But a few years back I discovered robins in one place. There's a park on Lake Michigan where a stream has carved a deep gorge, and the birds gather there, where water seeps from the dirt walls. They'll stay around when there's water, and I presume they find bugs in the mud as well.

Here's a photo from there, in 2014:

click through for more details on the photo, and to maybe see the birds

Photos: House Yard

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today was unseasonably warm and sunny, so I took pictures around the yard. The first few are from indoors, then the rest are the house yard. (See the savanna.)

( Walk with me ... )

Photos: Savanna

[ysabetwordsmith]

I took some pictures around the yard today. These are from the savanna. (See the house yard.)

( Walk with me ... )