sunny days

Every day brings new wonders of spring. These crocuses were really soaking up the sun today. I could get used to these mid-50 degree sunny days! I managed to get a few outdoor-related chores completed. I'd rather be playing, though!

close up of tall Oregon grape flowers

Okay, I just spent way too much time trying to figure out how to arrange these two photos. I figure just enjoy the newly opened bright-as-the-sun tall Oregon grape flowers. The bees usually do but I only saw 1 bumblebee and 1 honeybee today. Maybe they'll discover these incredible flowers later. They better hurry, I was tempted to taste one or two. I wonder if they are tart like the Oregon grape berries. I had some kids try the berries once and their faces puckered right up! The scent of the flowers is a strange sweet odor. Hard to describe.

Heard the first rufous hummingbird yesterday. He was really gorging on the red flowering curranr flowers. They may have been here for awhile. Some of us just aren't inspired to be outside in the cold and the rain. Not much fun setting my seed starts in that kind of weather.That's why this weekend was such a treasure. And I treasured every minute of it. The rains are returning albeit with warmer weather (not like other parts of the country, though!). Enjoy your spring days wherever you are and don't miss out on the inspiration in each new day.                      



The entire tall Oregon grape starting to flower

"All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them."

Arapaho porverb

Birding Around Stanwood

My irises 2 days after the last blog entry!

But I digress. Spring is moving in around here. Lots of happenings. Yesterday a friend and I went birdwatching for a few hours around Stanwood. The best sighting? The violet green and tree swallows have returned! As the snow geese and swan numbers dwindle the swallows and hummingbirds return as our early spring arrivals. There's nothing quite like watching the swallows dive around while hearing a common snipe winnowing in the background and a couple of western meadowlarks attempting to sing. Yes, meadowlarks winter in small flocks on the westside of the Cascades.  They disappear in the tall grass of the fallow pastures so they can be hard to spot. We also found 2 of the black-crowned night-herons in their roosting tree. Not an easy task. They are well hidden amongst the evergreen branches. Easy to know where to look since it is the only evergreen tree around.

The genral list of birds seen in about 4 hours were:

several golden-crowned sparrows                      

killdeer; also probable flocks of dunlin with a black-bellied plover hanging out

northern shovelers

mallards and lots of northern pintails and American wigeon

numerous red-tail hawks and some excellent looks at a few rough-legged hawks

Robins and spotted towhees

a decent view of a merlin (although my passenger couldn't see it)

lots of northern harriers hunting and an American kestrel at its designated post

ring-necked ducks and a lone male common goldeneye in a stormwater pond

the ever present bald eagles

lots 0f great blue herons

5 yellowlegs

and a half-dozen Eurasian collared doves (the latest non-native species to arrive)

All in all a good bird day. Heck, we didn't get of the truck for more than a few minutes at a time. That was one brisk wind yesterday!

Osoberry (aka Indian plum) with red osier dogwood behind

As for plants- oh my gosh! The osoberry are really lighting up the forest. If you have allergies you may be feeling the effects of the red alder pollinating. The red catkins also add color to the gray and browns of the winter forest.

red alder catkins

I also saw flowering skunk cabbage and snowberry, ocean spray and red elderberry leaves emerging. The red elderberry will be the next to fully leaf out. Unlike red flowering currant which flowers before its leaves show up.

The end of the day, on the way home topped it all off. As I was driving on the island along the road I saw two huge bald eagles chasing each other back and forth over the road extremely low. As I got closer they swooped in and one was so close I could have seen the whites of its eyes if it had hem. That was a spectacular end to a wonderful spring day. (yes i know spring doesn't officially start until tomorrow at 10pmish). Happy spring!

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel

irises and salmonberry

Those little irises that speak of spring in my oak barrel.

What a lovely day today was. The promised sun never showed yet, even with a strong breeze the air was warm. I spent a few hours cleaning up, potting up, and pulling up! The birds are definitely agitated. Black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees, spotted towhees, red-breasted nuthatches, song sparrows, and a distant pacific wren were all calling or singing. I put some suet out and everybody comes in quickly for a free and easy meal. Little did I know the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow is snow and then the lows may dip into the 20s. The birds will appreciate the extra energy. I know they can survive without my extra help, though. I enjoy watching their antics on the suet feeders.

I can only cross my fingers that the motherwort and chickweed (yes chickweed) seeds I planted make it through the cold. Good medicinal herbs to have around the yard. Not to mention the native shrubs I potted up from the Soil Conservation Services's annual plant sale. It has become so popular that by the time I got there Friday the flowers and some shrubs were gone! I was able to find some nice native groundcovers that birds and bugs love- sword fern, deer fern, kinnickkinnick, oregon boxwood, and salal plus a shrub-pacific rhododendron, and a tree- Pacific madrone. I like to pot them up in 1-gallon containers and either plant them in the fall or winter them over until they're bigger and hardier.

I expect to hear the buzzing of the rufous hummingbird soon, now that the salmonberry flowers are blooming (see above). The Indian plum (aka osoberry) is also blooming and its leaves are out. The understory of the forests I drive past every morning and night now have the lightest of greens mixing it up with the browns and grays. The hummers will soon have plenty of nectar. I can't believe how fat the red-flowering currant buds are! You'd swear they were going to pop instead of just create one of the loveliest flowers of spring. Both the salmonberry and currant are great for birds both flowering and once their seeds ripen. I highly recommend planting them in your yard although salmonberry is notorious for spreading and the currant can get big. I just can't pass up those vibrant pink flowers, though!

"The birds I heard today, which, fortunately, did not come within the scope of my science, sang as freshly as if it had been the first morning of creation."
Henry David throeau