Bird Love

Man, I love birding. Nothing is as absorbing and rewarding as being out there, catching glimpses of birds in the air, in the trees or on the ground. The rewards are ephemeral...nothing you can keep (unless you have made the effort to photograph )
and what sightings you get can often be hard-won.
I spent most of yesterday counting birds with Bruce and Helen, and Helen's daughter, Holly. We were covering a small sector of Loudoun County, Va. for the 111th Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It was a little cold, but not too bad...it started out around 25, but shot up to 50 by 2:00. Patchy snow here and there. No wind to speak of. And lots of bright sunshine. Considering that most of the east coast had just endured a massive snowstorm, that left up to 30" in some areas of New Jersey, and 18" in Boston...we were actually very lucky! Our highlights included getting a good long look at a hovering Sharpie and seeing a flock of 15+ Northern Flickers going over an Osage Orange tree for what we werent sure, but something in or on the tree was very attractive to the Flickers and a small troop of Titmice. We stopped about 10 feet away and watched for a good five minutes.
Collecting information for scientists to use for projects like this Occurrence Map put together by eBird is such a privilege :)
The Christmas Bird Counts in our area are organized by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, which itself is a crucial organization striving to, among many issues, educate the public about the importance of wild places for wildlife and people.

Hmmmm.... in last post I was gushing about the raised beds we had set up ( did I thank my sister-in-law for helping me clear out the Fenced Garden?....I don't think I did ! ), and here I am having a Chickpea-of-the-Sea sandwich on rye with a small salad's worth of the last of the lettuce on it ! I picked it all this morning. We are expecting high temperatures, and it was wanting to bolt. I gave some to a neighbor, will give some to Dad, and will still have a lot. Jamie is in Brussels at the moment ( just called to say he's still alive after the Brussels 20k race ! ) , but when he gets home, he'll love the big salads we'll have for a week or so, till the lettuce ' turns' in the fridge. the picture here is of a sandwich I made a few weeks back with more CoftheP, sprouted lentils and tiny thinnings from the beets. Even that small, you can taste their sweetness.
I planted out around 65 milkweed seedlings...some as thin as threads. Some milkweed is coming up from last year...from wintered-over tubers ( rhizomes ? ). I think that is Swamp Milkweed. I've bee pulling up the Balloon Milkweed seedligns that are everywhere....I grew those last year. The Monarchs loved them, plants and blooms. They bloomed all the way up till a hard frost. But they are not native to our area, and I'm trying to plant only natives now, to help local species. I wish that I had been cued into this years ago...! The second anniversary of my brother Bill's passing is coming up June 2nd. All the Milkweeds got planted in his garden. AND, I think I may have seen a Monarch this morning !!!!

New Year and Raised Beds

Yikes ! Almost a year since the last post !!! I don't know how that is possible...I think of this blog often. The plants, bugs and animals that enter my life... I make mental blog entries , but then apparently never actually type the words.
Time to reconnect !
And we are starting this new year out with a re-invigorated veggie garden, including two new 4x8 foot raised beds, 12" deep. Jamie built the beds from old 2x6's and some plastic raised-bed corner thingys we've had for years ( I think I got them at a yard sale )but had never really used )that hold the boards in place. These beds will be for all the greens, lettuces, beets, carrots and a few herbs. I'm just finishing up some arugula, collards, chard and kale a very generous neighbor gave me at the end of last year's growing season. I blanched and froze the greens in batches so that I could easily add a servings worth of the super nutritious leaves to what ever I wanted. They've been used all Winter in soups, stews, over rice, quinoa and even rolled into burritos. The tomatoes and peppers will go in the ground , in the old hen yard, behind the hen house, after we till in some extra leaf mold and kelp meal.
Stink bugs kept us company all Winter, only occasionally going off and confirming that yes, they can stink...quite a bit! But for the most part, they tried to stay out of the way and were gentle reminders of the abundance of insect life.

Wild Peaches

Our compost pile has had a small fruit tree growing out the back of it for several years now. Jamie has insisted that it not be cut down. I reluctantly agreed...we keep a pretty casual yard and compost heap, and random trees sprouting here and there are a constant challenge. But this year the tree bloomed...nice big pink blossoms, right about the time the domestic cherry trees were blooming. But something about the leaves, that eventually developed the long, curved, slightly V -shaped look that I associate with peach leaves...and sure enough...tiny fuzz-covered fruit started to develop. I'm not sure if we must thin them out, or let it happen naturally, or hope that some peach disease doesnt take them all off ! this picture was taken yesterday, the 15th of May.

Lettuce Still Confined to Tofu Tubs !

These guys are so ready to go in the ground, but I've been busy (and neglectful)and they are quietly ( how else ?? ) waiting to be planted in the earth and spread their roots. Meanwhile, the slugs have discovered their confinement and sent word out to all of slugdom that there are sweet tender leaves, neatly contained...just waiting to be mowed down. Please hang in there guys...just a few more days, I promise !

Return of the Swallows

Last year we put up a bluebird box, hoping to attract some Bluebirds to our yard. We were quite surprised to see Tree Swallows show up, seemingly out of nowhere, set up house keeping, raise a twittering brood of six, gather with other Tree Swallows in the area and then disappear...all in a matter of just a few weeks. It was this date, April 30th, that they arrived last year. This year, they arrived on April 12th, (my birthday ! )and immediately started arguing with the House Sparrows as to who was going to use the box. We set up another box, about 100 feet away from the first, and watched the Swallows and Sparrows duke it out, while a pair of Chickadees decided that Box#2 was perfect for them and worked for several days building a nest. Then the Tree Swallows gave up on Box # 1, evicted the Chickadees and moved in. I'm clearing out House Sparrow nests from Box # 1 every few days now. The Chickadees moved on to less contentious grounds. Welcome back Swallows ! This picture was taken yesterday, through the misty rain.

Slow-Cooked Kitten Goodness

OK, not very sanitary, but I couldnt help it ! Tomsky is not supposed to be on the counter at all, let alone in a pot, but my back was to the counter and he jumped up and into the pot, and hunkered down so as to hide....such a cat-like thing to do :>...I just had to laugh !
Most of the seed catalogs are in and I've made many lists of what I'd like to grow, but the reality of the cold, hard January ground right outside the window and the awful state I left all the garden spots in the Fall, gives me pause as to just what I can realistically expect out of myself. Lettuce, peppers, beets and tomatoes are definites...potatoes, chard and zukes I want to grow, but the bugs so love the potatoes and squash leaves that it's hard to keep ahead of them.
I've followed Eat The View's efforts to replace at lest some of the White House's lawn with an organic garden ...what a great idea ! In fact, we are going to grow some food in our front yard this year, too...peppers and tomatoes would do well out there. All this lawn drives me crazy...grow it just to mow it...how dumb is that ?