A Second Look--March 1, 2017

No doubt about it. I miss my old yard. While it was turning into more work than we wanted, I loved the natural aspects of it. I loved seeing all of the furry creatures as well as the feathered and scaled ones. I loved seeing the ever-changing trees as well as exploring the hidden plants that surprised me here and there. I also loved following the blooms of the various plants throughout the seasons as well as the insects that visited them. It was my own little nature park.

Now I find myself comparing my old yard to my new one and the new one doesn't seem to measure up. There aren't as many trees. I see power lines behind me instead of a farm, etc. These comparisons need to go away, so it's time for me to begin a real exploration of my new space. I think once I know my yard, it will be easier to appreciate all that it has to offer. And so it's time to do Second Looks again.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

There are several fruit trees around. I think this is a crabapple in the foreground and a pear in the background. It should make for a pretty spring with a lot of blooms. That is unless this unusually warm winter has confused them too much

Day Lilies are coming up in a couple of places. It will be interesting to see what colors they are.

Daffodils are coming up in a couple other places.

There are a lot of forsythia bushes around the yard that are budding.

Sometimes they look like they've been planted and sometimes they look like volunteers among other brush.

There is one large nandina bush on the side of the house. Interestingly enough these bright, red berries are poisonous to birds. However, birds are smart enough to know to not eat them.

Mint roots. I've always heard that mint plants can take over, so I've never planted mint except in a pot. However, I got to see first hand how happy a mint plant is to spread in one of my small beds around the house. I've been trying to clean it out, but I know that I will miss some.  When that comes up, I plan to transplant it into pots. (BTW, It's good to get back in the dirt again.) 

Mocking bird. Our bird feeders are now hanging above the deck where we get backlighting from the sky. Consequently, the birds often appear in silhouette. I'm gonna have to learn bird shapes and not depend on their colorings for identification.

We watched this bird for a couple of days convinced that it only had one leg. (Look at the picture above and you'll only see one leg.) However, we finally saw it on a railing and saw two legs. When it eats, it pulls one leg up so it is difficult to see.