The weather recently has been fluctuating from pleasant to sweltering with a little rain thrown in here and there. Most of the plants have been thriving, except the two apple trees whose leaves are curling. The unofficial opinion from Uncle Billy is that all of the new growth, which was a result of the spring pruning, is stressed from the extreme heat days we've been having. Sort of like frost burn in reverse. The trees are big enough that it would be hard to implement a treatment so I'm just hoping that whatever is going on is not fatal
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The front porch rockers are Ward's favorite
place to watch the birds. I'm still deciding on mine. |
On other fronts, the birds are giving quite a show as they seem to be very abundant. We are enjoying them from our windows, porch, deck, and yard--meaning we are trying out different lounging places at our new house to see what we like best at different times of the day. So far, each spot has something to offer and it's been fun conducting our tests.
When we are birdwatching, Ward swears that there are more birds here than at our old house. I think that there's just not as many trees for them to hide in, so we see them more. Maybe we're both right because my neighbor told me that there were more birds than usual this year--lightning bugs, too. Whatever the case, I'm happy.
Here are few things I saw recently
during a Second Look.
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| The nadina buds are opening. |
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| On the nadina next to the one above, I saw a bumblebee with these large yellow bumps on its sides. I didn't remember seeing anything like them before and learned that they are called pollen baskets. The baskets are indentations with special hairs on the sides of the bee's back legs and they use them to store pollen until the bee takes it back to the hive. |
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| A couple of yellow day lilies have bloomed. I think there are some orange ones (according to the neighbors) around the corner from this, but they look very stressed from the recent heat. We'll see if they bloom, but I'm guessing they will. |
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| A catbird stops by the deck most days for a bath. He almost empties the bath each time with his splashing. |
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| The wren's nest finally has eggs in it. |
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| We found a robin's nest with intact eggs after previously finding three different ones on the ground. One of those had egg shells in it from recently eaten eggs. This nest is under our deck and hopefully is protected from predators. |
Nests, eggs and a regular bird bath visitor?! You are so lucky! Our birds are staying hidden, it must be too hot for them. Today I saw 2 crows in my front yard and I was actually excited, hahaha.
ReplyDeleteCrows are fun to watch, too, although they can be noisy. Have you read about some of the things they can do? They are very smart birds. One time I saw them opening a bag on the back of the motorcycle to get snacks out. There was not trial and error. Then knew exactly what they were doing.
DeleteAnd I am pleasantly surprised about the birds here. Since it is a less rural area, I thought I might not see as many as before. But so far, I've been wrong.
What is a catbird? Aren't the robin's eggs beautiful?! Such a lovely color to come out of the robin. I put some birdseed out on the deck railing, just outside of my room. I've had other visitors to the birdseed, too (including a rat! yikes). It's nice to just sit and watch them all.
ReplyDeleteA catbird is a relative of the mocking bird and can also imitate other things. Its song is often made up of a string of songs of other birds. It's gray with a black cap.
DeleteWhile I occasionally noticed birds, it wasn't until we put up a feeder that I really started to learned how interesting they were. I am so glad that my husband asked for a bird feeder for his birthday several years ago. It has given me much pleasure. And while, I've never seen a rat at our feeder, I have seen the bushy tailed rats called squirrels. I hope you continue to watch the birds outside your room and like it as much as I do.
I love watching birds and used to have a feeder but I had to quit feeding the birds because the cats next door thought I had put up their personal bait station.They were excellent predators but I got tired of cleaning up the victims. Now I just enjoy them as the flit around the yard. Removing the feeder leveled the playing field.
ReplyDeleteI would have removed my feeder, also. They say that feeders can be an easy place for hawks to get lunch, too. Even though we've seen hawks around, we have seen them spending any time around our feeder. I'd hate for that to start because we'd have to take down the feeders to level the playing field, also.
DeleteGreat photos! I've never seen pollen baskets on bees before - so cool!
ReplyDeleteThe pollen baskets were the coolest thing I'd seen a while. Apparently, they're not unusual, so I don't know why I haven't seen them before. But they make perfect sense. The bumble bee has to store the pollen somewhere.
DeleteLove the rockers and the photos. My cat stays happily indoors, so we can both enjoy the birds.
ReplyDeleteMy cats stay indoors and enjoy the show at the feeders, also. If possible, I think more than we do.
DeleteThe rockers are quite comfortable and we are enjoying them. My husband loves them and has been known to take a nap in one.
Your porch looks very inviting, of course blue is my favorite color. I've never seen pollen baskets before but now I'm going to be looking for them every time I see a bee. I do hope your apple tree survives, I know how sad it is to lose a good fruit tree.
ReplyDeleteYour weather seems to be the exact opposite of ours. It's pleasant then frigidly cold. Last night it dipped into the 40s!!!
The porch is pretty simple. I haven't had one since I was a kid and I really like it. We are bucking the suburban trend and sitting out front and waving and talking to our neighbors as they go by. They either think we're really friendly or strange.
DeleteYour temperatures sound about 20 degrees below ours which is not normal. You are usually a little colder but by only a few degrees. Weather trends are interesting things.
So nice to see a "classic" Live and Learn post. :) You must be settling in. Like everyone else, I love the front rockers. Good for you for bucking the suburban trend and sitting out and enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've heard of nadina before. Pretty!
After a really big push for several months, we are settled in enough that we are slowing down and starting to do other things besides working on the house. I actually did a small craft project the other day!
DeleteNandina is also called heavenly bamboo. It is a common landscaping shrub around here. New leaf growth is red as well as red fall leaf color. It also has red berries after it's summer flowering. So, it provides interest most of the year. Some varieties can also spread easily--a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.
Love the porch picture with the rocking chairs. Your garden is a lovely place with lots to see and discover! Definitely worth a second look! Thank you for sharing the pictures with us. :)
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was disappointed because my new yard was smaller and more manicured compared to my old yard. I didn't think there was much opportunity to find interesting things. However, there are interesting things everywhere if we just take the time to look, especially in nature.
DeleteUck on the sweltering temps but ooh la la on the pics! What glorious finds!
ReplyDeleteBesides seeing what is coming up in the yard, it really fun to find eggs in a nest. And those pollen baskets, what a thing to see!! Yes, some glorious finds this week.
DeleteMaybe some of the birds followed you there, from the old place, packed and moved along with you, quietly, knowing the vittles would be good if they did! My cherry tree leaves are curled too. I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteMy cherry leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. The neighbor says it does that from stress when we have a hot spell. I hope he's right because I really liked the cherries this year. Hope your tree is okay.
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