You Can Tell It Has Been A Bad Winter When...

Everyone has been writing about the cold and
snowy winter we have been having in so many of
the states and even across the pond.
The deers have been eating anything they can
munch on this winter that even looks a little green
or eatable .
Around here the birds have
been the ones to have something to eat on a regular
basis. The last three days even the squirrels have been
trying to get to the feeders and coming close to the
house in search of food.




Our country squirrels are not like their city slicker
cousins. Here they tend to shy away from getting near
the house or people. So when they tried for the first
time ever to get to the feeders I was cringing until I
saw they could not reach them yet. So they were left to
digging around beneath them to find some seeds the
birds had missed or scattered in the snow over the winter.




Here on the hill there is still plenty of snow cover
yet that has to melt so digging around for leftover
acorn's and hickory nuts is a little difficult.



I saw them grabbing up pieces of stale bread
that I had thrown out for the birds or stray cats.



But you have to know it has been a really bad
winter when you see them eating the frozen
chili soup that was left out for the cats,etc.
I had thrown it out and it of course was frozen
overnight. This little squirrel was eating it up like
it was the best thing it ever had. Chili Popsicle's
may become the new rage around here for the
critters. LOL!





I had never seen this happen before and felt
so sorry for the poor starving thing.
Then I noticed there were two other squirrels
sitting just off a short distance eating something.




Then I knew it was even worse than I thought...





You really know it has been a terrible winter when
the squirrels are gnawing on old bones!!!
I kid you not that this was even a bigger surprise.




This one took its bone and ran up the old oak
tree. There it set gnawing away on the bone.



My question to all of you is this...
Do you think I should lay out a roll of
Rolaid's or Tum's on the back step for the poor
things after eating my chili soup? LOL!!!

Business Is Up At The Feeders

As the sun was rising yesterday morning this
is what I was looking through at the kitchen window.



The icicles were growing so long that I could
not even take pictures of the birds feeding from the
feeders because of the ice.
So it was time to go out and knock down some ice from
the eaves and gutters before it started causing ice to dam
back under the roof and cause problems or bring down
the gutters from the weight.
With another snow storm on our front doors steps
which I did not even want to think about, I took broom
in hand and knock down all that I could reach. Since
we live in partial two story I could not reach them all
but with the sunshine yesterday a lot of ice slide off, taking
down one of the lower widow boxes in the process so I
had to go out and rescue it. I was just glad in the great
slid it missed breaking one of the windows.



Now at noon it is snowing like crazy and the roads
are getting terrible. My Mom just informed me that
she called the Ohio Dept. of Transportation to tell them
to get on the ball and get on the roads because she has
grand-kids coming home from work this afternoon. LOL!
Whatever! She is more gutsy than me. I did not remind
her that just because it was bad upon this hill did not
always mean all the roads in the valley were bad too.
Twenty minutes later they were going by plowing.
Which is just about as long as it would take them to
get from town to here, so Mom it worked.





With the snow falling the feeders are getting lots
of action. The birds seem to come to the new metal feeder
as the older plastic feeder gets lower on seed.
The reason being the new metal one is a little slippery
for them and the snow was making it even more slippery.
As sad as this sounds watching sliding birds is a little
fun to see. LOL! Not so much fun for them.




But they are gorging at it anyway today like there will
be none for tomorrow.
Reminder to self: add birdseed to the shopping list.




This winter I have not yet saw any
new variety of birds. It has been the old faithful
one such as the many Cardinals, Junco's ,Sparrows,
Goldfinches, Titmice, Woodpeckers and Nuthatches.



By the way if you hear angry shouts it will have been
me because Blogger is causing me fits today just
trying to get this finished and intact. Seems others
are having problems too.




Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and
a snow free one.





One last thing has anyone else lost Blotanical
all together. My logo disappeared and the website
is not responding????

If You Hang It They Will Come

I am so excited. No, I have not shot all the Tulip
eating deers. I have some new visitors in the garden.
I use to see all the pictures from fellow gardeners of
their beautiful Blue birds and we had not a one in our
yard. I wanted them here so much because their coloring
just fascinated me.
So last Fall I put up a Blue bird house hoping to draw some
into the yard. I did not have high hopes of succeeding since
there were none around but I will try anything once.

I looked out the window one day to see if any birds were
going in or out of the birdhouse figuring that some kind
probably would move in but not the Blue birds I was hoping
for. I saw a couple of birds going in and out and decided to get
a closer look to see what they were.
I could not believe my eyes when low and behold I saw bright
blue and orange feathers. I was so happy. Naturally I had to
run back into the house and grab the camera.
They were a little shy so I got a few far off shots of them.
I am hoping that when they get use to seeing me out in the
gardens they will not be so leery of me and I can get better
pictures of them.
Since they are now here I may have to get some more Blue
bird houses to draw in more of the beauties.

One new visitor that I am not excited about is the Brown headed
Cow birds. These were new to me and I had to look them up to
see just what they were.
When I first saw them at the feeder I wasn't paying them
much attention thinking it was those old pesky Grackles,
but upon closer examination I spotted the brown head on the
male and he was paying court to a brown female bird and
I knew it was an all together different bird.
Finding out that they were song birds was fine but when I read
they are a parasite bird that steals the nests of other birds I
was not as happy to have another new bird in the yard.
Upon reading that they forage on the ground around cows and
horses and once followed bison on the great plains I was hoping
they would move on down the road to the farm areas.
Once where I had spotted just the two has turned in to half a
dozen or more.
They are a pretty bird but I hate to think about them rooting
out my Cardinals or Robins to get their nests.

It's Alive! It's Alive!

I am so excited. Why all the excitement? Well my dead
Lenten Rose hellebore " Royal Heritage" is growing.

I thought it was dead. I told everyone it was dead. I even
tried to get a replacement, without success, for the poor dead
plant. Which turned out all right because I would be sending a
certain nursery money for a replacement had they sent one.
So you see why I am excited.
While doing some work in the flowerbeds yesterday I could
not believe my eyes to see that it was not dead but just now
starting to grow. It was my first attempt at trying one and
knowing my record for dead plants I had chalked it up as a
goner. Now I cannot wait to see what it will look like when it
blooms. I have seen all of your pictures of them but have never
saw the real plant. So that sure was a bright spot to my day.

Yesterday was spent getting some beds decorated up
with some of the garden decor I have gathered over the years.
Two roses were planted. One red Knockout had to be dug up
in the great back yard dig so it was put in a new spot. A replacement
for the "Double Delight" rose bush which had died came in the mail
so it was planted, and a relocation of the Razzmatazz coneflower
was made.
Also a new cheap arbor was put up to replace an old one which
had rusted through and broken. I replaced it with a cheap one
for this year in hopes that I better vinyl one will be in the budget
possibly next year. Cheap was the word for it because two prongs
broke from it while I was trying to get it down into the hard dry clay.
It might not have cost much but still as the saying goes "they
just don't make them like they use to" applied for that one.
Grass seed was sown for some new grass to replace the
torn up soil in the back yard after a good raking and picking up
of rocks, broken pieces of tile and sticks. So projects were
getting done and though tired it was wonderful to be outdoors
in the beautiful sunshine. We flowers need our sunshine you know :-)
I also put out a hummingbird feeder because some of you had
reported spotting them and after seeing my second butterfly
I wondered what they were eating so early. Maybe it will help
them if they cannot find anything else.



I noticed that everything is now really starting to grow around
here and with some rain coming in it will help everything.
Cannot believe that we are dry now with all of the rain, ice
and snow we had this winter. The March winds are drying out
the soil fast.

Some things that are really starting to grow now besides the
daffodils, hyacinths and tulips are:



Stella de Oro Lillies are starting to come up.

Stachy's Lanata "Lambs Ear" is getting wooly again.

Brunnera "Jack Frost" is getting its little heart shaped leaves.

Sedum "Neon"



Balloon Flowers are getting new growth.

And I do not remember planting a variegated leaf tulip.
I did not see a bud yet so it may be all foliage but it has
me scratching my head. Confusion is not something new
for me on most days though :-)

The Common Grackle

In my previous posting I had mentioned that the Grackles
had starting coming back last weekend and Kathleen at
Kaseys Korner said that she wasn't excited to see them come.
I have to agree that they can really be a nuisance and feed
on baby birds.
Every year I have at least one pair who try to make a nest
under the soffit and eaves between the rooves of the back of the
house. I always have to chase them away because they can
make a real mess down the side of the house.

Aside from the downside on them they very pretty feathers.

The Common Grackle has iridescent feathers of blue
and black and has yellow eyes. I just love their shiny blue
heads otherwise I think of ravens and Edgar Allen Poe.
There is just something about those eyes with the black circle
that makes them look fierce somehow. Its bill is long and black.
It is a large bird with the female being slightly smaller and
less glossy. They are often seen with other black birds
foraging on the ground.



I counted 19 in my backyard at one time last weekend.
They were foraging through the torn up soil in my backyard
which had to be dug up to run new septic lines.

I looked up some facts about the birds from the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology site because I did not know much about the bird
other than it had pretty feathers and I had to chase them out
in the Spring.

Some Cool Facts:

• The Common Grackle is an opportunistic forager, taking
  advantage of whatever food sources it can find. It will follow
  plows for invertebrates and mice, wade into water to catch
  small fish, and sometimes kill and eat other birds at bird feeders.
  
  
• The Common Grackle commonly engages in anting, allowing
  ants to crawl on its body and secrete formic acid, possibly
  to rid the body of parasites. In addition to ants, it has been seen
  using walnut juice, lemons and limes, marigold blossoms, choke
  cherries, and mothballs in a similar fashion.
  
  
• The Common Grackle is found in a variety of open areas
  with scattered trees, including open woodland, boreal forest,
  swamps, marshes, agricultural areas, urban residential areas,
  and parks.
  
  
• The nest is a bulky cup of woody stems, leaves, grass, string,
  bark, and other materials. Lined with mud and fine grasses or
  hair. Placed in small tree, usually a conifer, suspended between
  two branches or placed on a limb.
  
  
• The eggs are light blue to gray, with dark scrawls and
  spots, often concentrated at large end.Usually has 1 to
  7 eggs in a clutch.
  
  
• The juvenile is dull brown with brown eyes.

What Could Be Prettier - Birds & Buds

The buds are bursting forth on our Maple tree and
as I was looking out my kitchen window at the birds
coming to the tree to feed from the feeders, I could not
help but notice how pretty the birds looked against the
buds on the tree.
So I grabbed my trusty camera to get some shots.
Not that I really need more pictures of birds as I have
so many but this was an opportunity to good to resist.
After I saw the pictures I knew it that taking a few more
had been surprisingly a good idea.



The Gold Finches are getting their Spring feathers
of bright yellow back.





The female Cardinal almost matches the colors of the
buds.

The male Cardinals are always gorgeous and stands
out against the buds in the background.

This Junco and another little Goldfinch are waiting for
their turn at the feeders.



The Robins came back about three weeks ago, another
sure sign of Spring. I have had a hard time getting a closeup
of them so far with nothing to hide behind and I guess I am
not a very good at sneaking up on them.

The Robins and Grackles love the torn up back yard
which I cannot stand to look at until it is raked and
grass sown. They like it though for getting the worms
and insects. The Grackles just came back last weekend.


I saw my first butterfly yesterday and ran to get the camera,
you guessed it, it was nowhere in sight by the time I got back
out the door.
So the signs of Spring are getting more prominent and more
beautiful.

Seeing Double

Does anyone get House Finches and Purple Finches
mixed up. They always confuse me and make my eyes
cross trying to sort them out.



Purple Finch




Purple Finch

I have noticed several birds drinking sap from where a limb broke off.




House Finch



House Finch





Maybe some of you bird watchers can help me figure them out.
Is the brown stripe on the bellies the way to tell a House Finch
from a Purple Finch? The first three have no brown stripes and
I was thinking they were Purple Finches or am I just looking for
an easy way to Id them. The red on the Purple Finch may travel
further down the breast feathers.



Male and Female House Finch



So then how do you tell the female House Finch from the female
Purple Finch?
I think I need a good book on birds!
I am so confused! ;-)