Just a white-crowned sparrow enjoying some thistle.
Brunch date
I love watching the birds on the bird feeders we have. Sometimes they seem a little mean to each other – pushing other birds away even when there is plenty of room. Other times, like this, it’s like a bird couple out on a date. (and the lady bird is giving me the side-eye for checking our her man…)
Buzzing with activity
With all the new flowers blooming, there is a constant buzz in my yard – from the bees coming by to gather materials for their hives. I took this of one on our Arnold Honeysuckle. This is the first of our honeysuckle to bloom, though it will shortly be followed by the gorgeous gold flame vines. In this photo you can see the pile of pollen on the bee’s back leg – his head is a blur because frankly, bees make terrible models.
Cooooooo
A mourning dove came to visit (one of many that likes our yard). But instead of going to the feeders, they seem to prefer finding the seed that has been scattered to the ground by the messy birds above. As usual, I got the side-eye from the bird as it wondered why I was taking its picture.
Stripey!
When we were constructing our house we found some long-neglected and abandoned tulip bulbs in a portion of the lot that had been dry for years. I dug them up, apologized for their neglect, and replanted them with a promise of water. They returned the favor by blooming each year and continuing to spread – and it turned out they were cool striped tulips (along with some regular pink and yellow ones). A friend of mine has since educated me that this is a virus, but a valuable one. People apparently cultivate and patent tulip virii to get these stripes. How lucky were we?
These were the first two to bloom this year. I’m looking forward to all the others showing their colors! Looks like I might have another striped one open when I get home today.
Sunburst daffodil
We have many varieties of daffodil and they bloom at different times, so we have them for many weeks. One of my favorites just started blooming – I don’t know the real name, but I call it the sunburst daffodil. It’s so dense with petals that the taller ones tip over from the weight.
Bird gangs
We have become quite used to seeing and enjoying loads of little birds enjoying our feeders – finches and sparrows and oregon juncos abound. I was a tad surprised when I looked out and saw the red-winged blackbirds had decided they liked the new seed and a whole gang of them clustered on the little house.
When they show up, the seed flies all over and the house empties rapidly. It’s like feeding ravenous teenagers, I imagine. I am also pleased to report the little birds don’t take this without a fight – they get their fair share, no doubt.
Scene while walking: April 8, 2014
I was on a business trip in Arizona over the weekend, and took a nice walk with a friend who was there for the same meeting. We ran across this very large plant, which she aptly described as a “giant asparagus”. We don’t know what it is, but it was fascinating – especially when we came across another that was starting the blooming phase… (if you know what this is, please educate us in the comments!)
EDITED 8 April 2014: turns out this is a “century plant” (Agave americana) but they don’t take 100 years to bloom. They do take 10 or more years to bloom, and they only do it once – and then they die! So we were quite fortunate to have seen two at one time.
I swear this is a real succulent – and it was super tall (that’s why it takes two photos to show it).
Here’s the base.
And here’s one that has opened up to start blooming…
Scene while walking: April 1, 2014
I’ve been running all over for meetings at work today – but it’s at least nice to see the new flowers on the next round of trees to bloom!
Scene while walking: March 27, 2014
Imagine my surprise when I turned the corner on the walking path and there was a pheasant taking a stroll! I was shocked that he stayed there long enough for me to get out my phone to snap a photo.
@KellyOSullivan 