Monday, May 07, 2007

a bird of a different color

new birds to report at the holler. the most consistent feeders now are a small group of rose breasted grosbeaks; three males and a female. these are larger than finches, but not as big as jays, with black back plumage white bellies, white wing markings, and breasts so red they’re almost fucia. i have also seen the occasional red winged black bird picking around under my apple tree. the real excitement came today, however, when i saw an oriole of some kind nibbling at the suet cage i have hung from the shepherds hook three feet outside my window. at first i thought he was a finch, but on closer look, he was too big for a finch, and his yellow was so amber it was almost orange. he also gave a very gay, trilling call. i hope to see him again soon. also, if i haven’t mentioned it, there’s a mourning dove nesting atop my clematis arbor with two little eggs. she’s a brave little mommy who doesn’t fly away even when i come peer at her from three feet away on the ridge behind her nesting spot.
now that i’m done driving the worm population of my yard crazy by digging up their happy homes, i am seeing the fruits of my labor. the flowers are popping up nicely in my pots and around my flag pole. everything is a bit later in the bed by the garage because i had to dig it up and re-lay the brick wall around it first. but hopefully in a months time, i’ll have some lavish flowers to show. now on to the destruction of the beds gone to seed around the arbor and the second drive. vegetables will be coming last this year dependent upon my neighbor to plow the plot for them. i feel a regular green thumb... now to see if it will actually grow or not...