We were blessed all day to hear the clear wren tunes through the spring air! Today Cami and I were outside after lunch playing on the tramoline. I was listening to the multitudes of bird songs in the air. Shortly, a little wren flew up into the tree next to the trampoline. I was quickly able to spot him and point him out to C. Much to our delight, he flew about 10 yards from us and perched on the birdhouse I bought at the craft fair last fall. We watched as he began to put twigs inside the holes for a nest. I am tickled pink to have them nesting so close that we can watch them regularly. I also noticed a wren flying into the birdhouse that D and Paster Doug made this past winter. Wrens will make nests in several places and then show his "gal" around the different nests, and she decides which one she likes best! So I don't know if it was the same little guy, or a different one--but from the sounds of it, their are many wrens hanging out in the tree row. Lucky for us!! A few years ago we didn't have any wrens at all, which was a disappointment because they are not only nice to listen to, but they are fun to watch as well.
new wren home in the Russian garden
It was a great day to birdwatch. It was a beautiful day again here!! 
Warm, and no wind. I love to work in the yard, but I am also finding it nice to sit back, relax, and enjoy the yard as well. After 12 years, there are flowers to look at, trees and evergreens enhancing the view, the water fall is again totally functional and put back together (cheer!), the little pitcher pump water feature is running and making a joyous sound, the butterflies flit about gracefully, and the birds soar and dance overhead. So enjoy the yard today, we did--and very little "work" happened around here! We noticed a lot of birds out. The recognizable ones were flycatchers, robins, wrens, meadowlarks, Baltimore orioles, mockingbird, black birds, mourning doves, barn swallows, several kinds of sparrows, and one little fat guy on the fencepost across the way that I couldn't identify--it looked a little like the picture of the chickadee in my book, but I wasn't close enough with my book open to decide. I have NEVER seen a male cardinal here, but a few females. I would LOVE, LOVE to have some cardinals--I keep planting stuff, hoping to attract a huge variety. (Build it and they will come!)A few new flowers are blooming today. The periwinkle blue iris opened this morning to complement the white and the yellow iris already blooming, we are expecting a few more colors to pop any day. The 1/2 price bleeding hearts are still blooming. This is their second year in the ground here, and they are surviving nicely. A few lilac stragglers are still perfuming the air. The purple columbine are making a lovely show too!! The one in the picture was a volunteer plant that I moved a couple years ago--the host plant died--but this one looks great! The old fashioned yellow rose is starting to bloom as well. Lots of buds we did find on lots of other plants. I think the colors of spring are so MUCH more vibrant than any other time of the year. I love it, love it, love it!
I assigned J to make dessert tonight in his dutch oven. So far the fire pit has been used twice-once last week for smores and today for the cookin' of the cobbler. Yum!!
Here's the recipe for all you folks that might be wanting to do a little camping or cookin' this summer. He got it from his friend Lane, who always makes us cobbler during our annual camp out!
Cast Iron Cobbler
2 cans any type of pie filling
1 cake mix, any flavor
You can either mix the cake mix according to the directions, or for a crunchy topping, mix the cake mix with one 12 oz can of soda, any flavor. Pour over the pie filling that has been dumped in the bottom of a 12 inch cast iron dutch oven. Place oven on top of smoldering charcoal. Put about 13 briquets on the top of the lid and cook for 30-45 minutes. Today we used strawberry pie filling and butter yellow cake. Cherry or peach pie filling with white cake is good, as is cherry pie filling and chocolate cake mix.
Planting day is tomorrow!!
WHOOT!! I am going to be a planting mama today when the kids all leave!!!!!
ReplyDeleteT and I have been bird watching a lot lately too!! We have 2 different birds we haven't been able to identify. One was all black, with a bright orange head. They were about a katrillion of them in a tree at the park, making lots of noise! Later we saw them in a pasture with a bunch of cattle on the way to Protection one night.
The other was at my feeder on my porch and he was shaped like a woodpecker, but was black and white, just like I zebra. We haven't been able to find an exact match in our bird book, but its also outdated.
What a nice spring morning post to read--good weather, flowers and beautiful birds. Awesome that you and C saw the wren so close. We have one flitting around our backyard these days. I hope he's looking for a place to settle. I'm not great at identifying all the birds but am picking them up a bit. We do get cardinals in our yard from time to time. Mostly, I hear them singing in the morning. Happy planting!!
ReplyDeleteWe get male cardinals in my yard. I also get an occasional bat. I keep saying I will build bat houses but I never do...sigh! The bald eagles nesting about a quarter mile from my house were the super stars this Spring. They flew over my yard on their way to hunting the Arkansas (I guess) and my neighbor swears they were eating her cat food, although why would the eagles eat the cat food and not the cats is beyond me. Somewhat eclipsed by the appearance of the eagles was a tiny wood pecker. He was little but he sure made his presence known! Of course, now that I have a camera that I could use to record these birds, they are gone.
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