The Garden Thread - April, 2024

April 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[FamiliarFace]

Yes, reduce the rent! That’d be great!

[FamiliarFace]

I can’t wait to see your photos! Whenever I post my bird photos, they are never as clear as what I see on my camera. I guess there must be something in the upload/download process.

I entered a bird photo contest once a few years ago. I don’t remember which publication it was. They sent me a note back and said that they only accepted photos in raw format. I didn’t even know what that was. I knew then that it wasn’t for me. I never take photos in raw. My photos are good enough to make an ID and that’s about it. They never look good on the detail of the feathers when I post them.

[FamiliarFace]

I hate snakes. All snakes. All of them.

In August I had the “pleasure” of watching a black rat snake catch a chipmunk, squeeze it till it died, and then swallow it whole bit by bit. It was a process, but was near enough to my car as we were loading it up for a trip. Took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Gross.

[FamiliarFace]

I knew I heard the Oriole today! It took me a while to find him in the tree tops, but he was so happy singing and singing just like yours did. Pretty soon I found one at the jelly feeder off of the deck, and then two more at the main feeder station (9 different types of feeders over there).

We are both nature geeks. Birds of a feather, as they say! ;)

[Qiviut]

When working for the police, I was on ‘tac’ radio for half of my shift. The channel I had included the Animal Control Officer. We got a radio call from a patrol officer who was directing traffic around a very large snapping turtle who was crossing the road, but evidently decided to stop for a break. The patrol officer wanted me to contact Animal Control & have him come out to deal with the snapper. AC happened to be on the far side of the county & still had calls. He was pretty exasperated & said “tell that officer he’ll just have to provide an escort for that turtle across the road because I can’t get there”. The way he said it cracked us all up & when I relayed the info, the patrol officer was not happy. That turtle took its time - he tried to hurry it up, but it would hiss & threaten to bite, so he just had to wait & keep traffic away from it until it got off the road.

[FamiliarFace]

So it was a busy day of bird activity here at Edge of the Woods (what we call our home). First, I got to see my first hummingbird of the season. Very cool, and something I look forward to each Spring. Next, I saw a Yellow Rumped Warbler. Then the Baltimore Orioles showed up in force. I was outside working in the yard, and then I heard a familiar call from the bluebirds. It sounded like they were beginning their calls to the nestlings that it was TIME to learn to FLY!!!

So I grabbed my bridge camera. I’m not a good photographer, but I try to capture my surroundings sometimes. I think I’ve witnessed bluebirds fledge maybe a dozen times in the six or seven years that I’ve been paying attention.

Well, out came fledging number one. He flew right over my head, and yes, I ducked! I didn’t want there to be an accident right out of the nest box! He flew over to the trees behind me, and then moved over to the lattice that’s under our deck. He stayed here for several minutes, but Mom and Dad were very worried.

Dad kept a close eye on things from a few feet away.

Now it was time for the second nestling to take a try.

If brother can do it, so can I!!!

Two more nestlings remained. It was time for FF to call it quits for the evening in her bird watching endeavor. Mr. FF had finished his day at the home office, and it was time to transition to the evening. A scrumptious dinner lay ahead of us.

I hope you all have gotten a glimpse of what a cool thing nature provides. We don’t always get to witness events first hand, but I hope these photos are good enough to give you a glimpse into that world which we inhabit with so many others.

[FamiliarFace]

That’s a great story!

[Hot Tabasco]

I knew I heard the Oriole today!

For the past three years, my orioles arrived on 5/1, 5/1, and 5/2 respectively. Last year they were probably delayed by lots of road construction here in S.E. Michigan.

[MomwithHope]

I made a deal in 1984 when we built our house in the woods. Snakes stay away from the house up to one acre. Anywhere closer or near me is fair game. And I don’t mean food.

[MomwithHope]

When my Dad would visit he thought we were so lucky to have some burdock. He boiled the leaves, drained them, then battered and fried them. I passed.

[MomwithHope]

You can move a big snapper by putting a long thick stick in front of him. He’ll bite it and then you can lift him off the ground and leave him across the road. Seen it done.

[MomwithHope]

Great pics!!!

[Qiviut]

I can certainly see how that would work!

[FamiliarFace]

Thank you. Even though it’s not very clear, that’s the first time I’ve gotten a semi decent shot of the actual fledge. I took about 10 shots in a second, maybe more. There is no time to readjust the focus, so I have to hope that what I did before the flight will be close.

I have so much respect for bird photographers. The smaller the bird, the faster they move. And they don’t take directions from people at all! I am a complete amateur, and I really don’t know much about photography and cameras. Very very hit and miss, and way more misses than hits. I probably have only a few dozen photos that I think are decent quality. I’m also stubborn. My husband says maybe we should get a nicer camera and a really cool lens. I’ve told him I can’t justify spending that kind of money on a hobby. If something happens to this camera, then maybe I would consider it.

[FamiliarFace]

It’s interesting how the birds can be so accurate on their timing. I was wondering since Spring was so early here this year, if that would make a difference.

[Qiviut]

Good pictures!

The favorite nest box of all at our place was on the edge of a field across from the barn. The bluebirds liked to sit on the edge of the barn roof & when I mowed the field, they would be flying after insects disturbed by the mower.

When their babies fledged, they would all sit on the top board of a nearby fence. Most times, I did not look in the box to count eggs or babies so the first time I could count how many was when they got to the fence sitting stage. The youngsters would hang around together for quite a while so we had small bluebird ‘flocks’ as the other nests were emptied as well - we have 7 bluebird houses. I am really happy to see bluebirds at our new place.

[FamiliarFace]

I wonder how many boxes they’ve used. I will probably clean this one out tomorrow to get ready for the next clutch. This is early enough that maybe we will have 3 clutches this year.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We were in Madison one day for an eye doctor appointment. We were near a ‘marshy’ part of a neighborhood. Traffic was at a standstill as there was a big old Snapper in the road.

Beau did exactly that; moved her off the road with a big stick in her mouth.

Everyone applauded. It was awesome. He’s my Hero. :)

And then he went on to tell me about his Grandma’s Turtle Soup that he had as a kid in Alabama. Kinda surprised the Snapper didn’t come home with us, LOL! (That’s ILLEGAL!)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

April is past and its time for a new gardening thread!
Click to link forward to the May Gardening Thread!

[Hot Tabasco]

More good news, the first oriole of the season just arrived this morning. Exactly one year to the day since last year.

The chickadees are still active in the nest box. The first year I put it up, a pair moved in and the female laid an astounding 10 eggs before abandoning the box. Apparently they figured they would have too many mouths to feed.

There's a free Audubon app for phones that I use to record all the seasonal first time arrivals as well as any first time sightings of new birds.