Birds and bees

We’ve had nice weather for working outside lately, so it was a relief to have a rain day today so I could rest my back and butt muscles and get caught up on some inside work, such as blogging. Bingo had a different response to a stormy day.

Bingo takes refuge from the storm

Our migratory friends are back. The rose-breasted grosbeaks were the first to arrive. This year I’m going to try to identify individual males by their rosy breast. This one has a narrow band of red below his collar.

Rose-breasted grosbeak with small red collar

This one seems to have a broader collar as well as a broader band below. I bet all the girls think he’s sexier.

Does more red make you sexier?

I don’t have a picture of a hummingbird yet, but I’ve seen one at the feeder regularly. It might be the same one or many, but I won’t know until I see more than one at a time.

The Baltimore orioles are a different story. I don’t think we’ve ever had so many. They line up at the grape jelly like planes coming into O’Hare. I have seen one orchard oriole and three Baltimores hovering around the feeder waiting for a turn. The feeder shown here is a plant saucer with a weight to hold it down. 

Male Baltimore oriole

Male orchard oriole

The female orioles are also back. Mr. and Mrs. sometimes have breakfast together. 

Female oriole

Mr. and Mrs. Oriole at breakfast

I went for a walk yesterday morning. The apple trees are nearly done blooming.

Apple trees in bloom

It was a beautiful day, clear and cool.

Apple blossoms and blue sky

Our Russian bees were busy foraging. Note the one on the lower left has full pollen sacs on her back legs.

Well done, comrades!

The bluebells under the solar panels are blooming.

Bluebells under the solar panels

Jacob’s ladder and phlox are flowering under the fifth oak.

Jacob's Ladder

Phlox

The native rain garden I nurtured so carefully last summer looks pretty good with the exception of sneezeweed, which has either died or not sprouted yet. The Southern blue flag are double the size they were at the end of last summer.

Southern blue flag

Golden Alexander is already forming buds.

Golden Alexander

Obedient plant is spreading all over.

A proliferation of obedient plant

The rose milkweeds are looking quite robust.

One skimpy plant last year, a whole lot of sprouts this year

The cup plants that I grew from seed are not all looking great, but these two are doing well. Perhaps they will flower this year.

Two healthy cup plants growing together

Back by the creek, Joe Pyeweed is spreading like crazy. I’m going to have to cut back some of them or I will lose some less aggressive flowers.

Joe Pyeweed

My maidenhair fern is limping along. Sometimes just coming back each year is as much as you can expect.

Maidenhair fern

The trillium is blooming in the shade garden on the north side of the garage. Its runners are getting so numerous I’m going to have to divide it. That’s a great problem to have!

Trillium

We moved the hens to the orchard in mid-April. They love it there. There’s so much more room to run around, trees to sit in and under, bugs and grass to eat. Hen heaven. We took the fence down from the run by the house as we will have to put the chick fence up when the chicks arrive in two weeks. It’s amazing to see the effect of chicken poo on grass. Just look at that color difference!

No fertilizer, left; chicken poo fertilizer, right

We had two rounds of storms today. The one this afternoon was pretty serious. It included about 30 minutes of a tornado warning. We didn’t have a tornado, but the wind was REALLY strong and accompanied by torrential rain and a bit of hail. And now, an hour later, the sky is blue and the wind is calm. Except for the massive puddles everywhere, it’s like nothing happened. Gotta love spring.