Busy Weekend in the Garden

It's been a busy weekend in the garden here. 

And I don't mean me -- I haven't done much gardening at all.

I'm referring to the birds and the butterflies.

First, I spent way too long this morning chasing this swallowtail around trying to get a decent photo!

She was too busy laying eggs on the fennell to worry about posing for me.

I did manage to get some decent shots though. If you click on a photo, you can view the full size version.

And I managed to zoom in a bit.

She really liked the Fennel.
 

And, remember those Carolina Wrens that built a nest in one of the container plants on the patio a couple of weeks ago?

Well, that pot got knocked/blown over twice and one time an egg even rolled out.  My husband put it back, but who knows how long it had been on the ground and we didn't hold out much hope for any babies.

One of the garden bloggers at Houston Grows, Ursula, who is also a retired wildlife rehabber, advised me that I could move the pot to a higher, safer location and the parents shouldn't mind.  So I did -- I moved it to the top shelf of a mini greehouse I have out there (without it's winter wrap)

For the past several days, the wren has been busily flying back and forth to the nest with mouthfuls of insects. I've got worn out just watching him!

I can always tell when he's coming, even if I'm indoors.  Talk about noisy!  It's amazing such a little bird has such a loud voice!

When I'm sitting at my computer desk I can see the macrame plant hangers that I made, out on the patio, and they seem to be a favorite spot for him to stop and check out the territory before entering the nest (sorry - no pics of that, I'd be photographing from twenty five feet away, through the wood blinds).

Sorry these pics aren't great either, I sat at the far end of the patio and tried not to disturb them to take photos, and they came out grainy.

 

How this will end, I don't know.  I've snuck as close as I can to the nest and not heard a peep out of any babies and/or mama bird that may be in there.  I tried looking through the bedroom window that you see behind the nest and just can't see anything from there either.

At least the nest is in a more secure location now and my moving it doesn't seem to have bothered the birds.

So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. 



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

All In the Family

 I spent quite a bit of time outside on the patio over the July 4th weekend. It seemed to me that there was an awful lot of bird activity and noise and every time I would try to get on with my reading, something else would catch my attention.

On Saturday was a lot of activity under the pine tree.  During the week, the birds (or squirrels) had knocked two suet feeders down and there were lots of bit and pieces left behind on the ground that they were picking through.

Among my visitors was this male Northern Cardinal.

A little while later, I snapped this photo of what I thought was just a single mockingbird. It wasn't until I saw the photo enlarged on the computer screen that I realized that it was a mockingbird feeding its young. ( Please excuse the weeds around the tree, they didn't get pulled until the next day!)

I also got some photos of juvenile Northern cardinals scratching around in the border.

 On Monday, the mockingbirds were making a racket outside and as I watched them I realized that I was being granted another peek into the secret life of birds.

Over on the fence were some hungry juveniles - that's where the noise was coming from.

While they squawked noisily, dad (or is it mom?) was grabbing mouthfuls of suet from the suet feeder (much to the disgust of the red bellied and downy woodpeckers) and flying over to feed the hungry young.

Then it was back to the suet feeder to restock for the next round.

The mockingbird worked tirelessly for quite some time before the young ones quieted down and they all disappeared in the wild lot next to the house, presumably for a nap.

I was tired too, just watching them!


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Anyone Home?

I'm looking forward to getting out in the garden and getting my hands dirty today, so just a quick post this morning, with some photos of my feathered friends that I took in the last couple of weeks.

 Anyone home?

This Chipping Sparrow waits to see if the fairy living in the base of our pine tree will come out to play.  This photo was taken on March 20, and I realized this morning (while watching the darned cowbirds swarm the seed I had put out) that I haven't seen a Chipping Sparrow in several days. They must have headed north already.

 Where's breakfast?

 

 This mockingbird stayed on the fence while I sprinkled seed out there for him, instead of taking to the trees until I had gone back indoors again. Brave? Or bossy?

 Darn wind - it's messing with my 'do'

I thought the goldfinches had all moved on, there had been no activity on the finch feeders for a week or more, but last weekend, I caught sight of this little guy, and a couple of his friends, on the one feeder  I left out for them, just in case.  Is it a goldfinch that got left behind, or is it something else?  

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Woody Woodpecker And Friends

What a great weekend! Even though I had to work on my second job (posting content to an equine website, Equisearch.com) for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday, I was still able to work in some quality time with Eric, some horsey time at the barn and some gardening time.  Housework, not so much...

Since I had to get up early to work I sat in the breakfast nook for a while, drinking coffee and gearing myself up to get started. Suddenly, I saw a quick flash of red outside. As I watched, I saw it was my friend, Woody Woodpecker, (original name, huh?) a Red-bellied Woodpecker who often wakes me up on weekends if I'm not quick enough getting food out for him.  He's usually one of the first, if not the first, bird to arrive at the buffet line of my fence, where I sprinkle feed for them.  

On Saturday, however, he was checking out the suet feeder, since I had just put a fresh one out there the night before.

 

He hung around, literally, for a while posing for photographs and pecking at bugs before disappearing into the tree next door.

 

On my second cup of coffee, I again caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.  At first I thought Woody was back, but it was a different woodpecker this time, a Downy Woodpecker.

Downy Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers are very similar in appearance, and I had to consult this page in order to confidently identify this little guy as a Downy.

The Downy Woodpecker's bill is much shorter than that of the Hairy and they are smaller. 

I was excited to see this little guy, I hadn't seen one before.  He even stayed around when I stepped outside and sat on the patio to drink my coffee.  He was really into that suet feeder!

Which reminds me, I need to add that to the shopping list...

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2010

It's hard to believe that I had never even heard of the Great Backyard Bird Count until I started blogging on HoustonGrows last year, even though I have been fascinated by birds for as long as I can remember.

Probably, lack of contact with like-minded individuals had a lot to do with it, which is why I've really enjoyed being part of the garden blogging community.

Anyway, this year I was able to participate for the first time.  I had some misgivings  that I might be misidentifying some birds, or not count accurately, or miss some, because I'm certainly not what you'd consider an expert.  But the Great Backyard Bird Count website seems to keep everything low key and has simple instructions for the first time participant. You even indicate your level of expertise and if you are reporting all, or only some of the birds you see as you submit your count.

Here are some photos of the birds that I took this morning.

 

I used to get American Goldfinches at my previous house, but this is the first time we've seen them here. We didn't get any at all last year. Now they've arrived en masse. They may eat me out of house and home!

 I found out today that a group of Chipping Sparrows is called a tournament of sparrows.  Perhaps this group are watching the jousting? 

 

In addition to the finches and sparrows, I also counted over 20 Mourning Doves, 4 Northern Cardinals, 2 Blue Jays, 2 American Crows and 1 Carolina Chickadee.

 

  

I really enjoyed my first Great Backyard Bird Count.  I may even do some more counting tomorrow when we go out to Hockley to see the horses.  We can stop by Kleb Woods on the way back!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

I TAWT I TAW A PUDDY TAT!

I DID, I  TAW A PUDDY TAT!!!

I thought everyone might enjoy this scene I caught this past weekend.  After I put out a new sock feeder, the finches found it very quickly, and before I knew it they were lined up.

Pippin, one of my seven indoor cats thought it was great.  There were about 5 finches out there, and I eventually went to the store and got a two armed hanger and two more sock feeders.

Buffet for the Birds

I had to work last weekend, uploading some content to a website I help produce, and as I was sitting a my desk, the birds outside kept me entertained with their antics.

I couldn't resist grabbing the camera and taking some photos out the window.  Not the best quality ( I really need to follow the Backyard Bird Photography Tips I found at Robin's Nesting Place) but I wanted to share them anyway.



This red-bellied woodpecker got me out of bed this morning!  I woke up when I heard him outside and realized there were probably a lot of cold and hungry birds out there.



This Northern Cardinal was quite happy to share breakfast with the Chipping Sparrows.




I didn't count as many Chipping Sparrows today as I did yesterday, but there were still plenty of them.




This Mourning Dove was grateful that I had melted the solid block of ice that had been in the birdbath.



Every now and then, among all the Chipping Sparrows, I caught sight of other birds -- Carolina Chickadees, that I can never get a photo of, House Wrens, etc.  I thought this little guy, that I hadn't seen before, might be a goldfinch in winter plumage, but my fellow garden bloggers on HoustonGrows told me it's a Pine Warbler.