Saturday, March 29, 2008

Signs of Spring at Robin's Nesting Place

The goldfinches have almost completely molted.

I shot this picture just as he was taking flight.


Buds on the Bradford Pear.

I believe this is muscari coming up.

Daffodils are up and have noticeable buds.

The hollyhock that I grew last year is up, I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom this year.


Another sign of spring here, is that the kids from next door and their friends are cutting across my yard to get to the playground, they just walk right over my flower beds. I noticed today that they are trampling the plants that are coming up and have even stepped on the small viburnum shrubs. The maddening thing is that first of all they are teens, not little children, and secondly I have asked them several times already not to cut through my yard, but they do it anyway. SO RUDE! I'm seriously thinking about a hedge of thorny roses. Sorry for the rant but this frustrates me to no end.

Another tulip coming up beside a plant that has apparently heaved out of the ground during the winter.

A large bird flying overhead this morning caught my attention.

On another note, the house sparrows have diminished in number since I stopped using the cheaper bird seed. I don't mind feeding a few of them, but I didn't like the crowd I was attracting before.
I also bought a bird house and am watching to see if it will be occupied. I sure hope so. I've been seeing the birds frolicking and mating, maybe soon a couple will be house hunting and use my nesting box. That will be a sure sign of spring.

18 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Those are very pretty signs of spring! I have a couple of miniature hostas that look like they've heaved out of the ground, too. I need to replant them, poor little things.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Gail said...

Lots of Heuchera heave at my place. Next week replanting them, easier after the rain.

The sky is beautiful in several of the photos...there is just nothing like that blue.

Gail

Gail said...

Lots of Heuchera heave at my place. Next week replanting them, easier after the rain.

The sky is beautiful in several of the photos...there is just nothing like that blue.

Gail

Unknown said...

Jubilation! Such lovely signs of spring, Robin. (meanwhile, the six inches of snow we got yesterday is slowly melting). At least we're almost at the last gasp of Farch...then we get into April, and all its adventures.

Marie said...

I love these beautiful photos :)

Melanie Chopay said...

Robin, you really have to do something to discourage those boys from cutting through your gardens! How about those motion detector sprinklers?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Big bird = Turkey Vulture. A sure sign of spring. They are back.

Love seeing that hollyhock. I can't grow them here. I don't know why??? They bloom one year then I don't get any more plants. WHINE...

Anonymous said...

We just have a few of the goldfinches left. They overwinter here, and when they turn gold, we know it won't be long before they are gone for the summer. I wish they would stay longer.

Jan Always Growing

Anonymous said...

Wonderful signs of spring and I can't believe how yellow your am goldfinch is! Mine are still bla brown! Shouldn't be too long though! Great photos!

Diana said...

Your bird photos are lovely, Robin. And I am so excited to see all your little buds and plants peaking up from the ground. I know you feel just like a momma out there when people trample on your little babies - you just want to smack 'em! How about two sticks and a line of that green tomato tie stuff? I think you have every right to be frustrated. Good luck and we'll look forward to seeing all those little things open up soon.

Mary said...

Robin,

That is a great vulture shot! Your spring is coming along nicely. A little behind us - but now everything will bloom so quickly!

Plant some thorny raspberries out there. That'll hold them back! I had kids cutting through the back of my property until the raspberries spread onto their path.

Mary

Amy said...

Such beautiful pictures Robin. I would be mad about the kids too.

We used to have teenagers cutting through our yard as a shortcut to school. Some of them had the nerve to jump over our little picket fence, walk through the flower bed, along the side of the house and into the backyard and then over another fence. Grrr. Lee Valley used to sell a motion sensing squirter that you hooked up to a hose. It would turn toward whatever was moving in the yard and give it a good drenching. I seriously considered buying one!

My husband surprised one young man in the act of trespass. He ran through our very mucky compost pile (ha ha!) and left a piece of his pants behind on the fence! We left it there to warn off the others, lol!

This is getting long, but i wanted to tell you after seeing your post about your seedlings I bought some liatris bulbs today. I'm very excited :)

Mel said...

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

verobirdie said...

So nice to see the spring arriving.
I understand your frustration about teenagers crossing on your flowerbeds. I like the motion detecting sprinkler idea :-)
Hollyhocks don't like me either, argh. But they grow beautifully along the road with plenty of traffic! Why don't they grow in my garden????

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Looking good in the garden! I think your blue buds belong to Scilla sibirica.

Anonymous said...

Hey-I just went back and caught up on several of your post---you have been busy. Your greenhouse project looks healthy. You are right, you are quickly running out of room.

I have kids going through my backyard too and even some sledding on the one or two days a year we get snow. I know once my hostas get damaged then they stay that way. Maybe some nice big rocks scattered about would keep them off the plants.

Jan said...

I love the in-flight shot you took of the yellow finch...perfect! I'm working on getting some photos like that myself. I haven't yet succeeded in getting anything quite that clear!

Lynn Coulter said...

Love all your pictures! I just put up a mealworm feeder for our bluebirds. You might have seen these--it's a blue bowl that you can attach to a post. The blue color is suppposed to attract the birds. Here's hoping it works!
lynn, seedlings