Shy Lilly

Lilly has enjoyed the warmer weather and is so glad to be taking walks again, (me too)!


She gets very nervous when I aim my camera at her and she refuses to cooperate.


She is my faithful garden companion. She is usually a very good girl and lays close by while I'm gardening. However she was very naughty Monday and chased a cat across the street, refusing to listen to me or come when I called her. I guess I have some obedience training to do before unleashing her. I think she forgot how to behave outside.



A few weeks ago I saw the male blue jay feed the female, actually it was more like she took it from the very reluctant male. This morning I saw a male cardinal feeding the female. It was so sweet. I hate that I wasn't able to get a picture of it. The birds are singing and looking for nesting locations. I hope I have occupants in my bird houses this year!

I plan to get some more cleaning up done in the yard today, the temperatures will be dropping again for a few days and there is even a chance of snow.

For those of you who are interested in bird watching, here is a link to a barn owl that is nesting. The babies should be hatching any time now. This is fascinating to watch and kind of gross when they eat.

Lilly in the Snow

We had about 12 inches of light fluffy snow today. Our Lilly loves to be out in the snow!

She buries her nose in it trying to sniff out the birds and rabbits.


It was a little difficult for her to run in it!

After successfully chasing the doves from the yard, she plopped down in the snow to watch while I filled the feeders again. I love watching her in the snow, it is one of the few pleasures of this kind of weather. Birds are another and that post will follow. For now, I'm headed to work. I sure hope the roads are clear by now.

Poor Little Bird

This morning my daughter noticed the cat trying to get up to the window. She opened the blinds and saw this poor little goldfinch huddled in the corner.

I went outside to see if I could tell what was wrong. It was shivering in the cold with it's little head tucked in its feathers. It wasn't moving, not even with the cat so close to it...

and pawing at the window. As I approached it flew away, obviously injured, but still able to get away. It flew to my neighbors back yard.


A little while later I heard Lilly in the kitchen going nuts at the door, I was sad to see that the goldfinch had returned.

Poor sweet little bird. I wish I knew what to do for it. Any ideas?

Edit: The goldfinch has died on the patio. I wonder what was wrong with it. So sad.

Enjoying the Sunshine!

We are enjoying another day of sunshine, two in a row! The temps are in the mid-forties today but at least the sun is streaming through the windows.

We are having to step over both the cat and dog as we go down the stairs, because the sun is now most prominent through the landing window. Libby is sunning on the stairs and Lilly is sunning herself on the landing. Good thing I'm not doing laundry today!

Odd Hummingbird

I thought is was amusing to watch the goldfinch preening himself on the hummingbird feeder. I only wish the window blinds had been up. I haven't seen any real hummingbirds yet.

Yesterday, after church we stopped by the nursing home to visit with Nell, (my m-i-l). I saw the squirrel on the bird feeder right outside the dining room window and as usual I had my camera in my purse. I had to get a few pictures, since I don't have squirrels around my house, (thankfully). I'm sure the squirrel is entertaining to the residents while they eat their meals.

Lilly hates the camera and will usually not let me get too many pictures of her. She was distracted this time, probably watching for the ducks, which are still coming every day.

Dragonfly

Lilly, our golden retriever, loves to go for walks. This evening, I put her leash on and we headed out the front door. I stopped in my tracks when I spotted this dragonfly on the front porch clinging to one of the plants I grew from seed, (I think it is the milkweed).

I only saw a few of these last year and never could get a good picture. Poor Lilly, I had to literally drag her back into the house, so I could get my camera and try to get a few pictures. It was the perfect model and even though I placed my little Canon A630 right up next to it, it didn't move.

A few minutes later Lilly and I were enjoying our walk on this gorgeous evening. We even saw a rabbit, which was thankfully in a neighbor's yard and not my own. I got pictures of the rabbit too, but those pictures didn't turn out so well.

Doggy at the Window and a Lovely Bloom

Two of the impatiens bloomed today and a few others have buds forming. I'm excited to see blooms, but it's really too early. I can't put them outside for a while yet. I definitely won't start them so early next year.

My tomatoes are up and growing well, as is the cilantro. The dill isn't looking too great though, I may have to sow a few more seeds and try again.

We thought Lilly looked so cute looking out the window. She may have been watching for the ducks. Unfortunately we didn't see them again today, or the bluebird either. I don't think my new nesting box was selected. Bummer!

This is a busy week for me since Hubby is on vacation. We are trying to get a few things done around the house. Hopefully, I can get the inside cleaned up and organized during this rainy week and then I can be free to play outside as soon as it warms up.

Nice While it Lasted

We had springlike weather yesterday and this morning. It was warm enough to melt all of the snow here at Robin's Nesting Place. I walked around the saturated yard and didn't find a single crocus peeking up through the ground. What a disappointment!

Lilly and I usually walk everyday when the weather is nice and we have really been missing our walks during the winter. We took a long walk yesterday and then again this morning. It was so nice to see our neighbors out and about. I miss the interaction during the winter months when everyone is in hibernation. Lilly was pretty tired after our long walk and she soon fell asleep with her little friend.


I sat outside on the patio this morning and watched the birds for a while. I was thrilled to see two frisky robins; a sure sign that spring is near. I can go weeks at a time without seeing goldfinches, but there were a few here today. It was warm enough to raise the windows for a short time this morning, I enjoyed listening to their sweet chatter. There were also a lot of noisy geese flying through.

Now for a seed update: I sowed these seeds on February 28, just a few days ago, and already quite a few are germinating. The Hare's Tail grass is doing well.

The Purple Wave petunias are beginning to germinate.

On a side note, I really dislike this brand of peat pellets. I usually buy the Jiffy pellets and thought these would be similar, they're not. SuzyQ had left a comment asking me where to purchase the Jiffy pellets, because she couldn't find them. I had mine left over from last year and now that I want to purchase more I can't find them either.

This isn't good. I wasn't as particular with the seed starting mix with this batch of seeds and I'm getting a bit of fungus. I cut a few slits in the plastic lid for ventilation, hopefully this will help. I have a few balloon flowers and Irish Eyes Rudbeckia that have germinated along with the fungus.


I finally pinched back some of the impatiens and it is amazing how quickly these are filling out.

The nice weather sure didn't last long. We are expecting ice and maybe a little bit of snow tomorrow and a few chances of snow during the week. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last of the ice and snow.

Sowing Seeds

Lilly was here beside me a few minutes ago licking and cleaning her baby. She loves her stuffed animals and just like a child she drags them all out and her favorite place to leave them, for some strange reason, is on the stairs.

I played in the dirt today! So desperate was I to feel the dirt, that I didn't even wear gloves. Nope, I was barehanded and it felt wonderful, (usually I wear surgical gloves for this task)! The only thing missing was the outdoors. It isn't exactly the same gardening in the kitchen, but it was fun none-the-less.

I did get the impatiens into larger containers today. There were 26 of them. I decided that I would go ahead and sow a few more of the seeds for indoor growing. I sowed two packets of the purple wave petunias, blue flax, balloon flower, bee balm, pansy, foxglove 'Candy Mountain', rudbeckia 'Irish eyes', scabiosa, and blanketflower.

I also sowed some grasses: Feathertop, Hare's Tail Grass and Fountain grass.

I prepared eight more gallon containers for my winter sowing. Numbers 17-24 contain:

17 Alyssum
18 & 19 Gazania
20 & 23 Larkspur
21 Milkweed
22 Hollyhock
24 Ipomopsis Hummingbird mix

It was fun planting and preparing for spring, even though we have snow in the forecast AGAIN tonight.

Bird Brained Part 2

Here is part two of my bird post. I thought I'd show Lilly doing her Elvis lip curl first!

All winter I've had one cardinal couple that comes regularly to my feeders. Today I saw another male cardinal! The bright red against the snow is quite beautiful. One of the males lingered around until dark and it was a joy watching the flashes of red in my neighbors shrubs while I was busy in the kitchen.

Mary, once posted that she had twenty pairs of cardinals, they looked like red berries on her tree. I can't imagine having that many in my yard; I would be so thrilled.

I usually see the hawk fly through the backyard at least once everyday, it usually perches in the tree for a while and then flies away empty handed. One other time when we had several inches of snow I saw a Cooper swoop by my feeder and catch a bird. Some unfortunate bird met its demise today. It was probably a starling since the feathers looked short and black. And there were a lot of feathers!

I've also had a downy woodpecker couple that have been faithful visitors to my feeders all winter.


It's funny, I never really thought the females were that pretty until I started photographing them. They really are gorgeous birds.

While I was outside, (without a coat), trying to get pictures of the hawk, I heard the goldfinch in the tree above my head. I haven't seen them lately. In the beginning of the winter I had quite a few of them, one even came to the window during a snowstorm to drink water from the window.

A house finch on the frozen birdbath.

Several people have mentioned that they don't see as many house sparrows where they live. They are still plentiful here...

as are the starlings.

It will be very interesting to see how many of my seeds actually germinate. When spring comes I'm going to have so much to plant...I hope!

Birds in the Snow

We were expecting quite a winter storm but thankfully most of it bypassed us. It was just enough snow to make the roads messy.

I'm from Alabama, on the rare occasion when it snows in Alabama you go to the store to get enough food for a month and you don't drive in it. I have been fortunate that even though I've been here for seven years, I haven't had to get out on the roads before the snow plows run.

Yesterday was different, the roads were horrible and I had to take my daughter to work and then go pick her up afterwards. Not fun! Now I remember why I hibernate in the winter. I much prefer the Alabama way.

I'd much rather sit at home and watch the birds. So much more relaxing.



See how relaxed Libby and Lilly are when they watch the birds? Much better than freezing windshields, messy roads and white knuckles.