Finally some sun

Happily, it was sunny and dry today. Yesterday, too. Cloudy with intermittent sun was a lot better than the rain that was predicted for yesterday, and today was just plain nice late winter weather (for the Southeastern US), with a high around 50°F.

I saw a downy woodpecker foraging for breakfast on my morning walk.

It was definitely nice enough to find me tidying the garden shed, poking around the beds, and doing some weeding.

Amazingly, the squirrels had left just enough radicchio to harvest and try roasting with garlic, olive oil, and herbs. Yum. It was totally different than the bitter leaves of warmer weather, and well worth trying to protect from herbivory in future seasons.

I also saw a flock of robins mobbing the fruits of hollies this morning. There are lots of holly fruits this year, and we're seeing robins in exceptionally large numbers.

The newspaper yesterday had an El Nino story as well as a piece about how we've exceeded rain records for December and January. Hmm, that was obvious!

And just as I was about to finish doing a post yesterday evening, the power went out (with a sudden 'snap'), leaving us to find our bed by candlelight.

Power returned sometime after 11 pm; perhaps a tree fell, or a line broke. It reminded me to make sure we have more backup candles and matches...

Read more...

Robin flocks

A sign that winter is progressing are the flocks of robins, descending on berry-laden hollies. They're not unlike the cedar waxwing flocks, taking turns swooping down on the hollies and back up to branches on the bare oaks. They're both sociable winter birds: a nice piece from Journey North that I just found describes their behavior.

The birds I heard and saw today outside my office in the Garden had a melodic murmur; without my (regular) glasses or binoculars, I couldn't see them clearly, but based on the sound, they may have been cedar waxwings (also from the Journey North site courtesy of Lang Elliot) rather than the robins I saw at home recently.

Both are welcome signs that winter is moving towards spring.

Read more...

Cedar waxwings and robins

While briefly poking around the internet this morning (reading about growing kohlrabi and asparagus from seed, converting the White House lawn to vegetables,etc.), a sudden descent of a large flock of cedar waxwings crowding around the birdbath and water dishes caught my attention.

They were avidly loading up on water, probably after a berry feast somewhere nearby. There were robins visiting, too, reminding me that I need to refill the dishes.


The weather is mild, now, and the water's not frozen, and there's a feeling of spring to come (we have lots of quince flowers that are open now).

Read more...

Robin flocks are enjoying the dogwood berries

Leaving the house this morning, the dogwoods were rustling with robins loudly eating the ripe berries, calling melodiously in the process. What caught my attention is the large group of robins, startled by the door opening, that flew up to the big oak from the bird bath, and then joined their fellows in actively foraging in the dogwoods.

We have three old trees that we thought were 'goners' when we moved into the house almost 14 years ago, but years of leaf mulch have revived them considerably. An additional two younger dogwoods are showing lovely fall color right now, but aren't so loaded with berries as the older trees.

Dogwood berries have lots of lipids in them, so they're high-energy fruits (highly desirable for migrating birds).

The robin flock probably is a northerly group coming south for the winter, although we also have resident robins throughout the year. Robins are an adaptable species, so have flourished in our backyard gardens, lawns, and parks.

This range map shows how widespread American Robins are in their distribution.

Read more...