A Really Big Bird

This time of year not only are the spring bulbs glorious, but we begin looking birds just passing through as they migrate from Mexico to Canada. Seldom do most stay all summer. Here are the his spring's visitors. The crab apples are beginning to bloom, at least three weeks late. Daffodils and tulips make good companions. I've planted several varieties, so they are fun to watch them bloom. 

 The Spotted towhee, a ground feeder likes to dig in the leaves and grass looking grubs and bugs. We seldom see them here, so his visit is a real treat. We hope he stays, but he won't.

Here he is in the tree. I was hoping that he would go the bird bath by the patio, but he flew off.

 A consistent visitor to the Garden Spot each summer are the orioles that come in Mid May and stay all summer feasting the grape jelly that we put in their feeders. One male comes, then another and then the females. Right now we have two pairs. The males call to to each other letting them know that the jelly's in. We will feed them all summer and by summer's end the males will leave and the moms will bring the now fledgling kids to for a free meal.

My favorite bird is the lazuli bunting. For the past few years we have had two males come together. Usually they hit the feeders pretty hard for a few days then they are gone. This year, they seem to like to feed on the ground.

The photos are poor because the are so far way.

A white crowned sparrow joins the buntings. 

Of course we have daffodils still blooming. These bloomed after the snow, which was pretty hard on the early bulbs.

Isn't this one pretty?

 

We had a week of odd weather: Rain turning to snow to rain. As I drove home from town steam rose from the newly worked fields. It was a rather strange, so I decided to pull over  and take photo, but in the time it took to get out of the car and fuss with the phone, the steam was dissipating. The steam was caused from the breakdown of manure that had been worked into the ground. Pretty cool.

We had another visitor this week, a very big bird, a blue heron, looking for a free meal. I managed to get a photo of him through the bedroom window sheer curtain.

I managed to get this photo through the gap in the curtains that you can barely see the first photo. After his first visit, we were sure that he had eaten all of our gold fish, but they are there. I managed to coax them out of the deep. The pone has a shelf around the edge that the heron walks on, but the main pond is too deep for him stand in, he can't get to the gold fish--we hope.

I know they are just gold fish, but I have had some of them a very long time. We brought some from our old house ten years ago and I'd be sad to lose them. The two koi are fine because the are so large, the heron won't be able to eat them--we hope. So now they hide, but they are safe.

And that's what's happening at the Garden Spot this week. 

What's happening in your spot?

I'll be linking with Angie for Mosaic Monday.