Spring Fever! Feb. 11, 2011

At our house, especially in the winter, the front door is rarely used. But I happened to go out that way to walk the dogs Thurs. evening, and upon returning, noticed some of my crocus were already blooming! The next day, I went out for a closer look at my messy front flower beds and found several thing starting to come up.....

Crocus

Hyacynth

Sedum

 

 

 

 And that was all I need to send me headlong into SPRING FEVER! And as I looked at my messy beds....

...there was but one thing to do. 

CLEAN THEM UP!

It only took about an hour and half to go from that to this:

And after the debris was removed, I also found my mums starting to come up!

This side of the house faces south, so it's warmer and gets more sun than the back north side (where the ground is pretty much still frozen), and I know in my mind that winter isn't REALLY over yet.....but the worst of it probably is, right?

NBG eagles. How to tell them apart.

Congowings: (moderator on NBG chat)

It is easier to see differences when they are both side by side: however, the female is larger than male, including larger feet, bigger beak (upper mandible is deeper & mouth goes back farther under eye). On this particular pair: male has a sleeker look (flatter head when feather’s aren’t ruffled), the female’s head appears rounder. When looking close, it almost looks like male has eyeliner on his eyes.

Jan. 27, 2011 Puddles and Daisy Fun in the Snow

Here is our OCD digger....

Puddles and Daisy play chase...Daddy steps in because he thinks Daisy is getting too rough with his little Daddy's Girl Dog!

Jan. 26/27, 2011 Snow storm

Firetruck returning from accident down the street about a half mile got stuck on the hill out front. It took about 3 hours to get him unstuck. There were at least 7 cars behind the fiasco that had no way to turn around, and nowhere to go. Our neighbor down the street was very kind and offered up her bathroom and refreshments!

View from the back sun porch doorway out to the patio and yard.

Misc. pictures

The front of the house. On the left are the old dogwoods....they really took a beating. Lots of large, broken branches. Some branches hanging over electric lines to neighbors house.

They Leyland Cypress trees, about 20-25 feet tall, really took a beating as well.

View of the back, from the bathroom window!

My garden.

 

Jan. 26, 2011

Noticed this little female House Finch on the feeder today. It appears that she is partially blind. House Finches are prone to an eye disease called "Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis", which causes ulcerations and crusting of the eyes. Although the eyes are what one notices, it's primarily a respiratory disease, also found in chickens and turkeys. 

For now, this little gal is able to fly, although not very gracefully, from trees to feeder. And although she occasionally misses the opening in the feeder, she usually feeds very easily. However, the disease will likely kill her, or make her easy prey. Interestingly, there have been no other House Finches at my feeders for almost 2 weeks now. She is the only one.

 Interesting tidbit I learned when reading up on House Finches:

House Finches feed their nestlings exclusively plant foods, a fairly rare occurrence in the bird world. Many birds that are vegetarians as adults still find animal foods to keep their fast-growing young supplied with protein.

 

More information on Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis can be found here:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/abtdisease.html

Jan. 25, 2011 Bear Cub!

Jan. 24, 2010

In the matter of STINKBUGS, I find very little to be happy about. But this little fella saved me a few seconds of time by actually getting on the tissue himself, so that I didn't have to take the tissue to him!

And I am ever so thankful that I didn't need to blow my nose. That could have been ugly.