Friday, June 26, 2009

Summer happenings....

Look what's happening in the garden....June 2009
Do you think they are hungry?
For about the last one & a half weeks, I have been watching these Blue Jay babies in a neighbors yard. This nest is in a tree about 4 feet off the ground and is pretty much exposed and you can watch the parents go and come from the nest constantly.
There are 3 babies in this nest and they certainly let it be known that they are hungry......and they have really grown so quickly. Over the last several days I have been doing quite a bit of reading online about how to identify specific birds nests & bird eggs. I have come across Sialis, a very interesting and informative website on this subject and anything else you may want to learn about the Bird kingdom.
With a full belly the babies go back to sleep. What a life............

This photo shows how out in the open this nest is woven.
Several days ago while walking around my yard, I was looking at how much new growth appeared on my plants. I particularly noticed that I would have to cut this branch off my "Snow on the Mountain" bush, as it was totally covering a Bromeliad in a hanging pot. When I moved away that branch........look what I found! Hidden away, a perfectly formed and protected little nest housing 4 tiny, very newly hatched babies. I have not figured out the type of bird yet. The mother is very small about the size of my index finger and also pretty sneaky. She approaches her babies from behind coming off the fence so that it is difficult to see where she is going. Smart little bird! I know that I will enjoy monitoring this little family.
Back to whats growing in the garden. This geranium is looking great, healthy and full of flowers. I lost one in a different type of pot due to the tremendous amount of rain we have encountered over a short amount of time here in Florida. My Red Bird or Cacto Cardenal in the clay pot is doing really well.....it was much smaller when I first got it with it's showy variegated leaves and bamboo like branches which originally caught my eye. They do well in this type of clay pot and like sun or part shade. This is one of my plants that I refer to as being part of my "funny farm", inclusive of several odd looking plants that I have collected, including my Pencil plant and The Bad Hair Day plant (common name for real).
Yes, all is well in my little corner of the world. I will have to get out there soon and do some weeding and replace many of my herbs that did not do well in large pots with all the rain. I think that I am going to clear a new bed area and plant them in the ground this time. My basil is doing great in the ground. I love my fresh herbs for cooking.
Many of my plants were damaged by the frost that we encountered several times this past Winter, but like this one most everything is slowly recovering.
Nature is just incredible.....don't you think?

1 comment:

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

Those are some great photos of the baby birds.