When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance in spring should denote that the strife and war between these two elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing influences of the spring on the one hand, and the retreating footsteps of winter on the other. ~ John Burroughs (Wake-Robin)
Visitors to our deck and birdfeeder are fun to watch, and sometimes, even hold still long enough for getting some pictures through the sliding glass doors. The birds have already eaten one seed cylinder and we decided to move a new one a little closer to the deck and birdbath. So far the squirrels have not been able to get to it.
eastern bluebird pair
We have a large red mulberry tree which has been tagged for removal. 🙁 I think the birds will miss its branches, where they perch waiting for their turn at the feeder. From the nuts and blossoms deposited on our deck, from way up high, I know we also have a sweet gum tree and a tulip tree, but they don’t have nice eye-level branches.
Blue has always been my favorite color, and I love the blue and brown color combination found on bluebirds. Up north, I got my fix of blue from the blue jays who came for peanuts along with the squirrels on our balcony. Down south here I rarely see a blue jay. But the lovely bluebirds are everywhere!
A bluebird finally sat still long enough on our deck railing for me to get some pictures through the sliding glass doors! He seemed to be waiting for a pair of goldfinches to finish splashing around in the birdbath.
As my chronic illness is making it harder to plan long walks and spend much time away from my home, the way we spend our days is changing. Most of my walks are now taken on a new treadmill, so I don’t have to worry about the weather or ticks or the location of the nearest restroom. I’ve fallen in love with tai chi and have also started resistance training to strengthen my bones. Tim gets plenty of exercise at cardiac rehab three mornings a week.
None of those activities make for good photo opportunities, though! We still try to visit the botanical garden once a week, as it has bathrooms for me and benches for Tim. But since we have so many birds right outside our windows we have started trying to make our garden even more inviting for them. We now have a birdbath and a suet feeder and a cylinder feeder, all of which are visited often.
We even hung up a little birdhouse. And much to our delight we have both seen a chickadee flying into it, on two separate occasions, but have yet to witness anyone coming out of it, even though we wait patiently.
a goldfinch and a male flower from the sweetgum tree
I so wished I could attend one of the Hands Off! protests on April 5th! I was there with everyone in spirit, but my illness prevented me from being there in person. It was very encouraging to see from news reports and social media posts that a sizable (5.2 million protestors) resistance to tyranny exists and my hope is that we will find a way to prevail.
Freeze warning this morning. I brought my new potted geranium inside.
Even though I’m seeing lots of bluebirds these days, they are proving to be very challenging to photograph! The one above cooperated by staying put for a little while, but his position in the available light left a lot to be desired. Still, I kind of like that thin crescent outline of light on his breast and belly.
sassafras blossoms
I’m paying more attention to the small grove of sassafras saplings. Right now there is a patch of pretty violets surrounding their trunks. By April other wildflowers will be blooming there.
violets
We checked on the sandhills pyxie-moss and found it still blooming, in spite of all the grasses, pine needles and cones, and assorted leaves trying to cover it up.
sandhills pyxie-moss
red maple seeds
Two weeks after the controlled burn the cinnamon ferns are coming up!
cinnamon fern
evergreen blueberry
golden ragwort
Alabama snow-wreath
rue-anemone aka windflower
Look who we caught making himself right at home in the birds’ tray feeder.
Who robbed the Woods — The trusting Woods? The unsuspecting Trees Brought out their Burs and Mosses — His fantasy to please — He scanned their trinkets — curious — He grasped — he bore away — What will the solemn Hemlock — What will the Fir tree — say? ~ Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #57)
“When Icicles Hang by the Wall, & Dick the Shepherd Blows His Nail” by Edward Robert Hughes
Soon shall the winter’s foil be here; Soon shall these icy ligatures unbind and melt — A little while, And air, soil, wave, suffused shall be in softness, bloom and growth — a thousand forms shall rise From these dead clods and chills as from low burial graves. Thine eyes, ears — all thy best attributes — all that takes cognizance of natural beauty, Shall wake and fill. Thou shalt perceive the simple shows, the delicate miracles of earth, Dandelions, clover, the emerald grass, the early scents and flowers, The arbutus under foot, the willow’s yellow-green, the blossoming plum and cherry; With these the robin, lark and thrush, singing their songs — the flitting bluebird; For such the scenes the annual play brings on. ~ Walt Whitman (Sands at Seventy)
Our first winter holidays in North Carolina were amazing! Our walks were few and far between, though, due to all the other activities. Time to get back on track and back to the blogosphere.
Look back on Time, with kindly Eyes — He doubtless did his best — How softly sinks the trembling Sun In Human Nature’s West — ~ Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #1251)
eastern bluebird
I think if I’m going to photograph more birds we will have to visit more gardens than forests. The trees seem to be so much taller down here and my zoom lens just doesn’t reach those high perches to capture the winged creatures that well. But I’m including this bluebird picture anyway to remind me how nice it was to see and hear a few of them, way overhead, that day. 🙂
A lot had changed in the seven weeks between our visits to the nature center. The trees had leafed out and we could barely see the little mound where Mama Goose had been sitting on her eggs. But on this day the bullfrogs were still populating the pond. After checking out the pond we headed out to the meadow.
We’re squeezing in as many walks as we can before the weather forces us inside. The meadow was lovely with a few well-mown paths to follow through and around it. It was so refreshingly cool that in the shade I wished I hadn’t left my hoodie in the car, but in the sunshine the warmth felt so good on my bare arms. There were lots of birds flitting about, but not too many stayed still long enough for pictures.
eastern bluebird
a small portion of the large meadow
sign surrounded by orbs
birdhouse with some unique “landscaping”
honeysuckle
house sparrow (molting?)
clover blossom and bug
Then we walked back through the woods to the parking lot, and enjoyed the different things the dappled sunlight was highlighting.
ferns in a sunbeam
American robin
But beyond perpetual wonders and mortals asking why casting its light upon us all is the sun’s supreme reply. ~ Gunnar Reiss-Andersen (The Magic of Fjords)
