May 2, 2008

I saw a beautiful eastern cottontail rabbit in the back yard yesterday morning. I have seen a few squirrels this spring, but not many and most of them were young. We have been watching a young mourning dove at the feeders. He or she is much smaller than the other doves and has more spots. We now have a brown thrasher coming to the feeders. He is such a big bully. He has to run all the birds off before he can eat. He does this by running at them headfirst. Sometimes, it takes him a while to scare them all off and he will not eat until they are gone. We are waiting for the showdown between him and the mockingbird that always fans out his wings at all the birds before he can eat. In the past week, we have had two different birds sit on the kitchen window ledge and look in. One was a juvenile titmouse. It was flapping its wings like baby birds do when they are waiting on a parent to feed them. I suspect it was seeing its reflection in the glass and thought a parent was there. The same thing happened with a song sparrow. Mom has baby robins now on the nest over the downspout of the gutter. I have been watching a robin in our front yard, but I can't find a nest.

The azalea bushes are blooming now and I hope to have pix soon. I already have tiny strawberries forming on the plants that I have in two large pots. They had to go in the carport for two days this week because of frost! The lilac was pretty this year despite the squirrel's efforts to plant walnuts in its roots. I saw a sapling growing there yesterday that I need to pull up. It is one of their favorite places to hide their stash of nuts and seeds.


A not so great pix of the lilac. The wind was blowing.




Another not so great pix of the little bush in the front yard. Does anyone know the name of this? It was given to me years ago and I don't remember the name. It has tiny white blossoms in the spring, and sometimes again later in the summer. I have even seen it blooming in the winter, but not as full as spring. It branches will bow and weep like a forsythia, but it is much smaller.