Fledglings everywhere

Work has been keeping me beyond busy the past month and a bit, so I haven't had much - or any - time to focus on taking pictures. Any spare time I have been spent trying to finish up the garden, and that's about it. That said, we've had a lot of bird activity lately.

• Lots of fledglings being fed in our yard: robins, starlings, grackles, sparrows, and house finches.
• Our tree swallows must have hatched their eggs, because the activity level has been crazy. One is always inside the nesting box, and the other goes off and comes back a few minutes later with food. Then they'll switch off. Lather, rinse, repeat, from dawn 'til dusk.
• We suspect there's a Killdeer nest not far off our driveway in the wheat field. We have a lot of them in the fields adjacent to our property, but they're usually pretty far out. (Except the last two weeks, when they've actually been bathing in our pond.) Anyway, there's an adult Killdeer in the same spot every time we come or go, and we figure it can't be coincidence. That has to be its designated guarding-the-nest spot. I want to try to find the little cuties (seriously, baby Killdeer are so freakin' cute it should be illegal), but I don't want to stress out the parents.
• Baltimore Orioles are our new summer bird of plenty. Yesterday there were three adult males frolicking in our pond. Yes, at the same time. It was really odd, since they're usually so territorial towards each other.
• Hummingbird activity is depressingly bad. We've got maybe two males and two females, and they don't stick around for long. They also don't seem to have developed any kind of behavioral pattern that would let me get any decent shots. Very frustrating. Hopefully activity will pick up in August again. *fingers crossed*

More spring arrivals

We had a brutal cold snap last week that I thought was going to kill all my plants - not so! They're still growing like crazy, and I think we're still going to have a really early spring blooming.

Our first Northern Flicker of the year showed up in our yard on Sunday, foraging for bugs where our yard meets the unplowed farm field.

I actually ended up putting out our oriole and hummingbird feeders last week, because the migration maps are showing them much farther North than they usually are this time of year. Since it's too early for most of the nectar-rich flowers to be out yet, feeders are essential to help early migrants survive. And just a few minutes ago I received a report of a hummingbird spotted in Guelph (which is about 20 - 25 minutes from us). I'll be putting out a second hummer feeder tonight, I think.

Yard Bird Species #56

A Common Raven, cawing its head off, flew over my head this morning when I was in the back yard. So species #56 it is! :)

On a not-so-happy note, we got hit by a killing frost last night. We tried to cover most of the "important" plants, but it's not looking good. Only the ones that had more than one layer of cover seem to have gotten through it unscathed. *sigh* So much for an early Spring.

Spring is springing

We've had an unseasonably warm spell the past week, and I'm not talking just a little above normal, which is 6 degrees (42 Fahrenheit) this time of year. It's been in the mid- to high-20s (70s and 80s Fahrenheit). This is weather we normally expect in late May and early June, not the middle of March.

So, needless to say, my gardens are going crazy.

We have four main beds in the yard: along the front of the house (which we don't do much with, since it's mostly in the shade), under the back window, the main garden out back that has the pond and waterfall, and one along the shed/storage barn to the side of the yard. We've also got a couple of small beds and plants along the fence Dave built last Spring.

Anyway, because of this insane weather, everything is starting to bud. We've got iris, lupines, beebalm, delphinium, columbine, cone flowers, bleeding hearts, and lily of the valley all coming up. My honeysuckle vines have big new leaves. All our shrubs have leaf buds, and our lilac trees - especially the one out back that gets full sun all day - have leaf buds the size we saw in early May last year. (Last year was a particularly cool Spring, though, and things were a couple of weeks later than usual.)

I've gotta say, I'm a little bit worried about what this might mean. A cold snap could kill everything, and then we'd be screwed for the rest of the summer. Or if things keep going the way they are, will everything die a lot earlier this year, because it bloomed earlier? If that's the case, I have to make sure I buy some late-blooming annuals to fill in some of the bare spots...

I'm also wondering how this weather might influence migrating birds. Will everything come through early? The only new arrival we've had in the past week are the killdeer who like to fly around our fields screaming their little heads off. The number of Grackles, Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, and House Sparrows invading our yard continues to climb, though. Unfortunately. Our feeders are getting emptied out with alarming speed. And last night we saw a pair of House Sparrows trying to stake out one of our nesting boxes. (All I can say to that is: Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen, you little feathered bastards.) But I've already seen reports of ruby-throated hummingbirds as far north as Michigan, and there have been tree swallows spotted locally. I know I'll feel silly doing it, but I think I'm going to put out a hummingbird feeder or two this weekend, just in case. Same with our Oriole feeder. Better safe than sorry, right?

Also, note to self: have Dave get the pond cleaned up and running.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the season continues to unfold. Things are supposed to cool off a bit after tomorrow, but we're still going to be above average. Most of our lows are still going to be higher than the normal high temps for the this time of year, and and it doesn't look like we'll get anywhere close to freezing.

Gardening blues

We've had nothing but rain for the past four or five days, and it's making me very sad. Why? Because I haven't been able to finish getting the gardens ready for planting. Boo. :(  That said, I spent last night scouting out my favorite garden centres and figuring out what plants we need to make the garden appealing to our little hummers (and other birds, of course). It's looking like Thursday the hubby and I will spend getting the beds fully weeded and ready, and then Friday will be our planting day... unless I can get some done on Thursday. A girl can hope!

I really want to try to get out for some warblers this weekend. We've got a ton migrating through the area right now, and I know I've missed the best of it already, but hopefully there will still be some around Saturday and Sunday. **fingers crossed**