Surprise Guests

Our last day of school was Friday, but it wasn't until Monday morning that summer vacation really felt like it began.  I visited a nearby state park... and got a half decent shot of a blue heron.

Upon my return home, I backed into my driveway, grabbed the camera, and opened the car door.  Before shutting it, I spotted a cedar wax wing on a bare branch near our serviceberry tree.  Without shutting the door and with camera in hand, I slowly began taking pictures.  I rarely have a chance to be that close (this is likely the closest I've ever been).

At first, I did not realize this was a juvenile bird; it was not until its mother (or father?) brought it a berry for it to occur to me.

Despite the blue heron, this moment and these shots were the highlight of my day.  My goal to create habitat for native plants and the wildlife they support seems much closer to becoming a reality.  :)

Finally Transplanted!

Quite a few years ago, I bought some bareroot seedlings of alder to add to our property.   I planted a couple out in the yard (apparently they didn't make it)...and planted the majority in a decaying mulch pile.  They did well there, and I intended to move them two years ago...and again last year.  Today, I finally put two of the three or so into the landscaping.   (I suspect at least one of them is two trees growing together.)

I believe I have two more potted elsewhere.

In the process of digging them up, I dug out a red oak that I put in as a germinating acorn.  it looks to be about 4 years old--so, I dug another hole and added the oak to our developing woodland.  :)

 

An Unexpected Surprise...

For the past two weeks or so, I had been checking my nestboxes periodically--but mostly just their favorite and the new one that I saw a pair checking out.  On occasion, I would look in two others.  It seems to me, I only looked at the one in the far corner once (the path there had become overgrown last year). 

Today, I checked it out, and noticed what I thought was an old nest from last year that I forgot to clean out.  Looking inside and seeing some eggs still had me thinking that it was an unsuccessful clutch from last year, but, when I  put my phone in and took pictures, I realized the eggs were blue...and newly laid--the bluebirds are back!  :)

Seeing no nest-building over the past two weeks had me prepared for my first year without bluebirds.  I'm happy that does not seem to be the case.

Not Bad Idea!

It is our first spring day near 70°F...I am loving it. :)

I got some work done out front, and then took a break and walked down our wooded slope.  I don't explore this part of the property as much as I should; it borders our only neighbor on four sides.

On my walk back up the slope, I came across a section that has a patch of the dreaded Japanese knotweed.   I battle it periodically, but have yet to eradicate it.  This section is at the edge of the mini-woodland (reclaimed farmland--mostly locust trees, with a few sugar maples, elms, and wild black cherry).   It is also fairly close to where I dug my pond (Phase II...dug, filled with water, but the liner is not yet disguised).

So, it suddenly occurs to me that I could dig a vernal pond there--put down a liner, and fill it back up with the woodsy soil and fallen "driftwood".  This would give me more incentive to dig up the Japanese knotweed and smother any remaining roots that I may miss.  At least, I hope it would.  This would do double duty:  provide habitat while eradicating a horribly invasive species.

I had to get this posted...not that I expect to forget it, but one never knows.  :)

(I posted this while sitting on a fallen log on our wooded slope...I am enjoying the chorus of spring birds--especially the red-winged blackbirds' song which is the only one I really recognize.  I also had a few other visitors...and hot a close-up of one. )

 I laid an old carpet down a couple of years ago; it has kept it smothered...it is covered in rocks I have saved up for my streambed project.

I must say, a vernal pool would look much better than what I have now.

Beauty...

Beauty... right outside our window...

New Year's Day

Not a bad start for the new year.  I didn't plan it.  Although it was overcast, today was in the 40s, so I went out to walk the property.

My plan (and my attempt) to create a native meadow has started and stalled many times over the past few years...but that is another story.  One section had some locust trees seed in and begin to take over.  There were more than I realized...and by the looks of them, they had been growing for a few years.

Over the summer, I noticed the largest ones...and decided they had to go...but I didn't want to do it when there was a possibility that birds might be nesting in them.  Today, I finally took a chainsaw to them.

Before

After

This spring, I inadvertently attracted house wrens while trying to attract a second pair of nesting bluebirds.  I put up a new nestbox in the far corner of our yard.  Instead, house wrens moved in...and ended up killing the newly hatched bluebirds.  I am determined not to let that happen again.

Not only will I be removing all except the original nestboxes, I plan to make the meadow go back to early stages of succession, so it is less attractive to the house wrens.  Removing these invading locust trees is the first step.  (We do have several full grown locust on the property, so this will likely be a recurring battle in the coming years.

For now, I am smother the stumps, to prevent regrowth.

I took the (thorny) locust into our "woodland" and created another brush pile--combining it with the Amur honeysuckle bushes that I cut down in the spring (from the neighbor's property--with their permission).

Planting an Alder

I actually worked out in the yard for a bit today.

I ended up planting an alder that I kept in a large pot for too many years.  The deer have nibbled on it through the years, so it is still rather small.

To keep the deer from finding it, I decided to stick some dried asters in the ground to help disguise it.  I'm out of fencing.

Not too bad for the end of December.   :)

Too bad that the second half of summer and well into the fall, there was so much rain--nearly daily--that I got almost nothing done in the yard...until now.  :)