Not Always Vigilant

Last Saturday, I was out in the yard with pick in hand. The ground is not frozen--not sure it was ever frozen yet this winter--so I decided I'd better dig up the multiflora rose bushes that have begun to crop up in the meadow. Although I'd noticed some of them and planned to be "ever vigilant" when it comes to spotting and removing invasives that have begun to sprout, I am a bit of a procrastinator and didn't get to all of them...and perhaps, I didn't see them all. Now, I have several that might be two years old or so...I was shocked to see that they had gone to seed--rose hips--but, I never noticed them flowering.

Winter makes them easier to spot...but, I normally have to wait until spring to rip them out. Not this winter...I removed quite a few, burned the rose hips so I don't end up with more seedlings, and added the thorny branches to one of the brush piles.

I can't believe the one still had green leaves:

Doesn't Look Like January

Although we did have that one 6 inch snowfall, it melted quickly...and as I've seen throughout the month, the water in the drainage ditch is not even frozen! This sure is an unusually warm winter...not that I'm complaining. :)

The green of the golden ragwort is a welcomed sight. :)

Finally a Bit of Snow

It has been a warm, mild winter so far; the few cold snaps we've had didn't bring any precipitation...although there were some warmer days that brought rain. We made it through most of January with only two days of snow--last week we had one to two inches of snow (I almost posted about it, but the pictures I took weren't worth posting. Over night we got around six inches of light, powdery snow (easy shoveling!:) )...and I'm finally posting some pictures to prove it.

One of the blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) seedlings...this will make a great "before" picture...I just have to wait 5 to 20 years. :)

mourning doves

junco

goldfinch

Goldfinches

In past winters, I've seen maybe two or three goldfinches tops. This year, I have a small flock of at least a dozen or so. :) They are rather photogenic. ;)

I hope to increase the native flowers and add more native grasses to the meadow with hopes of seeing the flock throughout the seasons.

Winter Interest

Yesterday Evening

Finally I'm noticing that the sun is starting to set later...I'm ready for longer days again.

More Backyard Birds