Swapping Huckleberries
Himalayan Honeysuckle ( Vaccinium glauco album) Himalayan Honeysuckle ( Vaccinium glauco album) has been an attractive feature along our north-facing foundation since I planted it in 2016. You will have to take my word for it since I cannot locate a photo although I know one exists somewhere in the realm of the Internet or floating on a cloud somewhere. I did locate a photo of how it looked when it was first planted - It took a few years to fill out but it did so nicely to an attractive mound about 2 feet high by 3 feet wide. Last year, it started to look bad. I cut it back but it had not improved and this is how it looked a few weeks ago - I decided to rip it out and plant another huckleberry - this time Vaccinium ovatum , more commonly known as the "Evergreen Huckleberry". This is a plant that I've wanted for ages and kept putting off getting one because I could not find a good place for it. By most accounts, this is an amazing plant, a native one and excellent for
Looks like a junco to me. They're a winter bird here in Nebraska.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you asked this, and that Benjamin took the time to answer. We have small flocks of these little ones visit our home here in SC, and I'd never seen them before and was clueless as to their id. Now I can follow up with junco as my starting point. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a pretty little Junco. We called them snow birds when we were small here in Ohio. Seemed they just showed up in the winter just as the snows came. I love photographing birds nut I have the worst time trying to get the eyes to show up on the dark headed birds. The Juncos give me fits to try to photograph when they are in the snow trying to get the light right to show their eyes. Wonderful photos! Have fun with your counting.
ReplyDeleteA Dark-eyed Junco it is .. Great fun counting all the birds!
ReplyDeleteI agree it's a dark-eyed junco, but feel compelled to add that they look a bit different in Michigan--the gray is more solid, less stripey. Um, because I knew you wanted to know this.
ReplyDeleteI also thought "junco." Saw a few for the first time in our yard this winter, and had a tough time id'ing them because they weren't on our regional common bird lists.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for doing the count!
I love birders. So helpful, so honest, so sweet.
ReplyDeleteA Junco. They arrive late fall and stay through the winter here. They don't use the bird feeders - they like to forage around the garden.
ReplyDeleteCameron
Thanks everybody! I'm a bit surprised because I didn't know we had those here. Cameron, I always see them on the driveway, never at the feeders.
ReplyDeleteI've taken to tossing seeds in the lawn where I don't mind them germinating if they last through the winter. The juncos swarm those areas a few times a day. I'd never really noticed them before this year.
ReplyDeleteSaw our first junco yesterday! :D I had to look it up in our bird book lol. Neat little things :D
ReplyDeleteThis is the first year I've seen so many dark-eyed juncos in my yard, Phillip. And as far as bluejays go, I've seen 2 the entire season. Most unusual. My most numerous is the bluebird and I get about 17 of those. I think they live right around here because they know they have lots of good eats;-)
ReplyDelete