The 2024 Garden Year
January 19, 2024 January Our year started with snow, ice and frigid temperatures in mid-January. Our temperatures stayed below freezing for almost a week. I think it was the most consistent cold that we've experienced since moving here. Fortunately, it was a dry snow so there wasn't too much damage. Once again, we almost lost the azara and I'm afraid there would have been some breakage if I had not kept knocking the ice off. February 14, 2024 February In past years, it seems that inclement weather seems to hit around Michael's birthday in mid-February. After the January snow and ice, this month was actually quite tame. Nothing exciting to report - mostly birdwatching . Early flowers like hellebores, cyclamen and crocus begin to bloom in mid month. March 3, 2024 March I got into a walking routine which I'm happy to report I am continuing this year. You get to the point where you feel guilty if you miss a day. I do miss days occasionally but I'm learning that ...
A nice selection of backyard birds here Phil. Some people call Juncos "snowbirds" because they migrate south when the snow starts to fly. The are from way up north.
ReplyDeletePhillip,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you didn't ID the Song Sparrows incorrectly? Usually at best you see one or two at a time sometimes three. The bird you didn't list could be in much bigger numbers it is the White-throated Sparrow.
Here is a link to good photos of both sparrows http://rlephoto.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-on-melt-down.html
I love the Junco~~It's been in my garden, too. gail
ReplyDeleteRandy, I very well may have done that. The sparrows always confuse me, there are so many different ones and they look similar.
ReplyDeleteI've been jotting them down here, too, but they appear in small numbers - you had a lot!
ReplyDeleteThe website says Monday is also included so I have a couple more chances. We have many birds in common, Phillip. One seasonal visitor I got to count today was the cedar waxwing. Luckily none of mine were sparrows, because they look awfully alike to me!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
No - anything but the S word. I wish it would all just go away. Or be warm. Then I'd be alright with it. interesting but useless link below:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livescience.com/strangenews/water-freeze-heat-100211.html
I really love garden birds. We had some goods sized trees around my old home. They were always filled with birds and on nice nights I'd leave the bedroom window open and wake up to their songs in the morning. I also liked seeing goldfinches on sunflower heads.
We also had a small water garden and had several visits from blue herons. Sparrow hawks would also frequented the area and would sit on the deck railing with their prey.
I didn't realize how many varieties of sparrows there were until recently. I find them difficult to identify as well. I can usually pick up subtle differences but apparently not with sparrows.
One of the oddest things I've seen is a king fisher. I tend to see them about once a year.
You had a good variety. It's interesting to see that the Juncos aren't common there. They are here year round, and usually lots of them visit together. Sparrows are a hard one for me to id a lot of the time, it seems like their differences are so subtle.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you mention te dark-eyed junco. We just saw our first ones yesterday when it snowed really big here in NC :D We had to run to our bird book to identify it. Cute little bird, had a different sort of personality. It sure enjoyed the seed we scattered on top of the snow :D
ReplyDeleteThis is the first year I'm participating too. It's actually easier than I thought. We'll see how it goes logging it in. You saw a lot of birds in your garden. They must be most happy.
ReplyDeleteJust noticed since the snow storm that the Cedar Waxwings are back eating every Palmetto seed in sight!!!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot more birds then we do for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteNice bird count--I didn't have that much luck here! 24 inches of snow and I only saw about 15 birds.
ReplyDelete