April 11, 2008
Early spring flowers are beginning to bloom. Depending on where you live, expect to find daffodils and crocuses already open. The forsythia bushes are sharing their floral beauty with us as well. The lawn is looking greener and the weeds are even coming up, right through the new pavement and sealer. You can't stop nature!Backyard tip of the week:
Take a moment this weekend to see what's popping up in your backyard. Perhaps, with a nice cup of herbal tea and a friend. You're sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
Including northern cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, Carolina wrens and American robins. White-throated sparrows, eastern goldfinches and house finches. Red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. The tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, American crows, a couple of grey squirrels and some bunnies. Also, house sparrows, European starlings, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, bronze-headed cowbirds, and a bunch of mourning doves.
Cool sighting of the week:
Common grackles are, as the name implies, quite common. Black, with iridescence on head, belly, and back, the common grackle comes to bird feeders for seed and cracked corn. Well, this week, I saw one doing something that was not so common.
While perched on the bird feeder, across from his potential mate, the male grackle puffed out his chest until he was two to three times his regular size! It was unbelievable! Part of their courting ritual, I'm sure that I'd seen it before, but catching a glimpse of a nuisance bird like the common grackle doing something so strange last Tuesday night was kind of cool!
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