April 16, 2010 - 1
The warmth and sunlight of spring have left the mountain covered in green again finally. Viewed from a distance the overall mountain image is still kind of blotchy and not quite filled in yet, but the fields are a particularly bright shade of green, making it easy for one to remember those fine summer days that are not too far away. In this backyard, the willow trees have nearly all of their leaves while other trees are still bare. The apple and pear trees out near the meadow bloomed last Saturday, bringing their seasonal splendor to the yard and prompting a bit of additional enjoyment. Shortly thereafter, I found myself with a small vase full of violets, forsythia, apple blossoms and even these tiny yellow flowers that I had no idea what they were. All week long I enjoyed nature's floral influence in my home. By Tuesday morning, the apple blossom cuttings had opened, thereby adding greatly to my zen experience. --- Meanwhile, sunrise occurred in the backyard this morning at 6:20. Sunset will arrive at 7:41 this evening. Having gained 20 minutes this week, that puts us up to 13 hours, 22 minutes of warm and invigorating sunlight today. Well, it would anyway, if it wasn't so cloudy.Backyard Tip of the week: Remember to take time this spring to cut flowers for yourself, or for someone you love. Grab some clippers or a pair of scissors to best obtain your cuttings and just head outside. See what's growing in your yard, even if you don't have flowers planted, you may be able to find those pretty little lawn violets or some other precious and individually significant offering that nature has left for you. Celebrate Earth Day the natural way next Thursday by picking some flowers for yourself. Go ahead and try it, you're sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week: Including northern cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, chipping sparrows, blue-jays, brown creepers, song sparrows, tree sparrows, white-throated sparrows. American robins, Carolina wrens and Carolina chickadees, catbirds, mockingbirds, house finches and goldfinches. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, northern flickers, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, mourning doves. Red-winged blackbirds, crows, common grackles and starlings. Chipmunks, skunks, bunnies, grey squirrels, red squirrels, ground hogs, still the bull frogs in the pond on the warm days and a hawk that was seen high above the backyard.
Continued on next page...
April 16, 2010 - Part 2 - Cool Sightings
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