April 30, 2010 - 1
With temperatures barely into the sixties during the past week, it's little wonder that no frogs were seen in the pond. One of the bullfrogs was spotted briefly last Saturday, however, while basking in the sun on a rock. The frogs seem to show themselves more when temps are above seventy degrees. Still, a yellow swallowtail butterfly was spotted just yesterday, so warmer days are heading our way as surely as tomorrow is the first day of May.Meanwhile, sunrise occurred in the backyard this morning at 6:00. Sunset will arrive at 7:55 this evening. Adding just 16 minutes this week, we're up to 13 hours, 55 minutes of warm and wonderful sunlight today. And today is National Arbor Day! Maybe you could plant a tree.
Backyard Tip of the week:
Just a reminder to check out any of your own bird feeders periodically to see how they're holding up. Sometimes a simple repair is all is takes to fix a feeder that needs fixing and to keep your backyard birds healthy and happy.
I had to fix the big peanut feeder here recently. The bolt that was holding it had somehow come loose, just enough so that the normally stationary feeder could easily spin in a circle at the slightest touch, and probably when the birds were trying to land on it, too. After re-securing the feeder, it was nice to see that the blue-jays and woodpeckers were again able to take off and land at their usual high velocity. A funny thing, the big crows who occasionally use this peanut feeder, seemed to have adapted to scouring the ground below instead of trying to land on a merry-go-round. So, try to remember to check your feeders once in a while and to clean them regularly as well. You and your backyard birds are sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
Including northern cardinals, blue-jays, brown creepers, chipping sparrows, song sparrows, tree sparrows, white-throated sparrows, house finches and goldfinches. American robins, Carolina wrens and Carolina chickadees, catbirds, mockingbirds. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, northern flickers, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, mourning doves. Red-winged blackbirds, crows, grackles and starlings. Chipmunks, skunks, bunnies, red squirrels, grey squirrels, ground hogs, one bullfrog, and one male rose-breasted grosbeak.
Continued on next page...
April 30, 2010 - Part 2 - Cool Sightings
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