And i found a chickadee nest! I was just looking out the back door and noticed a lot of activity in one of the maple trees....a male Downy woodpecker scooting around the branches stopping here and there to peck, and then a pair of chickadees flying back and forth to the same spot on the tree. I looked closely and realized it's a place where a branch broke off years ago (this tree is fairly brittle) and it must have left a little cavity. Reading on the internet, it seems what the birds were doing was enlarging the cavity and carrying the wood chips away from the nest hole. Chickadees are amongst my favorite little birds and i'm so thrilled that they've found a perfect natural nesting place. Take a look at the tree...the nest opening is right below the big V of branches at the center of the picture.
My hardy pansies, last seen blooming in the snow, are now blooming their heads off. I had better water them, though...you can see how terribly dry the soil is.
C'mon, Spring!
We don't know these birds and will look them up. How exciting to have something so precious come so close to you. Mom has a thing for Viburnums, it's their smell that makes her drool! Last year she treated herself to a tiny Viburnum burkwoodii and it will bloom this year! Yay to Spring!
ReplyDeleteYes, the Viburnums are so spicy and delicious! And they bloom a lot more reliably in our partial shade than lilacs do. We love it when the weather warms up and their scent just floats through the air.
ReplyDeleteBring on Spring - we're ready.
ReplyDeleteMore spring. We can't get enough. In Danish we call pansies Step Mother Flowers. Go figure.
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