Visitors to the Homemade Suet

While I was out there putting the new homemade suet in the feeder, I heard, and then finally found a Flicker in the neighbor’s yard. I haven’t seen him at my suet feeder yet, but I hope he comes to visit. In the meantime, the last couple of days I’ve seen Chickadees, a Downy Woodpecker, a Red Breasted Nuthatch and a squirrel on the suet feeder. They seem to like this new suet!

Something, well, probably that darn squirrel, knocked the feeder onto the ground. The Downy seemed to have liked the homemade suet so much it also went down to the ground to eat it. I’ve never seen a woodpecker eat off the ground. He must have been really hungry!

Since I am hoping that spring is coming soon, I decided to put the other suet cake I made out for the birds. I don’t have another feeder, so used an empty onion bag. We’ll see how that works.

Winter’s Last Gasp

We can only hope it is winter’s last gasp. Once again, we awoke to a fresh covering of snow.

This was a typical heavy, wet March snow that covers everything it falls all. Hopefully, the damage will be minimal. Some branches and tree limbs here and there were down, the evergreens are sagging badly again, but the power stayed on.

The view was really pretty this morning as the sun was rising.

And all through the day every branch was frosted with snow.

The chickadees were frisky enjoying the warmer temperatures…

while the sparrows enjoyed the extra cover on “their” tree…

…while they tried to figure out if there was anything in the feeder.

This was one of those snows where everything gets covered. You’d better know where you are going, and remember the shapes of traffic signs from your road test days, since nothing could be seen under the snow stuck to the signs.

The Christmas lights are still up. Almost beginning to wonder if they should just stay up until next year.

Our Westie is also happy to be able to enjoy the snow and sun without the frigid cold. Maybe a snowman will finally pop up in our yard. It’s the perfect kind of snow.

Seeds are in the House

After spending quite a bit of time pouring over seed catalogs, I finally sent in my seed orders. I had lots of new seed catalogs come to the house, and some more companies I just visited on-line, making the choices this year really tough.

Ultimately, I went with some Burpee stand by’s and the rest from Botanical Interests. I ordered an assortment of vegetables and flowers. Some of the vegetables I’ve grown before (summer squash, zucchini, lettuce) and others are new to my garden (pattypan squash, beets and cabbage).

I’ve outgrown the raised bed on the side of the house, plus we’ll have new construction next door so I’m not sure what the sun situation for that bed will even be come next year. So we spent a great deal of time watching the sun pattern in the yard last year (full sun is a problem in my yard) and mulling over where we could tolerate more vegetable beds. We finally settled on a new location off the back of the patio for 2 new raised beds. I’ve promised to keep them under control and somehow “pretty” them up. You can imagine them out there under the snow.

I bought new raised bed frames last fall from Plow and Hearth, so I am ready to go after a trip to the lumber store. I’ll let you know how I like the brackets.

Are you ready to start planting?

Trips Down Memory Lane

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed while blogging is having my memory jogged by reading other blogs. For example, reading about lichens and mushrooms on another site brought back memories of when I was in high school and my family went to a huge Audubon gathering in the Allegheny State Park called the Allegheny Nature Pilgrimage. Even though we went more than 30 years ago, I remember it being an amazing weekend gathering of nature enthusiasts. Everyone got to choose from lots of interesting walks led by specialists in their areas and participate in scheduled group events. I was really surprised to see that it is celebrating its 56th year. If I lived closer, I would definately be going!

One walk that really stood out and stuck with me was one on mushrooms and ferns. I really enjoyed learning about their biology and how to identify them in the field. That afternoon was probably one of the reasons I sought out taking Botany as a biology elective in college.

Then somewhere along the line that interest was forgotten. I still have a bookshelf full of bird and flower books and always carry them along with me on hikes and trips.

But the ferns and mushrooms, forgotten. There on the bookshelf is also my fern book, bought in 1984 according to the date written on the inside cover, but barely touched. I guess I never actually bought any of my own mushroom and lichen books either. I must have just used my mom’s “library”.

I think it’s time to open this untouched book and see what is inside. I think it’s also time to take a trip to a local bookstore and see what local reference books they might have to offer. I find that specialized bookstores, like the one at the Morton Arboretum or in a National Park, carry the best local flora and fauna books. They tend to stock what their local experts recommend. I’ll let you know what I find—

Blustery Day

I felt a little like Winnie the Pooh yesterday.

Continue reading “Blustery Day” →

Great Backyard Bird Count

Great Backyard Bird Count
February 14-17, 2014

Since 1998, birders of all kinds have come together for a four day bird count in February. Counting birds at the same time every year provides a snapshot into the overall health of bird populations around the world.

Years ago as a service project, my Girl Scout Troop participated in this event. It was really fun teaching the girls about what they were possibly going to see in their backyards, and introducing them to thinking a little more about their natural surroundings. The girls loved it!

It’s super easy to participate. Simply tally the numbers and kinds of birds you see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, You can count from any location, any time of day, anywhere in the world.

To get more information and register your observations, go to the GBBC site.

This project is a joint venture between the Audubon Society, The Cornell Lab, and Bird Studies Canada. It is also made possible by support by Wild Birds Unlimited and the National Science Foundation.

Are you participating? Did you see anything unusual?

This Painted Bunting would be highly unusual to see in my backyard, but it was one of my most exciting sightings!

Photos by Peggy and Stephi

A Midwinter Walk

Between polar vortexes, my husband and I had a chance to go for a walk in one of our local forest preserves. One thing that that I find remarkable about the Chicago area is the forest preserve system. They are maintained by the individual counties, but their common general goals are to preserve open, natural space and land conservation. Considering we are within such a huge major metropolitan area, the forest preserve system is amazing in it’s success in preserving natural spaces and proving places for people to go and connect with nature. One of these, the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, currently owns or manages over 25,000 acres of land at over 60 forest preserves, or about 12 percent of the total land in DuPage County. And it’s still growing.

These Forest Preserves include places to do most any outdoor recreational activity you could imagine, and many have educational programs for all ages. Adding into that the local parks, I can’t imagine you’re ever more than 5-10 minutes from a beautiful natural space.

So only a short drive from my house, we had a wonderful scenic walk on a relatively warm, snowy day.

On a sunny day in the winter, the river is running bright and clear.

There are always resident Canadian Geese and Mallard Ducks to be found on the water.

Watching the ducks hop in and out of the water was quite entertaining and the ice made the funniest squeaking noise every time they hopped up onto it.

I, and others, have been finding such interesting patterns in the ice and frost this winter. Looks like some kind of alien spiders have landed on the ice here.

Cross Country Skiing-25 Years Later

I’m not sure why, but ever since we moved to Chicago, my cross country skis have been in storage in the basement. Many years, there just wasn’t enough snow to ski, and then when there was snow, I’d come up with reasons why the conditions were never quite right. Mostly, it was that I grew up in Buffalo and had great places to cross country ski. In my mind, nothing here would compare, so it wasn’t worth the effort. I realize that’s not entirely rational, nor fair.

We started cross country skiing as a family back when I was maybe around 8 yrs. old. I give my parents a lot of credit for taking 3 young kids out in the cold snow to go cross country skiing. In those days, the skis required waxing, which was a complicated art, especially for five people. For fun, I checked out the Swix Website to see if it was as complicated as I remember, It was, so kudos to my dad for figuring it all out. Thankfully, no-wax skis were invented and made everyone’s lives simpler. I have fond memories of those trips (except for the frozen feet), but I’m sure we weren’t always happy skiers.

So this weekend, before the next polar vortex arrived, I finally decided to get my skis and poles out of the basement. I had some cleaning up to do with them, and actually needed to use goo-gone to get the moving tape residue off (mind you, we haven’t moved in 20 years). Then off to find the boots, which are actually my mom’s old boots since mine have long since disintegrated. I still have the old, 3 pin bindings so when she upgraded her equipment, I luckily inherited her boots. Finally, I had everything together including my original, now vintage, bamboo poles complete with yellow tape markings to distinguish them as mine.

Of course, I had an absolutely wonderful time! It was cold, but not too windy and the sun was shining. The snow was just perfect for skiing, either in other skiers trails or blazing my own.

Everything came right back as if I had been out yesterday. I even had the chance to herringbone up a small hill.

I think my skis will stay in the garage now and get more use. Next up will be to get my husband out there, or, if the weather would ever cooperate, take my skis up to my mom’s and ski with her.

Stay warm!

Tax Time

I’ve had to take a break from thinking about gardening and bird watching to take a week long training class to be a AARP Tax Aide for Seniors. Tax season can sure be daunting, and I’m going to try and help a few people get theirs done a little easier. Do you volunteer?

I’ll be back with a new post over the weekend!

Squirrel Calisthenics

Anytime you put out a bird feeder, you are also bound to be inviting squirrels to your yard. So, I now have a group, scurry, dray, or whatever a bunch of squirrels might be called, who visit on a regular basis. I’m beginning to be able to pick each out based on their coloring and eating habits. One in particular is quite the gymnast. I’m not sure he’s getting any net positive calories, but he sure seems to be having fun doing this.

I really can’t even be upset he’s eating the sunflower seeds because as someone else in my family said, “It’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen”. This guy seems to be the only one who has figured this method of eating from this feeder. Another one clings a little better, but doesn’t last very long on the feeder. Either way, they don’t get much to eat one seed at a time. The others just scavenge the seeds on the ground or on the snowman statue’s hat. Not too much of a bother…yet. Plus, it gives Daisy something fun to do outside.

Here’s a movie of him getting a workout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jEqoyC6dCQ

As a bonus, if you watch the background, you’ll see some Juncos and a Downy Woodpecker coming to visit.

Category: General

Visitors to the Homemade Suet

Winter’s Last Gasp

Seeds are in the House

Trips Down Memory Lane

Blustery Day

Great Backyard Bird Count

Great Backyard Bird Count
February 14-17, 2014

A Midwinter Walk

Cross Country Skiing-25 Years Later

Tax Time

Squirrel Calisthenics

stephigardens

Great Backyard Bird Count February 14-17, 2014

Great Backyard Bird Count
February 14-17, 2014