The Birdwalk

No we haven't stopped gardening; in fact, there have been gardening things going on every day. I'm just behind on my blogging. Where does that extra time in retirement go? All I know is that I'm having a lot of fun, and am busy each and every day.

It's been the rainiest spring ever, but still we are planting and playing in the greenhouse.  We've already eaten spinach that we started indoors in a pot, and asparagus that always surprises us.  We never have a big crop of asparagus, but 4-6 stalks seem to pop up every other day - just enough for us to enjoy with dinner.

But this post has to be about our birds. The songbirds wake me every morning; I listen to them all morning long as I go about my business. I think they are the most beautiful and relaxing sounds in the universe. My DH keeps the bird feeders filled and we have a plethora of birds who visit us daily:  chickadees, finches, robins, bluebirds, cardinals, hummingbirds, flickers, woodpeckers, morning doves, and bluejays are some of my favorites that I can recite off the top of my head.  And of course, we have the annoying grackles, sparrows, swallows and crows. The crows especially get me going since I've seen them both grap and eat my yellow finches, and also attack my garbage bag spreading the garbage across the lawn before the garbage man can get here.

We've had a few surprise visitors this month.  The most exciting ones have been the Baltimore orioles.  We've put out cut oranges in previous years with no luck, but this year, the day after we put out the oranges 2 males and 1 female oriole stopped by.  We watched them excitedly for 2 days, but have not seen them since.  Were they just passing through?

This is not my oriole, but one just like it. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of our visiting orioles, so I borrowed one from online (http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/animals/birds/bullocks-oriole.aspx).

Next to visit were a pair of ducks who stopped in yesterday.  We often have Canadian geese who fly overhead on their way to the local creek for an overnight, but never before have we seen ducks stop here.  They stayed just long enough for a picture or two.

Our visiting ducks

And then today, as I stood at the sink doing some dishes, I saw 2 Tom turkeys come trotting across the yard.  I grapped the camera and took a few shots right from the window.  They were already moving quickly across the yard, and I was afraid if I opened a door they would take off.  That's exactly what they did, but not before they checked out the greenhouse and the asparagus bed.  (It takes so little to get me excited.)

This is 1 of 2 Toms that came visiting this morning. I wish I could have gotten a shot of him spreading his tail feathers. It was magnificent!

As I sit here at the computer next to an open window, I'm listening to the songbirds. I got my DH a birdcam last summer, and it is time to get it set back up at the feeders.  Spring is here; the plants are growing, and the birds are singing. Life is good.