Late winter blooms and birds

It's still winter by the calendar, but we will have a succession of blooms from here on through spring.  My daffodils showed their first blooms Friday.  The little red maple in the front yard is full of blooms.  It has attracted the birds.  I saw a cedar waxwing in it as well as some yellow-rumped warblers.  The waxwing might have been drinking sap, and the warblers were flitting about for insects.  The warblers are in their subdued winter plumage.  Here is one near the treetop.

 

Here are the first daffodils.



Youtube videos

Have you ever thought of producing Youtube videos to make a little profit?  There are a couple of homesteading channels that I like to follow which have a large number of subscribers and make income that helps support their efforts.  I also have friends who started Youtubing a while back to help make a little income on the side.  Just when they were almost to the threshold of collecting a hundred dollars, Youtube has changed the game on them.  If they get enough views before the rules change later this month, they can still collect, so I'm going to post one of their videos of their son and grandson at the beach in hopes that a few more views will help them make their goal.  It's a sweet video of a normally very serious minded kid who has found his element.  The video is made up of still photos shot by Viktoria Eaton "You've Been Snapped."

 

 

I'm not sure how this works.  I'm assuming if I embed the video here, and it is watched, it will increase the number of views, but it might be that one needs to view it on Youtube (just click on that at the bottom of the video if you are trying to increase their number of views, and if you are a Youtube subscriber, be sure to give the video a thumbs up if you like it).

Bluebird rescue

Yesterday, when I took a walk up the street, I heard a noise in a mailbox.  I wondered if someone had played a prank and stuffed a small critter into that mailbox.  I don't know the person who owns that mailbox, so I was a little cautious about my inspection.  When I heard the familiar and somewhat plaintive call of a bluebird, I stepped closer to the box to inspect.  The mailbox was on a vinyl post with a missing cap.  About 18" or so down in the open post, I could see a bluebird that seemed to be trapped.  I tried to put my walking stick down into the opening to get the bird to grip it.  Then when a young mother across the street came home, I tried to enlist her help.  By that time, I realized there were 2 birds inside the post.  We tried scooping a bird out with a grill fork to no avail.
Finally, the first bird grasped my walking stick.  I gently drew the stick out, and the bird was able to fly off.  The second bird was a bit weaker.  As a last resort, I actually stuck my hand down into the post and brought the bluebird gently out.  It was also able to fly off.  It was late afternoon.  I hope they were able to recover sufficiently to make it through the night.  That was an interesting experience.

First crocus

I took this picture yesterday--first crocus of the season.

An evening at the "Listening Room"

Last Friday night, darling husband and I had the opportunity to attend a little concert in the Wake Forest Listening Room series.  The band was Drybread Road, a duo consisting of our musician acquaintances, Rick and Bette Newsome.  Rick and Bette are wonderful people who can entertain and educate at the same time.  They have a gentle, understated way about them and their show is smooth and polished, thoroughly enjoyable.
The venue was the Sugar Magnolia Café & Emporium, a very lovely little shop in downtown Wake Forest.  The manager, Mike Allen, livestreamed the show and has posted the VIDEO on the Listening Room page.