The catbird

We have gray catbirds here in the summer.  They do sound like a meowing cat (or perhaps a creaking swing).  I remember the first ones we saw here.  My son was fairly young and had never seen a real-life catbird, though he must have seen them in books.  One day he said, "I saw a catbird."  I could hardly believe it.  He didn't ask what kind of bird he had seen; he just knew what it was the first time he saw it.  I questioned him, of course, as to the description.  (I think he had seen it light on the back of a deck chair, if memory serves me correctly.)  Not long after that, I either heard the bird or saw it myself. 
I suppose I will always remember that incident whenever I see a catbird.  Here are some shots I got this week of the catbirds.

On another note, I did see a couple of the bluebird fledglings in the tree outside my window.  I hastily tried to snap a photo.  It was too blurry, but at least it can serve as evidence that the birds are out of the box and flying about.  The male parent had just fed one of them.  They were only there for a few seconds before they followed Papa Bluebird out of my sight.

 

It won't be long before the bluebirds start a second brood.

 

Another hailstorm

We had another hailstorm last night.  I had just yesterday been admiring how lush everything was compared to last year after the major hailstorm we had.  I watched helplessly as the newly emerged sugar maple leaves and sycamore leaves were blown onto the house and sidewalk.  The hail blew in violently onto the covered porch.  You can see the pellets here against the house and front doormat.  A twig of sugar maple leaves lies beside them.

 
I noticed that a small dead branch from the sugar maple with pock marks from last year's storm was blown onto the porch.  It landed on and broke one of the two tomato plants we bought yesterday.  It almost felt like a divine judgment.

Bluebirds

Yesterday, I watched the bluebirds feeding their nestlings.  What a noisy, hungry bunch!  I figured they would soon be leaving the nest.
Here is the female feeding the baby birds.

 

If you look carefully, you can see a nestling looking through the opening in the bird box.

 

This morning I watched the male bird seemingly try to coax the fledglings from the box.  He called, flew to the box, flew back to the tree, called again.  A couple of times he went inside the box.  I had other things to do and couldn't just watch all morning, so I went on about my chores.  This evening, I could hear the bluebird calling in the edge of the wooded area nearby.  Maybe the birds finally left the nest today.  I will look tomorrow to see if there is any activity at the box.

I've enjoyed watching them raising their brood.

 

A plant called green and gold

Since childhood, I've enjoyed seeing the little flower called green and gold blooming on a road bank.  I transplanted a little from the road bank at Mom's to my property here.  I planted some under a pine in the back yard and another little dab in front of the porch.  At some point I gave a little division to my neighbor.  Hers thrived while mine all died out.  So I begged a division back from my neighbor.  I tried to baby mine just a little with extra compost and waterings.  It has lived, so I'm transplanting a little to the corner of the sidewalk by the front porch again.  It makes me happy to see the yellow next to the red verbena in the pot my menfolk gave me last year. 
When I was a little girl, I had a tiny doll with a red and yellow calico dress.  I thought that was the most cheery color combo imaginable.  I still like red and yellow together.

 

 

Mr. Tree Frog is back

A few nights ago I saw the green tree frog on the window.  I wondered if the gray tree frog was around as well.  Yep.  Today when I went to the utility room to put back a wrench I had used, there he was on top of the open door.  Now he should be glad I saw him and closed the door very slowly.  He might have been smashed otherwise.  He sure seemed reluctant to leave his post, and I had to be a bit forceful with him.  I will warn dh and ds to be careful when they open and close that door.

Garden peas

Usually the first thing I plant in the spring is garden peas, or English peas as they are known in these parts.  I put a lot of effort into digging up a place for them.  It's rewarding to see the little plants emerging in a row on each side of the wire pea fence I use.  I plant the Wando variety.  It is a heat tolerant variety, and we almost always have hot weather by the time the peas are producing.

The apple tree

The apple tree is in full bloom and the bees are loving it.  I spent some time digging up wild raspberry briars that have encroached on the area under the tree, and I could hear the hum of the bees above me.  The tree is a golden delicious tree, and it usually succumbs to cedar-apple rust each year.  If it does bear, the squirrels vie for the fruit.  But right now, it looks great.  The honeybees are not mine.  I think they are flying in from a farm which is a good ways down the road but probably a half mile or less as the crow flies.

 

The butterflies were enjoying the blossoms as well.  I saw several silver-spotted skippers like this one (in addition to a few swallowtails).