Spring Happenings...

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.
(Ruth Stout)
It has been a busy five days since I last posted and my little grape hyacinth has fully opened. I was up in Duluth for a few days helping out Jayme and then when I got home I took advantage of good weather and spent all my spare time in the garden and not on the computer. This weekend, Jeff & Nathan helped me drain and clean out the pond (and believe me that is one dirty job). Today, I set out the water plants, refilled the pond and turned on the rock fountain. I been waiting for this day since November 28th.
The big limestone rock chips off a few layers each year as you can see by the brighter gold spot in the above photo. This rock is probably a piece of ancient sea bed as you can see by this newly exposed fossil. Over the years several have been exposed and worn away.
Once the rock is turned on, I usually sit with the camera and wait to see which bird comes to use it first. Almost always it is a robin but this year it was a pesky grackle. I think they are here in much higher numbers this year, does anyone else think so too?
Though he stayed high in the tree tops and did not come in for a drink, I enjoyed watching this male flicker calling out for his mate. This is such a wonderful time of the year, and I think I can finally say it is truly spring as the juncos have left and yesterday we saw a blue heron.

more signs of spring...

The sunlight speaks. And it's voice is a bird:
It glitters half-guessed half seen half-heard
Above the flower bed. Over the lawn ...
A flashing dip and it is gone.
And all it lends to the eye is this --
A sunbeam giving the air a kiss.(Harry Kemp)

The white throated sparrows have arrived and I found my first tiny flower bud. While others are showing beautiful daffodils, tulips and other blooming plants, I was happy just to find this bud (with rabbit chewed leaves) and to see yet another migratory bird arrive in the garden.
I spent another day doing garden chores and raking up leaves. It feels so good to be outside after such a long winter. The tulips still have a long ways to go before I see any blooms. I think I lost quite a few over the winter as there are not many out there.
I was also happy to see my indoor cactus garden starting to bloom. No matter how much neglect it receives over the winter it blooms every spring...I love it!

Robbie the Rabbit...

Robbie the Rabbit is fat, fat, fat
His soft little paws go pat, pat, pat
His soft little ears go flop, flop, flop
And when Robbie runs, he goes hop, hop, hop.
(author unknown)Today, I worked outside and started some of the garden cleanup. I was surprised to see the corn I put out yesterday was already gone so I put more out. Tonight, just as the sun was setting I looked out and saw a rabbit at each pile enjoying a full meal which would explain the amount of corn I am using these days. As I was watching them, Joseph and the girls came in for their evening meal. It is such a delight to still have them visiting daily. I was so excited to see them at the same time as the rabbits that I didn't do a great job of focusing, Oops :-)

Signs of spring...

The snow is melting and there is still a large flock of juncos (including this one with unusual coloring) in the garden, but I have been seeing signs of spring with more new arrivals over the weekend.
Several pairs of woodducks have arrived...
as well as the the fox sparrows who have been enjoying the corn buffet.

Shared joy....

Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. (Swedish Proverb)
Allow me to share some of the joy from our roadtrip yesterday...
Pictured above is my invitation to the open house at Gillette Children's new Maple Grove clinic. This is the clinic that is displaying some of my photos so of course we were honored to attend this event. The building is displayed below through my raindrop splattered lens.
Once inside we received a personal tour from Melissa who serves as the Site Operations Manager/Rehab Supervisor and is a pediatric physical therapist. She is a beautiful person both inside and out! But back to the clinic...Jeff and I were amazed at all the wonderful technology and services this clinic provides. The clinic offers physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as customized seating, orthotics, prosthetics and other assistive-technology services. I can't say enough about what wonderful services and technology (that I never knew existed) they provide so if you are a parent of a child in the NW metro area in MN in need of this type of medical care...look them up!
Of course since I don't go anywhere without my camera I took a few pictures inside. This is my favorite...as this mother/child are walking down the hall touring the new facility, mom is looking to the left at all the wonderfully equipped treatment rooms but the little girl is looking at my photos displayed at child level! What a wonderful concept displaying things for children at their level!
Melissa, I can't thank you enough for allowing me to be part of this wonderful clinic.
I wish we could have stayed longer at the open house but we made an early exit due to the quickly changing weather and our 2 hour drive. The drive home was slow going with snow, slush, sleet and icy roads. We saw several cars in the ditch and one go in right in front of us. We just took it slow and had lots of time to talk about how much we enjoyed the clinic. This morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow that is melting as I write this. More is predicted for this evening but it is nothing like the inland hurricane Jayme & Scott are experiencing up north. Can it really be April 11th?

Finally, some color....

"Spring would not be spring without bird songs."
(Francis M. Chapman)


How fun it was to look outside and see some "summer" color in the garden. The purple finches have arrived!
Seeing several of these guys lifts my mood today. It is gray, cold (30's) & windy and we are in a winter storm warning for up to a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow. Yikes!
Of course it has to be on a day when we have a fun road trip planned late this afternoon. We will keep a close watch on the weather and hopefully we'll be able to go and be back before the nasty changeover from rain, to sleet, to snow happens.

There is a huge flock of juncos gathering in the garden and the ground is full of them feasting off of spilled seeds. As much as I love them, I am hoping they head north soon because then we can finally say...spring is here for good.

This last photo is a house finch that was here yesterday. See how he has a little brown on the top of his head as well as the streaks on his breast.

Mr. Downy...

That little bird has chosen his shelter. Above it are the stars and the deep heaven of worlds. Yet he is rocking himself to sleep without caring for tomorrow's lodging, calmly clinging to his little twig, and leaving God to think for him.
(Martin Luther)
This little guy is a frequent visitor at the suet feeder. Today, he seemed like he was waiting for me to get a good shot...
because as usual someone always shuts their eyes in at least one photo!

Let's do the Hokey Pokey...

You put your right tail in,
You put your right tail out,
You put your right tail in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your left tail in,
You put your left tail out,
You put your left tail in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your right foot in,
You put your right foot out,
You put your right foot in
And you SCRATCH it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your head to the left & in,
You put your head to the left & out,
You put your head to the left & in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your right wing in,
You put your right wing out,
You put your right wing in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put both wings in,
You put both wings out,
You put both wings in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your whole self in,
You put your whole self out,
You put your whole self in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

I am so easily entertained :-)

Spring sunshine...

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature— the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
(Rachel Carson)
April showers are here today but for the last four days we have had beautiful spring weather with temperatures up to 60. Like the chickadee shown above I enjoyed being outside and basking in all the sunlight until it was low in the western sky. Winter seemed extra long this year and I am grateful that spring is finally appearing in the sweet melodies of the song sparrow...
and in the first signs of growth in the garden...
and in the huge flocks of honking canadian geese migrating over the yard.
The white dove did not stick around and has moved on. I sure was hoping he would have decided to call the garden home this year.

more shots of "whitey"...

Here is the shot of him reflected in the morning sunlight...and here is one from this afternoon.
After seeing this link from Project Feeder Watch, I do think it is a ringed turtle dove. This last shot is when I first spotted him this morning, he is about the same size as the mourning dove on the right side of the watering dish only chubbier.

a tale of three doves...

One of my very favorite times of the day is having my morning coffee while watching the birds out the window. I cannot wait for warm weather so I can be back out on the patio enjoying this time of solitude amongst the birds, enjoying their songs and not being hindered by the sheet of glass. This morning, my highlight was watching as several doves groomed themselves on the big rock. A mourning dove doing what appears to be "the twist"...and this one looks to be taking a nap...

before plucking out some of that extra winter down.
This is the one that really captured my attention. I have never seen a white one...is it another species of dove? Edited: I just looked it up and it is a ringed turtle dove.
He was gracious enough to come out from behind the water bowl so I could get a better look.

Oops, I was spotted at the window...
and only got in one more shot before they all flew off. Later, he landed on the birdhouse tree and in the reflecting sunlight he shone a brillant white. I sure hope this one decides to stick around for the summer.