Watching The Birds

[zerostao]

this morning walking on campus I came up behind a crow that was walking like a pigeon and as I gained on it,

it hopped up onto a perch about 3 feet above where I would walk thru, it just looked at me, didn't utter any sounds.

I said ah ah , the crow kept its stoic silent look but behind me another crow answered ah ah ah in the same tone I used.

a couple of moments later and unrelated(?) a maintenance worker I often pass by, who never speaks, said howdy.

I replied howdy.

[Marblehead]

That is neat. It's so nice when things seem to come together like that.

 

A pair of birds, I haven't yet identified, maybe wren or finch, have decided to make a nest in one of my hanging baskets with Christmas Cactus growing in it that is in the pond area. I am going to have to keep a close eye on that because two years ago a pair did the same thing and then one morning I went out to the pond area and found all the babies had tried their first flight, ended up in the water and drowned. That was such a sad experience for me. Don't want it happening again.

[Nungali]

Been a bit wet and foggy lately ... its bought the whip birds out ... one was in the tree outside the front door earlier.

 

[Marblehead]

Neat call.

[Nungali]

We also have the 'wolf-whistle' bird ... I dont know its name or what it looks like but it does a loud drawn out wolf-whistle call ... much to the disturbance of female skinnydippers at our river on occasion

[Marblehead]

... much to the disturbance of female skinnydippers at our river on occasion

Hehehe. I can imagine.

 

I don't get to hear the birds often because of my poor hearing. But now and then one will talk loud enough for me to hear it.

[GrandmasterP]

That is neat. It's so nice when things seem to come together like that.

 

A pair of birds, I haven't yet identified, maybe wren or finch, have decided to make a nest in one of my hanging baskets with Christmas Cactus growing in it that is in the pond area. I am going to have to keep a close eye on that because two years ago a pair did the same thing and then one morning I went out to the pond area and found all the babies had tried their first flight, ended up in the water and drowned. That was such a sad experience for me. Don't want it happening again.

 

You have Christmas Cactus outdoors MH?

Wow!

We have one indoors and up to last Christmas it made a nice display but we only had about three 'flowers' on it this time.

It is about six years old and came in an indoor 'planter' basket as a baby plant.

It fills its own ten inch bowl now.

[Marblehead]

You have Christmas Cactus outdoors MH? Wow! We have one indoors and up to last Christmas it made a nice display but we only had about three 'flowers' on it this time. It is about six years old and came in an indoor 'planter' basket as a baby plant. It fills its own ten inch bowl now.

Yeah, mine do pretty well in the pond area. There's no direct sun where I have them hanging. If my winter is bad I will move them to the sun porch to keep them from freezing.

 

And true, if the plant gets what it needs throughout the summer it will offer some really beautiful flowers 'round about Christmas time. Generally, the different colors bloom at a different time of winter but pretty much within a few weeks of each other.

[Marblehead]

And BTW I have one Saigon Iris (pale blue and yellow pedals) in full bloom in its garden. Such a beautiful flower yet I have very little good luck with them.

[Stosh]

Moving here just to this last bit, Good, Im glad its not jinxable , my day took an abrupt about face , synchronicities and good vibes all over the place, the sun is out now , cool breeze , my pad phet was perfectly hot and spicy.. I think Im supposed to just keep the stuff sotto-voce though so, Ill just leave it there. thanks.

[Marblehead]

Yeah, when life is flowing just right we shouldn't be asking why but just living in it. Dynamic is Tao so who knows what is going to happen next?

 

I was sitting in the living room looking out the window watching the birds a little earlier and up flutters a solid yellow butterfly, flutters around all the garden areas and then left. It's favorite plant, the Lantana, althought putting out new growth, has no flowers on it yet. It wil likely start blooming in about two weeks.

[GrandmasterP]

We've had a few sulphur yellow butterflies already.

They are generally the first we see on a sunny spring day.

Once it warms up and stays warm the Cabbage Whites appear.

Those are our most common butterfly round these parts.

Once the Buddleia flowers it becomes butterfly central in our back garden.

They love Buddleia. We have white and blue all down one side.

[Marblehead]

I had to look that plant up as I didn't know the name. Beautiful plant. Same growth pattern, it seems, as the Lantana. But I have no room for any more larger plants. Darn! At least my Daylilies are putting out lots of new growth. They don't attract butterflies but I sure love looking at them. The most common butterfly here at my place is a orange with black circular patterns (not the Monarch).

[Stosh]

Is it this?

[Marblehead]

Yep. That's the little puppy.

[GrandmasterP]

Another name for Buddleia is 'the butterfly bush'' .

They are very vigorous and I have to crop ours back every winter of they'd soon take over everywhere.

Maybe it's too warm for them where you are MH they are a Himalayan species originally I think so maybe prefer it cooler.

They are very common here.

When we lived in London there were still bomb sites from WW2 and invariably those sites were a mass of Buddleia it really does grow like a weed if left to its own devices.

Nearest we can get to success with Lily-like plants is Monbretia, that comes up every year and gives a good long late show.

[Marblehead]

Monbretia: Yeah, those can readily be seen in my area. I thought of getting some at one time but never did. Easy grower, nearly no maintenance needed.

 

Yeah, I noticed when I looked up the Buddleia that its nickname was the butterfly bush. My Lantana would grow as you mentioned above and yes, I cut it back every winter. Now that new growth is on it I will cut back a little more soon when I can tell which branches are dead and which have life. I will be doing the same thing to the Bleeding Heart vines as well. I should have cut back the Creeping Trumpets more than I did but it's too late now to cut them back any more this year.

[GrandmasterP]

Are creeping trumpets 'Nasturtiums'?

Those grow for fun here and I like to eat the leaves and flowers in green salad.

The flowers are sugary-sweet and the young leaves are peppery.

Massive seeds easy to keep, dry and use each new season.

We've not bought Nasturtium seed for years.

Edited March 28, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Marblehead]

Nope. Totally different plant. Creeping Trumpet Vine:

 

http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/c-188-trumpet-vines.aspx?gclid=CK-pl7_Nt70CFWdk7Aod2jAAnw

 

They are actually considered "invasive" plants here in Florida because if the runners are allowed to run along the ground they will root every couple feet and before long a vast area is covered by nothing but trumpet vines. And they are very fast growers. Twenty to thirty feet in a single year. These are poisonous for humans but somehow hummingbirds are able to eat the nectar and love it.

 

They flower like crazy and attract hummers. Mine are the coral (orange) colored ones although I have two different varieties of the same species, both orange flowers though.

 

I have grown Nasturtiums a few times back when there were trees in my front yard. Here it is too hot for them to grow in direct sun all day so I haven't grown any for a long time.

 

BTW My Creeping Trumpets grow on trellises and I never let any runners grow on the ground so I pretty much have them "contained".

[GrandmasterP]

Campsis ( found it).

Man I love TTB!

Never grown it but like the look of them so ordered three plants of orange and three of red from Westcountry nurseries.

They recommend bringing them on in John Innes Number 2 compost so will give them a starter in that in the cold greenhouse.

We can't trust anything new outside until after Easter as a rule.

Full sun or shade when they go outside do you think MH?

Apropos the Buddleia.

It is just coming in to leaf and there are still some of last years seed heads .

Right now the coal tits are having their lunch on those.

Lovely little birds, nice song....

here's what I can hear....

http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment/British-wildlife-recordings/022M-W1CDR0001528-0900V0

Edited March 29, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Marblehead]

Yep. The Campsis. I never did take note of its scientific name.

 

They are low maintenance plants except to watch for it invading areas where you don't want them. I would recommend full sun as they are pretty much a tropical plant. They will die back in the winter if the temperature stays below 45 degrees F for more than 24 hours. But they have a hardy root system so I would doubt they would totally die even in your area.

 

My white Bleeding Heart is the only tropical that has not put out new growth yet.

 

Some of my Mexican Petunias are even flowering already. Blue is the normal flower color although they will put out white and pink flowers depending on the nutrients in the soil. My friend bought some after seeing mine and he gets many more white flowers than I do. Again, here in Florida these are considered an invasive plant as they self-propogate like crazy.

 

I couldn't hear much of what the bird was saying as my high frequency hearing is pretty much shot.

 

The only bird I heard this morning was my local male woodpecker pecking on the transformer can on the electrical pole.

 

Every now and again one of my birds will speak loud enough for me to hear it but mostly I miss out on all the chatter.

[GrandmasterP]

Mrs GMP has petunias in flower indoors.

That's early but we've had a bright late winter unseasonably mild too.

Possibly the extra warm light they've enjoyed has encouraged them.

Thanks for the heads up on planting out Campsis.

We've a sunny side and a shady side to our back garden. the shady side is where the Buddleia are.

I have spent today thus far observing the grass grow.

Time now to crank up the lawnmower..

 

:-)

[Nungali]

The butcher birds are going off today ... some crazy juvenile is putting up a non-stop racket.

 

Edited March 29, 2014 by Nungali

[Marblehead]

Mrs GMP has petunias in flower indoors. That's early but we've had a bright late winter unseasonably mild too. Possibly the extra warm light they've enjoyed has encouraged them. Thanks for the heads up on planting out Campsis. We've a sunny side and a shady side to our back garden. the shady side is where the Buddleia are. I have spent today thus far observing the grass grow. Time now to crank up the lawnmower.. :-)

You watching the grass sure made it grow fast!

 

Yeah, if they have the right temp and get sun there is a good chance nearly any kind of plant would go into flower.

 

I have never seen it but I have heard that the Campsis will happily climb up any tree it can get to so you might want to be watchful for that.

[Marblehead]

The butcher birds are going off today ... some crazy juvenile is putting up a non-stop racket.

That's quite an assortment of vocalizations for those birds. Apparently you feed them regularly, them sitting in the sun porch like that.