LeafNotes

I invite birds into my yard throughout the spring, fall and winter. Sorry birds, no food for you in the summer as I try not to let you find out about all my berries! Anyhow, I keep a regular seed feeder, thistle feeder and hummingbird feeder out most of the year. (Just a couple months without the humming bird feeder as the Rufous hummingbirds arrive by the end of February). I also have two birdhouses, but no birds living there yet as I think they mainly consider my backyard a restaurant and not a condo. The kids love watching the chickadees that love to hang out in the cherry tree. The 13 month old points and laughs whenever she notices birds in the tree. I myself enjoy the Varied Thrush the most. This bird just flips over mulch and soil and looks for worms and grubs under everything all day long. He’s very thorough!

I’m also starting a bird list of all the birds I have seen on a separate page. It will be a life bird list, not just birds from this yard. I’ve kept a list in my bird identification book for years and might as well publish it all in one place.

Okay, I figured I’d start something new. Each first day of the month I will attempt an inventory of what’s blooming. Of course in the spring it is equally exciting to see what is budding, but I can only do so much. So here’s the inventory for the first day of April, and it’s no April Fooling, even with 7 days of snow in a row, here’s what’s blooming:

• Viburnum
• Hyacinth- burgundy and white
• Hepatica trilobia
• Pulmunaria- just started
• Hellebores- still going
• Azalea
• Narcissus- mostly just starting
• Camellia- just started with 2 huge blooms
• Primula- only the grocery store kind, not the species
• Periwinkle
• Tulip- only species
• Pulsatilla
• Brunnera macrophylla
• White, variegated groundcover
• Anemone- blue only
• Corydalis curviflora
• Erithronium

I obviously have some naming updates to do on this list and will edit today/tomorrow with a couple of naming corrections. Most of my plants are labeled, but some have lost their name tags and my mind can only keep up with so much. Otherwise, the list is complete when it comes to blooms! Spring is definitely here and 60 degree weather is coming by Thursday.