Memorial day weekend

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Waxwings coming around, transitioning from the earlier Saskatoon/Amelanchier shrubs to the Cascara trees.

Crow fledglings sitting in pine tree, but haven’t seen them in a day. Hopefully they are gone for good. The parents were surprisingly distant lately ( we told one young crow we were sure he was abandoned), but i did get sqawked at a couple of times. I put out some leftover anchovies and water, in the hopes of making friends or maybe a servant of the baby crow. Many other birds, including lots of California quails, Junkos, Tohees and goldfinches are everywhere, and the back yard is a regular cacophony of birds.
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May 2011

False lily of the valley:

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Most deciduous trees and perennials have leafed out, and there are a lot of different greens, looking very lush in places. We have our privacy back in the back yard, and soon the front yard, too.

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Green shady area next to pond. (^) The oxalis, vancouvaria, false solomon’s seal, false lily of the valley, trilliums and bleeding heart all duke it out here.

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Critter heaven

I saw SEVEN eagles soaring over our neighborhood a few days ago! They dont normally fly much over land, either, so that was surprising. I actually heard them first,and then finally saw them all together to count them – they kind of screech.

The Mallard ducks have been making an appearance fairly regularly, though it is really Mr Duck who is here most. He can’t seem to find a steady date……

Native Douglas squirrels are getting very noisy, too, as they start nesting and getting territorial. I think we’ve finally stopped moving their caches around, and we made a small pile of loose bark pieces asnd wood for them to use as their new “stash” site.

Lots and lots of birds out, and they are louder, too. Ususlly there are feeding times, especially around noon-1 or so, and then in the late afternoon. Now they seem to be active all the time. The smaller songbirds tend to hang out and feed together, as there is safety in numers when they use each others’ predator alarm cries. Therefore when you see chickadees, you’ll probably also see wrens, bushtits, kinglets and thrushes. The slightly larger birds like the siskins and finches are usually more on their own. We haven’t had the crazy robin here this year, banging her head against a window for weeks (6 weeks) at a time. Thank goodness, cuz that waas a mess….she went after about seven different windows, making a bird-dropping mess at each one.

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April fools

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Tons of Camas, Brodiaea, Chocolate lily, and 2-3 yr leopard lily. White fawn lily seedlings thriving, as are the Dodacatheon/ Shooting stars, Delphiniums, and Wild blue flax. Maybe Rainier or Lopez “penstemon “. Rainier “tufted hairy” seeds germinating, which is probably an Anenome.

Mr Squirrel is busy foraging, and screaming at us when we get too near. We’ve moved the logs hiding his cache of nuts and pinecones more than once this year – next year should be more stable for him/ her.

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February events, landscaping

Camassia cusickii is starting to pop up in two places in the back yard. Dodacatheon /shooting star coming up (above), pulchellum (magenta) and a white one, maybe Dentatum (photos of both below).  Red Floweering Current and Indian Plum leaf buds appearing, those are usually the first leaves to come out. 

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