May 19 - Birds on buildings

Here in Michigan, we have a lot of Canada Geese. Actually, "a lot" is rather an understatement. In the spring it isn't unusual to have flocks in the parking lot where I work. There is a two week span where the geese will pair up and walk around on the roof, and honk loudly. You can hear them inside the building. Even though this happens every year, it is still a surprise to look up and see them on the roof edge.

If you could blow this picture up, you could see that the goose on the right is honking up a storm. His beak is open and you can see his pink tongue. They are on top of a three story office building.

The point of this is that I'm used to seeing large birds on buildings. But today... what a surprise!  I was walking down the aisle to my cubicle and in my peripheral vision I thought I saw some strange new apparatus on the building across the lot from my window. I took another look and nearly fell over when I realized there were two turkey buzzards sunning their wings on the roof.

 We get a lot of buzzards here, but I've only seen them circling overhead in the sky. I ran for my camera, but between the windows and the reflections, I didn't get a good picture. 

It has been quite the week for birds. On Tuesday, I was in Ann Arbor at our Sleeping Bear Press office. They are in a new office park with ponds and green space. From the conference room window I could overlook the pond where a Great Blue Heron was busy stalking around the perimeter.


He did have plenty of company though.This duck had a head that was florescent! An amazing green color. I'm sure it was one of the ubiquitous mallards, but the sun was catching the head just right so it glowed.

 And just to top off the entire occasion, how about a swan, a Canada, and eight (count 'em!) great egrets. Wow.

On top of that, we have had so much rain, 3.48 inches so far in May, that every low spot has a puddle. And there are ducks in all the puddles. On my drive to work there is a little puddle in the lawn beside the road. It usually has a mix of Canadas and ducks. Yesterday the Canadas were further back under the trees with their younglings, so the ducks had control.

Wonder what I'll see tomorrow!

May 13 - What a difference a week makes

In the first ten days of May, spring has just exploded. We went from temps in the 40s up to 83 today. Wow! And during this warm up, we have had torrential rain, incredible lightning and thunder storms and exponential plant growth. I know, this is what spring is all about, but it never fails to amaze me just how fast the world changes around you when it finally happens. In twelve days we have mowed the lawn three times. The lilacs have moved from tiny green leaf buds to full bloom. Even now the fragrance is pouring in through the window. It is a heady time of year.

Crabapple trees, pear and apple trees are all in full bloom along with ornamentals such as redbuds, weeping cherries, Cleveland pears, magnolias and dogwoods. And because this is such a late spring, there are many shrubs still blooming that would normally be long done—forsythia, azaleas and rhododendrons are adding to the show. It’s hard for me to drive to work when my head is swiveling on my neck as I try to take it all in.

My May garden show is spectacular. Right now I have several hundred daffodils in many color varieties and sizes. They are punctuated by bright orange fritillaria. The berm is a sea of blue forget-me-nots with tulips floating over the top. Golden poppies, blue mertensia and bleeding hearts all complement each other. The hostas are unfurling their tight spikes. Each day brings change and new beauty. Every day finds me looking about in awe. 

This year the bleeding hearts are just spectacular. I finally have them in a spot that makes them happy, and the flowers are the reward. Amazing what a bit more sun will do for a plant. And as usual, I can never see bleeding hearts without thinking of Grace Alder and how beautiful her long bank of hearts was.

I also love the pulmonarias. I have the Mrs Moon variety which has blue and pink flowers on the same plant, in the same floret. It is magic. It is also one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring which makes it even more welcome. In years past they have bloomed in late February or early March as the snow melts.

On Monday, I went to a Monks and Friars meeting in Ann Arbor, where Jim Horton lives on ten acres of woods. The trees had not yet leafed out, but the forest floor was covered in trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit. When I expressed my amazement to Jim, he promptly said “Let’s take a walk!” The four of us who had arrived early headed for the woods. Jim pointed out Cutleaf Toothwort. That was new to me! He also had lots of Mayapple, yellow violets, spring beauty, and trout lilies. What fun!

I had a major moment in establishing my credibility at this meeting. Some of us were downstairs in the shop where Jim was showing us his new Prouty, a mighty sweet press about the size of my Improved Pearl. He was telling us he hoped Joe Warren could come look at it because the ink disk wouldn’t cycle. In about two seconds Phil and I were behind and under the press looking at the mechanism. We were turning the flywheel, watching what was turning or not turning and trying different solutions. I finally realized that the collar holding the ink disk up was upside down. When I pointed this out, the guys were stunned. I got some high fives and some major points. It was great!  Now if I could do the same thing on my own problem press I’d feel even better.

Jim’s entire basement is a wholly dedicated print shop. He also has a greenhouse type addition to the house, where he has more equipment. It is a gorgeous space to work. Windows on three sides, plus the top. I could live that way.  But wait--I do, sort of. My shop in the backroom has windows running the length of two walls—I’m not looking out at woods, but still, it’s better than a basement. 

Today was Friday the 13th, and quite an auspicious day it turned out to be! After a day and a half of intense reorganization planning, my boss told us all to go home at noon. I was exhausted. It had been a hard week. Prepare for the reorg task force. Fly to Tulsa to meet with the CBA rep, get a 6am flight home in order to attend a meeting from 1:30 to 5:00 pm, then have two days of task force with the Cengage folks. Whew.

Got home and Jack and I took a little nap. Nicely refreshed we went off to the Yellow Stand and bought some tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, essential herbs like cilantro, basil and flat leaf parsley.  We've been buying plants there for years, and they know us quite well, so when our favorite gal saw I was buying a Sweet 100 tomato she talked me into getting a Sunsweet tomato as well. She guaranteed it would be sweeter and I'd like it better. The problem was they only came in four-packs. We may share a couple plants with the girls across the street. We got all the vegies planted. And Jack put in seeds for Sugar Snap peas, and purple and yellow wax beans. Yum. 

We also moved the last cement step from the middle of the yard and set it on top of the other one by the raised beds. It is now tall enough to be a perfect spot for a sit. Just one step was a little bit low, and made it really hard to stand back up.

Fully pooped, we quit and adjourned for dinner.  We still need to plant seeds for lettuce, spinach and chard. We are supposed to get rain tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. So those seeds might not get planted until Monday. No matter.

May 2 - Turned my back

I have been out of town for two weeks. I thought I'd be coming home to spring. Green! Leaves! Tulips! Flowing trees!  Nope. Michigan was under the continuing cold spell that we left. Cool, rain mixed with snow. But even cool weather can't stop everything. 

On my way to work this morning I saw a pair of Canadas with their little kids being carefully herded in between them-- three little goslings about the size of a tennis ball with legs and heads. I wonder what happened to the rest of the babies? Eaten by cats? Snapping turtles? Victims of unconscious drivers?  Not a very pleasant contemplation. Easier to think about the doting parents and sweet babes.

Did I tell you we are moving to Utah? So far we have a foot in each camp: working on a house to sell and working on a house to live in. The Parkview ornithology is going to be just as interesting as what we have here in Michigan.  Growing up in that house, it never seemed like there were many birds. However Jack has been keeping feeders filled for the last six months. The yard is alive with what David calls tweety-birds, meaning who knows what that fast little shy bird is.

The thistle feeders are covered with Pine Siskins and House Finches. The sunflower feeders are being enjoyed by chickadees, downy woodpeckers, and scrub jays. The magpies, flickers, jays and downies fuss over the suet. Ground feeders like juncos scrabble under the feeders. Saw a rufous sided towhee very busy digging through the pine needles to find edibles underneath. And the pair of Peregrine's that nested in the yard last year were very busy in overhead circles, but I didn't see them land in the yard. (darn!)

It is interesting how bird species are being categorized. Growing up we had juncos. They were slate gray with darker heads and lighter gray breasts. There were different species of juncos in the east and in California. Now the bird experts say they are all the same junco, just some color variations. Okaay. So welcome to the world of subspecies. What used to be four separate species are now just one, but one with great diversity.  The juncos that I saw in the Parkview yard were what is now called a Grayheaded Junco and have rufous side patches. Interesting.

I was also able to add two birds to my life list! A Townsend's Solitaire and what I'm about 90% sure was a Bushtit, both hung around the pine tree outside of the kitchen window long enough for me to grab the Audubon book and identify them. Cool!

The photo to the right is the Townsend's Solitaire. It has a distinctive light circle around the eye, and a very sharp black beak.

Jack identified a very odd oversized bird working over the feeder. Turns out the deer like sunflower seeds. They would come up and lick the side of the feeder. (No, we are not putting out salted sunflower seeds, before you ask.)  They would also paw through the snow and clean up all the discarded hulls. That's some kind of roughage!

Meanwhile it is finally starting to warm up. The mid-50s and perhaps even a day in the 60s are in our upcoming forecast. Can't wait!

The early spring bloomers that are usually at peak in mid April are finally starting to open up. Amy's yellow primroses, blue and pink anemones are getting bigger every day. A few pansies overwintered and are blooming as well. The daffodils are starting. The lovely little pulmenarias that usually bloom in March as the snow melts are finally opening up as well. I can see the first dark tips of mertensia poking up and the tulips are about 8 inches high. The maples are finally budding so while there are still many many bare limbs on trees that bud later on, the world is slowly shifting to a blush of chartreuse.

The grass is even looking plumped up and greener. Time to start the daily walks around the yard to see what is new, what's about to bloom or bud out. It's a great time to be alive.