A Gardener's Diary

This Memorial Day weekend offered up beautiful scenes that I was lucky enough to capture on film…well, digital (just doesn’t sound as good). And, it got me thinking.

I do not live on a marshland where wildlife abounds naturally. Over the years, I had to create an environment that would attract wildlife. I had the bones — forest, pond, meadow grasses, but if I wanted to be more than just a “pass through” to more appealing territory, I needed to cultivate that type of environment.

For 20 years I have been planting, maneuvering, adding spaces, creating new garden and vegetable beds, and, yes, enticing with a little cracked corn and sunflower seeds. Nesting boxes, live mealworms, dangling oranges, and hummingbird feeders bring specific birds. The trees and shrubs have grown up creating nesting spaces; the creek bed, which brings fresh water to the pond, is a watering hole for animals and insects alike; and the advent of the bee hives five years ago have improved the flower production greatly.

So, please enjoy the accompanying photos of this past weekend, as I am pleased that they want to be a part of “my little ecosystem.”

I already told you about the male and female Baltimore Oriole and the surprise of goslings, but also…

This male bluebird seems to truly enjoy perching in this one specific oak tree. The opening of the leaves and seed tendrils make a very etherial backdrop.

And what is in his mouth? You got it — a mealworm for his growing brood of four.

Even the female has started perching in the same place,

Saturday morning I woke to the most beautiful singing. It went on for a very long time. It was as if this bird was singing a medieval ballad, each verse a new song. I listened heartily and followed the tune to the very top of a Colorado Spruce. Perched high on the mount, he belted out his tale and offered all a free performance. What was the bird? A Brown Thrasher — member of the same family as catbirds and mockingbirds, the great mimickers. The Thrasher’s vocal abilities allow them to copy the sounds of other bird species and string them together to make their own song. I only wish I had videoed his aria.

And lurking behind the growing cypress that provides shelter for any manner of wildlife, a deer of indiscriminate sex surveys the surroundings,

But on closer inspection… a buck is regrowing his antlers.

Keep watch, something is always around — like this turkey taking a respite in the meadow, watching me while I fill the feeders,

I adore the wild turkey. I find them very majestic — just look at that,

and yet a bit of a bumble other times.

And of course, at the end of a long day, the waterfowl meander on and around the pond.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend — Covid and all. And by all means, keep your eyes open!

#nature #waterfowl #bucksinmn #wildturkey #brownthrasher #bluebird