March Winds

                        BY SKEETER                             

 Hey, guess what? Spring has sprung here in my GEORGIA GARDENS! Look at the budding tree,

 the blooming Phlox,

 the blooming Heather,

and Pear tree blossoms.

We have been busy removing dead or dying trees from the front woods area. Those two stumps are waiting for me to do something fun with them. In the center of this photo, you can see a tall Poplar tree.

 As I zoom upward into that Poplar tree, I see Mrs. Hawk working on her nest. Can you see her all camouflaged in her nest?

 Here she is testing it out. See the Poplar buds? I hope the tree leaves will not hide our view of her and her mate as they raise their young.

 Today she caught a field mouse and ate it as I observed her through the field glasses! What a treat to see that moment of Wild Kingdom in my own trees! Mr. and Mrs. Hawk have been keeping close to each other the past few days and I have seen them mating high in the trees on numerous occasions the past month. They should have eggs in the nest soon. I find them so exciting to observe.

 My little Carolina Wrens are back on the front porch as well. Those faux birdhouses do not deter them from nesting and since they are not messy birds, I will allow them to raise yet another brood on the porch. I find them just as exciting to observe.

We have watched both Mr. and Mrs. Wren build the nest as we sit on our living room sofa and peer out the windows. What fun and such a loud song we get from them each morning as they perch on the porch railings.

And last but not least, it would not be spring without my Bright Yellow Daffy's swaying in the MARCH WINDS, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Bird Watching

BY SKEETER

 I have some Red Blooms in my GEORGIA GARDENS this week!

The Fringe Bush, (AKA: Loropetalum) is putting on a pretty show for me.

 Nandina is looking pretty as well. This is one of 4 that we have in the front porch planters. We plan to move the Nandina elsewhere soon. They are starting to crowd the Japanese Maple trees. Since  the Maples are the focal point in those two planters, the bushes must go.  

 Do you see what I see on the front porch post? Look up high.

 A birdhouse, which the birds have decided is not good enough for a home. But good enough to support a nest behind. Ha, those silly Wrens.

 It looks as though, the Wrens are using leaves from the Japanese Maples I just mentioned. I see pine needles and other leaf as well. The Wrens did this last year as well and there was not enough room to lay eggs. But they are back giving it a second go. I have 9 birdhouse's on the front porch for the birds to use and they are the least bit interested in them. Geesh....

Small Flocks of Robins are starting to show up in the gardens so they are on the move. Oh yes, Spring is near and I am BIRD WATCHING, In the Garden... 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Early Spring

BY SKEETER
Valentines Day has come and gone here in my Georgia Gardens. My display remains in the woods as I type though. We have returned from our winter cruise to the Bahamas and brought back the crud with us. We did not start showing signs of this nasty Cold Type mess until we were off the ship. We were able to enjoy our vacation up until last Friday when both The Saint and I were down and out. We both had and continue to deal with Runny nose, Clogged Sinus, Pressure, Cough, etc. You know the typical Sinus Cold Symptoms. I feel a bit better today and even got out of bed and opened windows to allow fresh air inside the house. We are in the mid 70's and with us going from cold to warm, warm to hot, hot to cold, drizzle cold rain and back to warm and then Hot temps, it is no wonder our sinus are messed up!
Today was the first day I stepped outside in my gardens in many days and I see spring colors saying hello to me. I snapped pictures then back inside to rest. I have no energy with this sinus draining me. Grrrrrrrr....
Daffodils have come and gone and some still blooming for me. Hyacinth in colors of purple and white are blooming. Oh, how I wish you could smell this beautiful white one above. Clogged nose and all, I still can smell the sweet scent of this beauty. Hopefully, I can get over this crud and get out into the gardens by weekend. The Valentines Day Display really needs to go Bye Bye....
The Wrens are at it again. Look high upon the post on the front porch.
Yep, I have placed small birdhouses upon each post in hopes to keep the birds at bay. But as you can see, the houses are not working.
I have 3 functional bird houses on the front porch for the birds to enjoy but they prefer to make a mess on the posts instead. Flowers blooming and birds building nests is a sure sign that we are having a EARLY SPRING, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Surprise: A New Bird Nest In the Garden

While strolling through the woodland area of my garden I came upon a few nice surprises. The first being the cyclamen pictured above. I don't know how it can possibly bloom with the heat and lack of rain but bloom it does. What a lovely sight.

A few steps more and I almost missed the next surprise. Can you see it embedded in the center of this 'Tardiva' hydrangea? It is a very new nest-one that is new to me as well. Let's move in for a closer look.

I don't think this nest was hidden all that well and it is much too low to the ground for the occupants to be safe once they hatch but this is where the momma bird decided to build her nest. Upon looking inside I saw some really neat eggs. Let me first say this is one of the smallest nests I've ever seen (probably only about 2"-3" wide edge to edge) and I was hoping it was a hummingbird nest but alas, no it is not.

The eggs were a soft tan or off white color. You can kind of see the variation in color in the above picture. I found the variations in color most weird. The eggs did not appear to have any speckles on them. While I was snapping pictures the momma bird fluttered by but I did not catch a glance at her. After researching around the web a bit I believe the nest and eggs belong to an American goldfinch. The goldfinch are plentiful here in my garden but this is the first time I've spotted a nest from one....


in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Robins....In the Garden

Robins, those harbingers of spring-and-what else comes with spring and the birds and the bees? Why frolicking in the garden of course. Birds frolicking in the garden produce....
Large 'robin blue' eggs....

in the garden....

Tomorrow is my youngest sister's birthday. Happy Birthday!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Hanging plants free from the birds

The Finches and Wrens await for me to put out 4 hanging plants each spring on my Georgia porch. You can see why they like the hanging plants in the picture above. These little baby finches called home to one of my Wandering Jew Plants one spring. I enjoy being surrounded by birds and provide them many nesting spots but they insist on getting into the hanging plants each year.

Each spring as I hang the plants, I get the rubber snakes out of hiding as well as the artificial owl. I position a snake on each chain that holds the plant as if they are crawling down into the plant. Look closely and you can see a snake in the above picture. I move the owl around each day as if he is real. Well, don't waste your money on a $10 owl as the birds find it a perfect spot to perch while scouting out the perfect plant to call home. Yep, a cute little wren was perched right on top of the owls ear while fussing up at the snake then jumped right into this years Spider plant knowing the snake was not real!

I would not mind the birds nesting in the plants but fear I will harm the eggs or babies when watering the plant from below. I would have to drag out the step ladder every time I need to water the plants and that is a pain in the rump during the hot steamy months of summer here in the Deep South.

Always trying to outwit the wildlife around me, I came up with a new plan this year. With the assistance of the dead leaves on the Japanese Maple tree above....

I pulled some of the leaves from the tree and formed them into a ball. These leaves work great as they are soft and you can easily shape them.

I then put a tiny artificial egg into the mock nest.

And then placed one nest in each of the hanging plants on the front porch. So far, this has worked really well but I know my birds are smart and may figure this out. The Saint joked and said now a Cowbird will deposit more eggs in the nest. I said a Crow will probably choke on one of the fake eggs. Gee, the things we must do to keep one step ahead of the wildlife around us.

If this works, it's a cheap and easy solution to keep HANGING PLANT'S FREE FROM THE BIRDS, In the Garden...