springtime is flourishing...

It's definitely time for nesting around here. I hear sparrows chirping out the laundry room window every morning, and they fly out for bits of grass, so it's a fair guess that they have started a nest in the eaves or roof over the back porch.

Starlings have been collecting dry twigs and grass and then disappearing beneath the edges of the house and the garage shed. Along with the thumping of their feet and wings on the roof and in the ceiling, I'm rather sure they are making themselves at home at our home!

I had noticed the swallows (they are 'welcome swallows' for those keeping score) hovered in the back yard garden a lot and today I found out why. They were being watchful of predators before they darted into our wood room on the back of the garage shed. I'm not one for a lot of assumptions, but I think it's a pretty fair bet that the two I saw go in are starting a nest inside.

I can imagine the cacophony that will eventually come with all the little ones demanding to be fed! It should be interesting, to say the least! But then, I  suppose that's what we get for living in the only house within shouting distance of the dairy cows in the pastures that surround us.

It's all nice and natural, but there are two concerns I have. One is: what kind of mess will they make? The other thing is, I'm thinking about how I can get some pictures of the new arrivals!! We'll see what happens.

Spring is early this year!

It's not the weather I'm talking about when I say that spring is early this year because, although it's not rained during daylight hours for the last two days, it's suppose to be below zero tonight [C, not F, thank the Lord].

The early spring is the arrival of our first ducklings for this year!

It was quite a surprise to see them on the pond this morning, so it was a quick snap of a pic before they were off again. Since they're early, we figure there will be at least one more brood, if not more, over the next few months for us to giggle over and feed.

Last year, we were pleased to have 8 of 12 that made it past infancy in one of our broods, but there are only six ducklings in this family. One of them is distinctively lighter in color than the other 5, so it will be interesting to see if he/she keeps those colors when the mature feathers come in.



Their arrival spurred us to 'furnish' the duck house with round stones for the family. The house is a pumphouse that Kevin converted specifically for the ducklings last year. [Ducky info: Mom warms up the rocks with her body heat so she can go for food without the babies getting cold].

BTW, that's my birthday bridge in the picture. The house owners built this...shall we say, inconvenient water feature at the edge of the pond. It takes up the walking space on the side of the house, so I mentioned that a bridge would be nice, and VOILE!! Kev worked out to have it built for me! Is that cool or what?!!

Hopefully, this will be the last cold snap of the season for me to complain about and we can get on with gardening and such. With the renegade daffodils and some crocuses [that we didn't plant] blooming, and the freesias, glads, rhodos, camellias and azaleas trying to bloom, it can't be to long before spring arrives. As always, we have unknown plants shooting up, so we will, once again, have some surpise arrivals.

I want spring!!