This year we have BIRDS!

After a summer, fall and most of a winter of frustration over not seeing birds here, they have come... by drove and flocks and drifts (we have not yet seen a murder, but it may yet happen).

First were the drifts of snow buntings... then a robin or two and a red wing blackbird and the retuning sounds of something calling and circling overhead both morning and evening and into the night.

Now there are flocks and flocks of robins and the red wing blackbirds walking about on the lawn, pigging out on the underground critters that are emerging from their winters sleep.

And the circling, calling birds... finally have shown themselves!




I was glad to be able to sneak up on them enough to get a photo suitable for identifying them, as both pairs of binoculars had decided to play hide and seek for a bit (and of course, having done this, both have returned!) The are kildeer... which I had suspected after having heard just ONE calling as it flew by -- and jogged my memory -- while I was in the garden yesterday.

And yes, I have planted some stuff. Day before yesterday the soil temp was reading 45 degrees after a day in the sun and yesterday morning at 9 am was still reading 44, so I took spading fork to earth and found good tilth. All this was sufficient for me to put in my first, early, experimental rows of peas, spinach and black seeded Simpson lettuce.

The broccoli and cauliflower are up and tomatoes coming up in the house (and another light fixture acquired, though one of the bulbs refused to work when installed and will need to be returned on Tues). We are still waiting on the peppers and suspect we will wait a bit more, as there has been little sunshine to warm the seed trays and I don't have a warming mat, yet.

The kildeer were identified just in time as a coworker at the store apparently heard them the other night as well. These birds have unusual eyesight, so the online info said, enabling them to hunt both day and night. Said coworker was sure she was hearing bats -- not thinking of anything else that would be hunting them and in that way, but she is not one who hears TV whines when no one else does.. and her hubby heard them too... so I taught her about the kildeer.

That's life in the Maine slow lane, early April...