Backyard Birds

We have a mixed hedge of cedar and laurel with some lilac mixed in that runs along the south side of our driveway. It is, apparently, a very attractive home to nesting birds. This spring a pair of grackles built a nest high in the cedars. Once hatched, the little birds made quite a racket, especially when one of the parents swooped in bringing food. It was really nice watching and listening to the little creatures, hoping that they would grow up healthy and strong.

Grackle with something yummy (maybe) for its chicks

On May 22, I saw a little gray bird hopping in the grass near the garden. My first thought was, “Oh no. The little guy fell out of the nest. I wonder if it can fly well enough to at least get off the ground and away from predators.” There are some neighborhood cats that I’m sure would have loved to pounce on the fledgling. But then I saw two more little birds on the fence nearby and knew that they were our little grackles on their first trip away from the nest. They all could fly (well enough) and seemed to be having a nice time exploring in and around the garden.

Such sweet little things!

I thought that was it for our little rookery. The babies had flown and it was now getting into late June. But then about a week ago, I saw a robin with its beak filled with twigs and bits of dried grass. It kept flying into one of the lilac bushes among the laurels so I decided to check it out. Sure enough, the robin was building a nest just high enough to be above my reach. Not that I wanted to reach the nest. We just always joke that robins are not the best at picking safe spots for nests. I remember as a child looking down into a nest of peeping mouths when a pair of robins had built their nest in the bucket of my father’s backhoe.

Robins' nest in a lilac just above my head

The robin had a problem, though, beyond the relative low height of the nest. A pair of cardinals had also chosen that section of the hedge in which to build a nest. There were a couple of bird fights in the driveway and it appeared that the cardinals were victorious. Three days ago we started to hear very small voices coming from the hedge. Today, those voices are much louder. We hear them frequently as Mr. and Mrs. Tomato-head dart in and out of the hedge to feed their babies. I wanted to get some pictures of the pair but they are always on the move. It sounds like there are at least two, if not three or more, chicks to feed so they have been kept very busy.

Mr. Tomato-head earlier in the summer before the responsibilities of parenthood

When I first heard the tiny peeping voices, I decided to try to locate the nest. I ducked my head into the hedge and took a look around. Lo and behold, there it was, on the left up in the cedars. I took a couple of photos and bragged to my husband about how I had found the cardinals’ nest. There was one problem, though. When I took a closer look at the photos, I discovered it was not the cardinals’ nest. It was that of a dove.

Surprise, its a doves' nest

Closeup of the nest - someone's looking at me!

What a delightful surprise! Of course, it should not have been that big of a surprise. A couple weeks earlier we had the opportunity to witness a pair of doves having fun sexy time on the roof of our garage. I managed to get a few photos as they were basking in post-coital bliss.

Mrs. Dove

Mr. Dove

I was still curious about the location of the cardinals’ nest, however. So, I ducked back into the hedge and looked around again when the Mrs. was visiting the nest. I was able to pinpoint the nest that time, though it was really difficult to get a good picture of it. I did get another surprise, though. A robin went flying off of its nest (the one I thought had been abandoned) and proceeded to chirp me a new one for disturbing it. So, it looks as though we have three pairs of birds sharing a fairly small space in our hedge. It’s like we’re running an avian maternity ward.

There is a cardinal nest in there, I swear!

Robin's just a little grumpy after I disturbed it.

General locations of the birds' nests in our hedge

Overdue Updates

It’s only the middle of August but it feels like things are starting to wind down in the garden. Powdery mildew has settled on the pumpkin leaves but the pumpkin itself has already turned orange so I’m not worrying about it too much. I’ve started pulling out plants that have finished up for the season. The kale is gone as are the snap pea plants, the green onions (they never amounted to much), and the remaining arugula. I salvaged what I could of the chard and pulled the rest of the plants out. The garden peas are finished but the rattlesnake beans are woven into the vines so I’ll leave the plants for now. I still need to pull out the kohlrabi. Most of the plants decided not to bulb so there’s no reason to keep watering and feeding them. I’m also thinking about pulling out the green beans though they are starting to put on a second, spotty batch of blossoms.

Some things in the garden seem to just be starting up. The basil is finally about six inches tall with enough leaves to spare a few at a time. The egg plants are just putting on blossoms. I don’t think I’ll see any of their fruit this season. The peppers are also quite slow growers. There are only three or four peppers total on the half-dozen plants. The cantaloupes are taking their time, too, and the few, tiny melons that have set are oddly oblong in shape. I’ll just have to give all those late bloomers some time and hope for the best. 

Eggplant blossom...no fruit yet

This green pepper should be turning red soon

Tiny cantaloupe

 The zucchini plants have almost given up. The two or three small squash still in the garden are probably the last I will see this summer. I did get a half-dozen or so zucchini, though, so I’m content. The tomatoes are still going like gang-busters and look like they will be for some time. The Early Girls are a good all-around tomato; Juliets are great for salads, mixed with pasta or sliced on pizza; the beef steaks are fantastic sliced on sandwiches or atop fried eggs; and the pear tomatoes are tasty snacks by the handful. I’m glad we’re getting a good amount of each variety.

Beef steak tomatoes on the vine...

...and Juliet and pear tomatoes on the windowsill.

Since foiling the rabbits’ attempts at grazing the garden this spring, we haven’t had any mammalian problems in the garden (knock on wood). Bunny sightings have dropped of late but I still see one every once in a while. The deer are still enjoying the back yard, especially the apples that have started to fall from the tree. A couple of hummingbirds have re-discovered the feeder and butterflies have been enjoying our blossoming butterfly bush. I was raised in the county (mountain country, not farm country) and it’s so nice to have such a plethora of wildlife right out in my suburban backyard.

Oh deer!

Hummingbird

Butterfly on the butterfly bush. Makes sense.

What the?!? It's a baby cardinal!

So Much Veg!

Now that we’re deep into the summer, it seems like everything is coming ripe in the garden. This evening I picked tomatoes, cucumbers, garden peas, beans, zucchini and some chives. It had been two whole days since I picked anything so of course we had a pair of Moby Dills (aka overgrown cucumbers.)

Thar she blows!

Every day I can come from the garden with a handful of beans. I’ve started to plan meals around what is ready to pick. Tonight’s dinner was tuna sandwiches with fresh early girl tomato slices and green beans and pear tomatoes on the side. The other day I picked beans, tomatoes and tarragon for a nicoise salad. Lunches have been random mixtures of whatever veggies are on hand on top of lettuce or rice depending on if I feel like a hot or cold lunch. Snacks are snap peas and cucumber slices with hummus.

At the moment we are hovering on the edge of having more veg than I know what to do with. There are five zucchini in the fridge along with a quart bag of beans, another of snap peas, a bowl of shelled peas, large sacks of cucumbers, turnips and beets and a small bag of chard. The chard still in the garden is actually bouncing back from the fungal infection. I had to trim out a lot of infected leaves but those that are still standing look good. I would cut some more but there is still so much other greenery already picked that needs to be eaten.

The colors are so lovely!

I am hesitant to start freezing things for a couple of reasons. First of all it is in the high 80s this week. It doesn’t take that long to blanch some veggies but I cannot bring myself to heating up the house any more than I have to. Second, I really like the taste of fresh vegetables. Things like zucchini and snap peas freeze well enough but they are never quite the same when thawed. Green beans and greens like chard are just as good after freezing but, again, I don’t want to heat up the house getting them prepped for storage. And, of course, cucumbers can’t be frozen at all. I plan on making some pickles eventually when it cools down a bit. So, for the foreseeable future, every meal and snack will be filled with fresh veggies. That’s not so bad.

Other garden updates: the corn is tasseling out and the ground around the potatoes is pushing up and cracking. We pulled out all the kale. I tempted fate and didn’t bother with row covers so the cabbage worms got their fill. The fennel is starting to put on a good show. I don’t know if it’ll have time to bulk up though. The rattlesnake beans are going crazy. We’re going to use them as shell beans. The eggplant and peppers are finally starting to put on flowers and the strawberries are doing their best to fill their entire bed. So far, so good. I think my garden’s first year is well on its way to be called a success.

Rattlesnake beans

Tiny pepper

Tiny spider

Beefsteak tomatoes

Robins!

Strawberries ready to take over the world

Huh?

Rabbit family out for an evening bask