Today

 

Not our equipment, but I wanted you to see
some of the beautiful ground here in the valley

Catchy title, eh?

Today I put the hummingbird feeders out. Another birder a bit to the east of us had the first one for the county yesterday, so there is a feeder on the arbor outside the kitchen window and one on the sitting porch.

Once again the robin wars are being waged at the latter location. They want to build nests on the pillars and have to get hysterical any time they see anything at all out of the ordinary.

I want to sit in my red chair to count birds and drink coffee. Alas, they usually win, as I don't want their eggs to chill, but still....

On the fourth of April I planted some seeds I saved from those fabulous Amish watermelons last year. They never hatched, so I gave up, and the other day I planted coleus seeds on top of them. (As seed starter trays are absurdly expensive this year, I cut a kitty litter bottle, one of the huge plastic ones, in half lengthwise, leaving it connected at one end to make a sort of lid. Then I drilled a couple of drainage holes in the side which is now the bottom, filled that part with seed starting mix, and taped the top closed with a strip of duct tape. Makes a handy little greenhouse and the price was right).

Anyhow, I peeked to see if the coleus were up, and there were two little watermelon plants.

What took ya so long?  Hope I can keep them growing until turnout time and maybe get a melon or two. Just in case the Amish don't have any this summer.

Male Downy Woodpecker working on his nest

Found a nice bird the other day at Yankee Hill, a Yellow-throated Warbler. First one reported in the county and a lifer for me. Happy dance.

Otherwise, lime green leaves are emerging from box elder branches as the first warm spring rain patters down. The daffodils have been able to give quite a show this year, what with the long, slow, cool spring we've had. Ditto the maple flowers, which are still showing lipstick red across the hills and mountains.

A Solitary Sandpiper at the solitary little quarry mentioned below
(No rails yet)

Yesterday we were on a particularly remote backroad, parked in a little quarry while I hunted warblers and such. It is a wonderful spot, where, although you can hear distant traffic noises, it is quiet enough that when a raven flew over I could hear wind whispering through its wing feathers.

It is a spot of delightful peace and birdiness. It is not a delightful spot to discover that the radio has killed your car battery.

We were horrified. The word boondocks comes to mind. 

However, within minutes the second vehicle we had seen in the entire time we were there came tooling by, a big truck filled with a big gentleman and several (loud) big dogs. He didn't have jumper cables, but he had seen a DEC officer parked back a ways and he thought he might have some, so he went back to find him.

Officer Willson quickly responded with the proper tools for the situation and just as quickly got the car going.

What are the odds of being rescued so quickly in a spot like that? We were on our way within fifteen minutes after we first discovered the car wouldn't start. 

Thanks gentlemen, you made a potential very bad day into a good one.

Meanwhile, bring on the hummingbirds!

The coltsfoot is finally in bloom here.