A Robin Story - Gardening

Birds – A Robin Story

The other day I went out into the yard to prune some spring growth from my fruit trees. The theory here is that the fruit will get more nourishment and become larger.
I got out the ladder and the pruning shears and began. I knew there was a Robin’s nest in the tree but I didn’t think that I was very close and I, certainly, had no intention of disturbing the family. Well, I guess I did get too close because, as I was trimming, all of a sudden a “thud” and I got slammed and beaked on the head by one very angry momma or papa!
I had no clue that Robins could be so vicious. Here I am on a ladder and both birds were attacking me. I ran into the patio and I looked down on my on my arm and saw blood. At first I thought it was one of the birds but soon realized it was me. I went in a cleaned up. Then I worried that the Robin that had hit me in the head might have injured them-self.
I went back outside to check things out and got chased back into the patio by both birds. They were still making quite a fuss. Then, I saw why. Their teenage baby had jumped out of the nest!! Oh my, I was really worried that they would abandon their bouncing teen. Flapping wings and jumping around the entire yard all the rest of the day. Much to my suprise, those two parents did not give up the ship but keep a watchful eye on their baby’s location at all times. It started to shower all the rest of the day and into the night.
The next morning I kept looking for activity. I did see the parents but I didn’t see the baby. Then, the Hubs went out and got attacked. He got too close to the teenager too. The parents had managed to get the baby in the pomegranate bush for the overnight. Thank goodness. I watched all day, worrying that the little bird wouldn’t get any nourishment and could die. Well, somehow, this teenager was learning how to spread his wings. He kept getting a little higher air time all day long.
By the end of the day my fears of emminant starvation were put to rest. The parents had been feeding their offspring all day long. I caught this loving caring scene late in the afternoon. I got these pictures through my window.

Scenario: Do Not prune trees while birds nest.

Sex in the City - Birdie Update!

“Sex in the City” Birdie Update!

A few weeks ago I talked of my little “sex in the city” birdies. About a week ago, I thought I would give them a little more space to rest, at night, because it appeared to me that the rolled up straw shade was very lopsided and if I pushed it back and straighten it out, the birds might have more room. NOT…. ! Birds disappeared.

When I took a lader to check the opening about 4 days later, it only confirmed what I was thinking. I didn’t realize that I left the bird sweeties no space to roost at all and that is why they did not come back to sleep in the evening! Well, I readjusted the shade to where it was originally, crooked, and that opened the space back up. I did this three days ago. I just figured they were in a tree now and probably would not return.

Then, eureka, as I closed the curtains from the front room, this evening, I saw my little sweeties come back home. One was already in the opening and the other was making their way in. I am so happy they didn’t hold my rearrangement of their condo against me! Next time, I will think things through a little better before I try to be quite so helpful. I’m glad their back!

Excerpt from Garden Journal Chapter 20 at: http://grouchow.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/garden-journal-chapter-20/

Come and Visit My OLA House!

Spring 09 City Gardening

March, 2009, Spring is just around the corner.
Thank goodness the weather was in the 70’s today. What a glorious day, around here you just never know what you are going to get from one minute to the other! Just 6 days ago we had snow on the ground.

The birds have been chirping all morning and I got up early, opened all the windows in the house to air it out, put on my duds and headed outside to dig around in the yard. I might be a little stiff tomorrow because the Hubs and I have been hibernating all winter. *giggles*

I pulled weeds in one of my azalea beds and turned over the pine straw before I did anything else. I took a lot of breaks in between because I was sweating so much. It is always better to take things a little slower when you have sat idle all winter. Then I started to think about where to put some seeds and just what seed I had that could be planted this early in the season.

I told you in the previous post that I had to remove some bushes, so I decided to plant some lettuce, parsley and radishes in this location until I figure out what type of long term plant I want to place there. Why waste good space? Seeds are in the ground and I covered them with some leaves. We still might have some cold nights.

The Hubs put the makeshift cold frame up (recycled golf cart windshields) and made it a little larger this year. I put the Kohlrabi in there. If we have another cold snap we will be able to protect them after they have germinated.

I promised a friend that I would post a picture of the leaf lettuce that I planted last November. I covered them with leaves in the late fall and now they are doing beautifully. They survived our cold winter months! I can’t wait till I get to pick some. Next to that row of lettuce I just planted three rows of radishes. I have to be very careful of where to plant things this time of year because certain spots in the garden don’t get full sun enough hours in the day.

The plum tree, as much as I have worried about her over the years, still stands and is getting ready to open in full bloom any day now.

Last, but not least, are the empty pots at the base of the lattice. I plopped some pretty Morning Glory seeds in those and when the weather warms up they will climb up and over the lattice and bloom every morning.

If you would like to view some pictures that I took today you can CLICK HERE and look for Chapter 18 in my garden journal.