Until I put camera in the duck house, I never realized how many other visitors came to the boxes besides ducks. Today, a house wren poked its head inside but probably figured it would take a long time to fill the large house with sticks for its nest. I was surprised to see a wren back this early as normally mine arrive after the orioles and grosbeaks, which I haven’t spotted yet this spring.
Wren Back Early
It is not just the returning birds looking to build a nest, but the year around birds are too, like this chickadee creating a cavity in a dead tree. I watched it bring mouthfuls of wood pieces out before turning around and going back in and when it reached the bottom of the hole, you couldn’t see the chickadee but you could hear it pecking inside the hole.
Down the Hole
It has been a cold, rainy Sunday and puddles are getting deeper on my lawn. The pond may be far enough downhill from this barn so that the old wooden barn might provide some dry shelter to critters.
Pond and Barn
The white petals of the bloodroots stand out against the green grass in the ditches and against the fallen oak leaves in the woods. But the sap in the stems and roots is a reddish color and gives the plant its name.
Bloodroot Blossoms
It was a pink-reddish sky this morning, but the saying “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” should have been “ducks take warning”. My wood duck left her nest for about an hour like she does each morning, but this time a second pair of wood duck came to the pond and the female was checking out the duck houses, including the ones with the eggs in it. While the new female was exploring the other nest box, my duck returned and shortly after, the new duck entered the same house and a fight occurred as the mother duck drove the newcomer away. So while the sunrise looked tranquil, it was not a peaceful morning at the pond.
Red in the Morning
Besides finding new spring blossoms, springtime also means new life like kittens. This first time mother cat is showing off her kittens and at least tonight is warmer than the night they were born.
New Mother
With the lack of snow most of the winter, I expected to see wildflowers blooming very early with mild winter, but instead they were later than normal. Even the other flowers were late as I found some snow glories ten days ago but a lot of years they are blooming in March.
Late Snow Glories
I have had other visitors at my duck box houses besides ducks, like a bee, mouse, squirrel, chickadee, nuthatch, bluebird and recently a northern flicker. I have had some dead trees blown down in the last storm, so I wonder if the flicker’s prior nesting site has fallen down and is looking for a new home. But the opening on the duck box is much bigger than the size they create in trees.
Northern Flicker
The daffodils have been open for more than a week now and they glowed in the brief sunshine today, but they might not feel so warm tomorrow night when it drops to 27 degrees.
Sunny Yellow Daffodils
This week old Hereford calf, who came about two weeks early, was the first calf of the season and at least it was a warm, sunny day when it was born with no snowflakes either.
Season’s First Calf
