FARM UPDATE

Their blue is electric neon, those little Indigo Buntings that populate the woodland edges. So chatty too. They are sometimes hard to spot, but you know they are there by their incessant conversations. We are finally having temperatures out of the 50's and the rain has cleared, so now maybe we can really count on warm days ahead. The juvenile Eagle has fledged. It happen the end of last week with a tentative flight and awkward take off from the corn field, but now he seems to have really mastered this flying thing. He took off from a branch right above my head and soared out over the river this morning as the 4 of us made our way down the lane. Zoe is on her usual spring time schedule of constant patrol for the stray rabbit that she might catch off guard enough to actually capture. This is not a frequent occurrence and it really tuckers the girl out

HOT AND COLD

The vacillations in the weather are so typical of the Springs here on the East Coast. It is hard to count on anything constant. Rainy in the 50s, sunny windy, in the 90's, back to cloudy but 75. The plants experience their own set of problems with these changes, being misted and happy one day, hot and parched the next. I think the ideal temperature for any plant in about 70, but thank goodness they have adapted otherwise they would be in a dire state.
The males always appear on my radar first. They are the orneriest boys about having others in their territory. They dart about in the and out of the trees at lighting fast pace chasing being chased. Their rusty colored breasts catch the sun with quick flicks as the sun comes up. The Orchard Oriole males will be happy to know that I finally spotted the female today, although I somehow think they already knew that she was here.
The most prevalent sound along the edge of the woods this time of year is the drumbeat and trill of the woodpeckers that inhabit the stream bed. They tap away at bark of the trees and call back and forth to each other incessantly. I can hear different pitches to the tapping and the calls, but the only one I am successful at identifying by sound, currently, is the Flicker. I do spot the Pilated, the Downy, and the Red Belly Sap Sucker, but I can't identify them by their calls yet. I downloaded iBird pro onto my iPhone, which I hope helps me increase my identification skills.
On Sunday not much was happening in the garden. There of course has been a hugh flush of green as the plants spring up out of the ground, but flowers were few and far between. Lots of buds. Well today after a day of warm rain yesterday and bright sun this morning, everything is opening at once.