Friday 2 May 2014

All of us are recovering after a long winter

Look who is back: The rose-breasted grosbeaks. This is a good sign. Phoebe is building a nest, too. 
I'm not sure they've done anything over a few days.
Maybe s/he doesn't like the location after all?
Then, I was examining our winter damage.
I was comforted by the words of a master gardener:

Be patient as garden recuperates from winter

I have two of the issues Mark Cullen wrote about: sunburned Yew, and rabbits eating the tree bark. He says be patient and likely the former will recover as new growth replaces the old needles. The latter issue, chewed off bark, may or may not hurt the tree, depending upon how much of the bark is gone, and it it encircles the tree. I hope this Horse Chestnut tree recovers!


The snakes have emerged from their Hibernacula, deep underground amongst the rocks, below the frost, where they hibernate. I spotted this one, with its head down a mouse hole! I grabbed the camera and snapped it with a piece of dirt on its head!

Dorah was following me, on my way to work down by the frog pond, but she never did notice the snake right under her nose!


I had some damage at my shed. The Red squirrel has been wicked, eating a hole into the garbage can, then eating a hole through my repaired hole in the doorframe!
 
I fixed this once!
Finally, screwed in some metal to cover it
Finally, my goldfish pond has been leaking, due to mice eating through the liner. I installed a water barrel to gather extra water for the pond. This way, I do not have to use pristine well water to refill the pond for the goldfish.

12 comments:

Roan said...

Those darn critters! Hopefully your tree with recover.

Carver said...

Lovely shots of early spring. Great variety of animals.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

are the snake & cat friends? that is wild. i will stand on the porch & enjoy the view. thanks!! i have had too many run-in's with snakes last year. i am hoping that this year will be a more quiet one. fingers crossed on that one. ha. ha!! ( :

i hope the spider lovers don't hate me but i think you can step on & kill a spider ... but a snake that is a different story. running away works for me.

i saw a really cool bird this AM but it flew away to quick - i went to get my cell right next to me & i turned back & the silly thing was gone. like a ghost bird. i have never seen one like it before. so sad it disappeared. oh well, next time.

William Kendall said...

I'm amazed the cat didn't notice the snake!

Red said...

Red squirrels are pretty nasty in my books. I wish they'd go else where.

Hilary said...

Ya'd think she'd notice the snake. I would hope that I wouldn't though.

Nice to see which critters appear in your neck of the woods. I can hope that some of them make their way up here. We did have a cute little visitor at the bird seed for the past couple of nights. A flying squirrel. If I recall, you've had one also.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Love that little red breast, what a beauty. That was an amazing shot, the snake and 'cap' - great to see your place without white around it!! YAM xx

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

It WAS a very long winter for you in many different ways! May spring bring you and your husband health and joy!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

It was a hard winter! I wanted to go pick strawberries for mother's day (an annual ritual for us) and there are no strawberries to pick - the winter went on too long :-(

EG CameraGirl said...

Sounds like you have a monster squirrel! You are doing a great job getting ready for summer.

carol l mckenna said...

Beautiful photos of early spring and love the animals ~ and birds ~ xoxo

artmusedog and carol ( A Creative Harbor)

Phil Slade said...

Looks like your getting all ship shape and ready for summer Jen. It's a great shot of the snake with the soil on its head.