Little Bird, Little Bird

We've lately noticed a new visitor to the feeder here in My Florida Backyard. We generally fill our feeder with safflower seed to discourage squirrels, and this can sometimes limit the variety of birds that visit. We mainly see cardinals, tufted titmice, and woodpeckers, but this winter we've had warblers stopping by, and today we finally managed to get some pictures.

After a lot of page-flipping in the Sibley Guide, we identified our latest visitor
as a very adorable yellow-rumped warbler.

This species is a winter visitor in the southeast U.S. It flies far north to breed in the summer.

 

The yellow-rumped warbler loves to eat insects, but often feeds on berries
from shrubs in the winter, and is sometimes known to visit feeders.

With spring coming soon (at least according to the calendar), it's likely this little guy will be leaving soon to head north for summer. In the meantime, we'll enjoy the flash of cheery yellow and the sweet trill of music from the trees nearby!

Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!

Every so often, especially in the late winter, our little suburban lake becomes an amazing bird sanctuary. Sometimes the event lasts a few hours, sometimes only a few minutes, but it's always an incredible sight, and one that I've never satisfactorily captured with a camera.

Here's what you see in this picture: A great egret, two great blue herons (one flying, one wading) and a pelican.

Here's what you don't see, but were all hanging around nearby:

• 5 more great egrets
• 3 wood storks
• 2 snowy egrets
• 1 little blue heron
• 2 limpkins
• 30 - 40 cormorants
• and the usual complement of muscovy ducks and mallards

Today was a day where they were moving through pretty quickly, and by the time I made it outside with a camera, most of them were headed toward the north end of the lake and too far away for pictures. This kind of gathering is a reasonably common event this time of year, though, so hopefully we'll be able to get some better pictures in the next couple of weeks.

I don't know exactly what causes this diverse group of birds to gather in this way. It's chilly today - perhaps the fish are closer to the surface trying to catch some sunlight? What brings the pelican this far inland (we're about 6 miles from the bay)? What brings together so many great egrets and great blue herons, who generally seem to be loners? Why do we sometimes see 40 cormorants and sometimes only 1 or 2?

Even without answers to our questions, these "Great Bird Events" are one of the highlights of life in My Florida Backyard. After all, some people travel hundreds of miles to see birds gather in these numbers. I can see it all out of my own back window!

Against the Wind

March came in soft as a lamb yesterday, with sunny skies and balmy breezes. Unfortunately, the proverbial lion followed with a vengeance today, as yet another cold front pushed through the region, this one with wind gusts topping 30 miles an hour long after the storms of the morning had passed.

So, we settle in for a few more days of highs in the 50s, and hope the 70s forecasted for early next week are a sign of much better things to come.

"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn." 

- Lewis Grizzard

Signs of Life

As yet another cold snap hits the Bay area, I'm pleased to report that the plants in My Florida Backyard are soldiering on, and even the slowest to recover are finally beginning to show some green.

The hibiscus has been the slowest of all to show some improvement, but in this weekend's warm sun, I noticed some leaf buds finally beginning to break along the branches. If we could only get some more warm sun, instead of these everlasting 50 degree days, the hibiscus would be putting out large green leaves in no time.

The Christmas Cassia is also starting to recover nicely, coming back from the ground slowly but surely. I'm working hard to get some cassia established in My Florida Backyard this year as larval plants for sulphur butterflies. I'm hoping Florida's hot summer will help this plant be a small shrub by the time late fall rolls around. Sulphur caterpillars are some of my favorites, and I'd really like to be able to raise some bright yellow beauties when the Christmas Cassia flowers late in the year.

The Candlestick Cassia is coming back as well, giving me hope that it will be able to rival its former glory by summer's end. We actually had a bunch of sulphur eggs on the Candlestick Cassia around New Year's, but the freeze, of course, made short work of both plant and eggs, leaving us to start again from scratch and hope for better luck next time.


Gardening in My Florida Backyard for the last few months has been all about waiting and hoping. It's nice to see some of that waiting and hoping pay off, although we just can't wait for this wretched winter to finally end!

The Way We Were

I was looking back through some old pictures, and couldn't help missing My Florida Backyard's gardens in their prime. This winter is really dragging on forever, so for now, we just have to enjoy the...

Memories...

Like the corners of my mind.

Misty water-colored memories

 

Of the way we were.

 

Red Wing

This winter has been pretty ridiculous across the entire country - there's snow on the ground in 49 states right now (but not here, thank goodness). We're expecting yet another week of below-average temperatures here in Tampa, ushered in by a very rainy, windy, and chilly day today. 

When I looked out the window this afternoon, there seemed to be nothing but gray, gray, gray to see. Then, on the feeder, was that familiar flash of red - a cardinal dropping by to brighten up the afternoon.

A picture through the window screen never turns out well, but the flash of color is still evident. I'm so grateful for visitors like this who help keep My Florida Backyard cheerful when the weather is dismal!

This Bud's for You

On honor of Superbowl Sunday, today we salute the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) tree. (Not following the logic? Superbowl = Beer Drinking = Budweiser = Bud = Redbud tree. Too much of a stretch for you? Too bad!)

My Florida Backyard isn't fortunate enough to have one of these beauties, but a neighbor down the way has one, and we can enjoy the view for free.

Native redbuds are deciduous and in Florida are often considered an early sign of spring. The redbuds began to bloom a week or two ago, and are reaching their peak now. Click here to see some nice up-close shots of redbud blooms taken in the MOSI gardens by a friend of My Florida Backyard.

About a month after the Great Freeze of 2010, most things are recovering nicely. The grass is green again, many plants are putting out new shoots and buds, and the sun is warm on our backs even if the breeze is still a bit cool. Spring is here in My Florida Backyard, and it's nice to have a redbud tree nearby to confirm it!

(Sorry for the blurry picture - it's really hard to get a clear picture of a tree on a windy day!)