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My Backyard Bird Statistics

justtracy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:04:47 +0000

This past weekend I participated again in the Great Backyard Bird Count. A fun winter activity for backyard birding enthusiasts. Here are my highest totals for each species of birds sighted in my yard this year. The most interesting observation was 5 Northern Flickers at one time on Saturday morning. I have never seen that many at once or observed them in my yard for such a long period of time.

Birds of NY Page	Species	Count	Notes	Presence

125	Blackbird, Red-winged	1	8 ½”; Male is black with red and yellow wing patches; female heavily streaked brown bird	Year round
123, 255	Cardinal, Northern	4	8-9”; Male is red; female is buff brown with red tinges on wings and crest	Year round
183	Chickadee, Black-capped	2	5”; Black cap and throat, grey wings, white chest	Year round
15	Crow, American	2	18”; no throat feathers, square tail	Year round
139	Dove, Mourning	10	12”; Smooth fawn colored dove.	Year round
137	Flicker, Northern	5	12” Black necklace, black mustache, red on nape of neck, black round speckles on breasts/sides	Year round
273	Goldfinch, American	13	5”; Yellow bird with black patch on head; black wings & tail; Females and male winter color is olive	Year round
67	Jay, Blue	1	12”; Bright blue and white bird	Year round
91, 187	Junco, Dark-eyed / Snowbird	1	5 ½”; Dark bird, white belly	Winter
189	Nuthatch, White-breasted	2	5-6”; Slate gray wings, black cap with white face and belly,	Year round
209	Robin, American	1	9-11”; Black head and wings; rusty breast	Year round
99	Sparrow, House	6	6”; Males have black throat	Year round
7	Starling, European	1	7 ½”; Shiny black bird, white speckles	Year round
25	Woodpecker, Downy	2	6”; White belly, black & white spotted wings, red mark on head	Year round

Figures. A campion would tough it out.

justtracy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:55:18 +0000

“The Silene stenophylla is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated, the researchers said, and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds.”

A Silene is a genus of plants still in existence today and found mostly as wildflowers in Europe, Asia and the Arctic. There are numerous, numerous species. Most familiar to the home gardener would be the Rose Campion (Silene coronaria).

15 of the World’s Most Amazing Gardens

justtracy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:41:00 +0000

How about a little inspiration for planning your garden this year from Travelers Press. Gorgeous photos of some of the world’s most amazing gardens.

15 of the World’s Most Amazing Gardens | TravelersPress.

I can’t believe they left out my garden!

Get out those binoculars!

justtracy — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:00:13 +0000

It’s time for the Great Backyard Bird Count, a joint project of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the The National Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada.

The count is from February 17-20 and anyone can participate. Just go to the link above for the GBBC website and submit your checklist. It’s fun and a bit more interesting than watching your seeds for signs of life.

It’s that time of year again!

justtracy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:18:23 +0000

I am a big fan of county Soil and Water Conservation Districts. One of their activities I like the most is their annual spring Tree and Shrub Sale. Keep in mind, these a bare root starter trees and shrubs so you have to be a bit patient and be in need of a quantity of usually 10 or so plants. They also have a hodgepodge of other items to offer as well like birdhouses, groundcovers, fertilizer, etc. Here are links for two area sales that are now taking orders.

Monroe CSWD Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale: Orders due by March 18; Pick-up April 19 & 20
New this year: American Cranberry, White Oak. They also have bat houses and a rain barrel kit!

Ontario CSWD Tree and Shrub Sale: Orders due by March 16; Pick-up April 20 & 21
New this year: Pond habitat plant packet. They also have Bluebird houses!

Spring Fix

justtracy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:29:57 +0000

The Eastman House Dutch Connection begins tomorrow, February 10 and runs through February 25. I have been to this a couple of times and would recommend it to anyone that needs a bit of Spring this month.

My dear rose, where did you come from?

justtracy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:20:30 +0000

Ever wonder how those beautiful roses make their way to your home on Valentine’s Day? I hadn’t ever given it much thought actually. And then I discovered author Amy Stewart. In The Flower Confidential (2007), Amy goes behind the scenes into the world of the cut flower industry. A very fascinating book that looks at various aspects from the hybridizers to the flower producers to the local flower shop. Great read for the inquiring mind.

http://www.amystewart.com/flowerconfidential.html

My Chinese Witch Hazel is blooming…about a month early for my yard.

justtracy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:48:09 +0000

I was surprised today to see my Chinese Witch Hazel blooming although I guess I shouldn’t be considering the weather this winter. In previous years it blooms the beginning of March.

These shrubs bloom in winter (as opposed to the native ones that bloom in the fall). I purchased this one in 2008 and it has shown slow but steady growth.

To read more about Chinese Witch Hazel, see this Penn State Extension write-up.

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’ / Chinese Witch Hazel

Things I look forward to in February

justtracy — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:50:21 +0000

The days are getting longer! Here’s a simple, great website that calculates length of day as well as other time and date variables.

Winter Pruning: Here is a great resource on this topic from the University of Minnesota / Extension

Refreshing my houseplants: I’m sorry, but houseplants do age out in my opinion. This is a great time of year to say out with the straggly, overgrown and ugly (you know the ones I’m talking about) to make room for some new ones in the coming months. I assess if plants need to be moved around to a better location, inspect them for any pest problems, refresh the soil as needed or re-pot entirely if necessary, and add some slow release fertilizer to my foliage plants. Here is an absolutely terrific online resource on houseplants from the University of Illinois / Extension.

Seeds arrive! My seed orders start to trickle in so it is time to clean up my grow station in the basement. I make a calendar list of when to start which seeds. I clean the grow station, pots, trays, tools, etc. and make a list of new supplies needed: pots, seed starting mix, tongue depressors, etc. Since I share this station with my husband (the vegetable farmer) space is limited and I have to select just how many I think I want of each seed which requires a lot of thought and strategy. Here is another great extension source on Starting Seeds Indoors from Purdue University / Extension.

Plant Tags and Binders: This is also the month I sort out all the plant tags from last year. Yes, I have a weird obsession of keeping plant tags. I have plants tags from 1999 when I started gardening at my first home! I organize them into binders and I am up to about 15 binders. I guess that would make me a tag horder. I also keep an excel spreadsheet of all the plants I have purchased. I dont’ know why I do this, but I just can’t help myself. And yes, I have plant labels for everything in my yard.

So see, there are garden related things to do in February!

2012 American Garden Award Contestants

justtracy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:14:27 +0000

The American Garden Award announces their 2012 entries for most popular new flower variety voted on by you! The award, administered by the All-America Selections Display Garden program, selects the contestants from submissions received by breeders all over the world. Then a network of public display gardens across the U.S. grows these entries so that they may be viewed and voted on by the general public.

Can’t make it to a display garden on the list, you can also view the entries and vote online. Voting begins June 1 and winners announced in the fall.

This years contestants are:
Angelonia angustfolia ‘Serena Blue’
Begonia Boliviensis ‘Santa Cruz Sunset’
Gazania ‘Big Kiss™ White Flame’
Petchoa x Hybrida ‘SuperCal Pink Ice PPAF’
Petunia ‘Surfinia® Deep Red’
Sunflower ‘Goldie’ F1

My personal vote would be for Angelonia as I have grown this annual for several years now and just rave about it to everyone that will listen.