April
23, 2004
Spring has sprung!
Join
us for a stroll through Perry Parc to check out the situation!
After a very harsh winter and a summer drought last year, there is
Good News and Bad...
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Tom's grass seed took hold, hurray!! Soon we can mow it and plant more.
Hino Crimson Azaleas are in bud, by the bird bath,
the Helleboros are in full bloom on the upper patio...
in front of the Camellia which was killed back by the harsh winter. :(
And peonies are coming up.
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Violet
volunteers return in force, to fill in between stones by the pond.
Sweet Woodruff herb groundcover is close behind them.
But! You can see right through the Holly tree! (right above)
The bad freezes of last winter burned most of "Nelly Steven's"
leaves... :(
The tree survived, so we await new leaves! (Shown later0
The pond and bird house will get cleaned out tomorrow.
Carolina Wrens will breed in the bird house, which hangs in
a tree behind the pond.
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Carolina Wrens
(Commercial photos... I haven't gotten my act together, to photograph our birds yet.)
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Left:
Red Bellied Woodpecker (8.5 in) - we call him "Big Red"
Right: Downy Woodpecker (5.75 in.)
(Commercial Photos)
"Big Red"
and his mate, our large pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers (male, left
above),
again remained for the winter. They feed year-round on our suet feeder
by the kitchen window
and peck away loudly in our oak trees
.
The little Downy Woodpeckers (right, above) also winter here and do
the same.
When the baby Downys are born, the father takes all of them to that
suet feeder.
He feeds them and gradually teaches them how to feed themselves there.
A beautiful sight!
We should soon have 4 - 6 baby Downys clinging to our window frames!
The young do not yet know the difference between the window frames and
the trees!
And they know no fear, for quite some time.
They seem to enjoy looking in on strange humans, just as we enjoy watching
them.
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I've
already missed the chance to photograph our early Daffodils and crocuses,
and the squirrels or DEER ate all of our Emperor Tulips! More on the
deer later...
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A second group of Daffodils blooms anew, all along the path to the arbor,
across from another "Nelly Stevens" Holly that was badly frost burned.
A Holly at the other end of The Holly Ridge (not shown) is fine, thank heavens!
And the Oregon Grape Holly (right above) is strong as a horse and blooming well,
in yellow above, next to the red-tipped Andromeda.
Bird baths get cleaned and filled tomorrow.
Now, to the rest of the story!
Around
midnight, one snowy night at the beginning of last February,
I saw the motion sensor light go on, along the side of the house.
I went to the back window "to see what was the matter.
And what before my wondering eyes should
appear...?"
But... FIVE LARGE REINDEER, CLIMBING ACROSS THE STEPPED,
PATIO WALL!!!!
I almost thought I would see Jolly Saint Nicholas next!
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Above
is the narrow, stepped wall which they climbed, going from right to
left.
The stone caps on the wall are only about 10 inches wide.
The wall was covered in snow at the time.
I
can't resist this opportunity...
(with apologies to the author of The Night Before Christmas!)
When out on the wall there arose such a clatter,
I roused Tom out of bed and...
Me without 'kerchief, and Tom without cap
Away
to the window we flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The
moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to the objects below,
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
But ...
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ONE DEER CHEWING ON OUR SPREADING YEW
just above the patio (right and left above)...
and FOUR OTHER DEER TROMPING THROUGH THE AZALEAS!
(center above)
...and, then, where to? We learned the next morning...
To eat the bottom 4 feet of needles off of the
TALL YEW TREE AT THE BACK OF THE POND!
(Toooooo much new development in Plainfield destroyed their natural
habitat!)
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White Tailed Deer
(NJ Park Service photo)
The other night, we came home from a movie, to find the five of them
chewing on our front grass.
It's hopeless! We are apparently on their nightly path!
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As
of May 14, one of the younger deer seems to have taken up permanenet
residence
in the neighbor's woodland, just behind our pond!
During yesterday's thunder and lightning, she was startled by a clap
and rose from where she lay, to wander out. I followed her, but did
not get a photo of her.
Today May 15, I saw her behind the pond again and was able to capture
the photos above.
As I always say...
It's "Survival of the
fittest" in Perry Parc!!
Continue
on a peaceful stroll
into the Woodland Garden, to see some of our
Wild Flowers...
Click
here
Page
1, Perry Parc Log 2004