Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Planning where to put what roses in our new yard

My cold/flu bug is hanging on so I'm spending time planning things as I run out of steam too fast if I try to actually do them.  Today, I went for a short walk to the Cornwall Rose Garden where all the roses are blooming quite nicely.  I have had roses in our gardens since we lived in a house in Pasadena that was a test garden and had 75 rose bushes in the front yard, ten along the side of the house and another 5 in the back yard.  Each place we've lived has had a different climate so I've had to investigate which roses were better suited.  And I figured the Rose Garden here would be a good place to start.



Our front yard faces west and has nothing blocking the sun to the south so it will be a fabulous full sun area for roses and herbs.  Right now, there's a lilac bush, another flowering bush with purple blossoms, a yellow leafed bush and some flowering invasive viny things.  So we already have some colors going on.


I'm currently thinking about a yellow/orange multicolor rose and a lavender one to start.  Those are my favorites and Jeff likes the traditional very lush red rose.   Unfortunately, of the 3 roses I picked as possibles at the rose garden, only one had a label with the name.    That one was one of the two multicolors to think about. The other multicolor might be a  hybrid tea...



And the labeled one is a floribunda.  I have mixed feelings about the floribundas because I always end up cutting a whole cluster which means buds that don't always open get cut too.


And the only one that came close to my desire for a lavender rose, was this one which was not doing well yet and was in the heirloom section.


It photographs as more pink than it looked in person.  Clearly, I have more research to do.  Since I have lots of raised beds to put in before I can even think of buying the plants, it's just as well.  But shopping for new plants is almost as much fun as planting them and watching them grow so good times ahead either way.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Birding photo backlog: bushtit vs Bewick's wren

I'm down with some nasty bug that's going around so when I'm not sleeping, coughing, sneezing or staring into space, I'm doing small things on my computer.  Today's small thing is processing some of my bird photo backlog.

These are from March 28.  Mischa and I were at Squalicum Beach Park and when we spotted this little grey-brown bird,  our first thought was a bushtit.  Breeding season is pretty much the only time you get to see bushtits by themselves as they're usually tumbling through the air in groups of a dozen or more.  So I got my camera up to see if he'd sit still for a pic.  And I got this shot.



Then he decided to really make his presence known, tilted his head back and started singing.  That's when I saw the distinctive big white eyebrow and realized this was a Bewick's Wren.


I've never before considered these 2 birds to look much alike so this was a learning experience.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Cedar Waxwings at Tennant Lake Park

On May 31, Mischa and I went birding at Tennant Lake Park in Ferndale.  Unfortunately for us, her gps had the same address for Tennant Lake Park and the wildlife refuge area at the other end of the lake  so we ended up at the wrong place initially.   After driving around to the other end of the lake, we set out to see what birds were still around as we were less than an hour from dusk.

Mischa always gets distracted by the fragrance garden so there was some lingering there before we went out on the boardwalk.  When we came to the fork in the boardwalk, we took the right hand path that was not wheelchair accessible.  And we found a plethora of waxwings.



Since it was getting dark, it was hard to see details and this is the first photo that had enough light to show the yellow tail tip and the black eye band.  I was focusing on the one in the lower left when the second one flew in.  Since waxwings are fairly social and interact frequently, I was looking forward to seeing some fun bird behavior.


The new one decided to edge closer to the original bird.


And then there was an exchange of some tidbit which looks a lot like a kiss.  Waxwings are known to sit in a line on a branch and pass berries up and down the line so I guess this is what they do when there's not so many of them in one spot.


And then a third one flew in to join in.  They decided to relocate after this, so I didn't get more photos but the group followed us as we headed back on the boardwalk so it was definitely a waxwing trip.  I'm looking forward to going back when there's more light.  I'm getting lots of quality photos and great birding moments at this park.  I recommend it as a birding destination for forest and water edge birds.