Nasty Garlic Mustard.

5-2-17 SHORT HILLS: Saturday night we had Bette and Lonnie and Ellen and Bruce here for dinner. All the deaf guys could hear everything. Sunday we dog walked at Loantaka Park and saw lots of birds in the forest and around the lake, including many red-wing blackbirds, eastern kingbird, catbird, swallows, the swan, a great egret, mallards, robins.

Yesterday I did more pruning, and today I pulled up all the wild garlic mustard in the yard. The weed is an alien invader, very aggressive and spreads rapidly. I was glad to see that something has been eating it, possibly woodchuck, rabbit or deer. I filled four garbage bags and believe it is all gone for the moment, but doubtless, more will turn up. I drove by the local water reserve later, it has extensive growth clusters of the weed.

New blooms: hawthorn, Solomon seal, sweet woodruff, ajuga, leucothoe, deutzia, red twig dogwood, viburnums—siebold, doublefile, tea.


Mute swan cuts a wake.

Red-wing blackbird, immature male just getting mature.

Catbird.

Azalea color above and below...