Sunday, May 03, 2020

Bird Nests.

5-3-20 SHORT HILLS: We had yet another trace of rain last night. The past two days have been summery—warm, breezy, mostly sunny, shirt-sleeve days. I think the spring gardening is mostly done although whenever I walk around the yard I see something I missed. We’re waiting for the lawn mowers to show up, the grass is ankle high.

While pruning Asian hollies that border the den terrace, I noticed two, two bird nests. One of them was low enough for me to look into and the other just a bit too high. The construction and size of both nests were very similar, same material, and I assumed that they were the same species.

Yesterday the lower nest had two speckled eggs that are those of a cardinal, who I saw on the bush next to the nest. The other nest is so well hidden that I couldn’t get a look into it even holding the camera high above my head. However, I later chased the momma bird out, inadvertently, by walking by the nest, and it was a robin.

New blooms: Korean spice viburnum, wood hyacinth.


Next to the den terrace is this cardinal nest in an Asian holly. There's a robin nest on the other side of the terrace in a different holly tree.

Wood hyacinth is a reliable, shade tolerant spring perennial.

Korean spice viburnum is our second of about eight viburnums to bloom, but doesn't make seeds or self-spread to my disappointment.

Redbud plays it close to the trunk, each of those pink ovoids opens to resemble a tiny orchid.


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