The front yard California fuchsias (Epilobium canum) are still flowering and providing forage to the hummingbirds. I really need to cut these back but…. the hummingbirds! And other small pollinators!
Birds
Unidentified hummingbird enjoying rosemary flowers today. Maybe a Black Chin. Doesn’t seem to have the colorations of an Anna’s.
House Sparrows frenetically bathing under the mandarin this morning.
Last year this was not our view into the backyard from the house. Now we regularly see White Crowns, House Sparrows, European Collared Doves, Scrub Jays, and less often Lesser Gold Finches. Thanks, bird feeder! What this means for spring/summer tree fruit harvest… 😬
New bird in our backyard! Yellow-rumped Warbler. A pair was feasting on our cultivated California Grapes that now have raisins.
Toad in our bird bath tonight. That’s a first. We usually empty the baths to keep mosquitoes at bay and keep cats from being too keen on the backyard at night. Not tonight!
Northern Mockingbird in our backyard. They’re not nearly as brave as the scrub jays but they’re using our backyard more and more.
A happy scrub jay feasting on some big bird seeds.
Blue Jay yelling at everything this afternoon. Maybe it’s angry at the wildfire smoke.
A scrub jay checking out the new bird feeder. Birds haven’t taken to it yet. They’re still eating grapes and desiccated elderberries.
Our trio of Scrub Jays are leaving almond hulls behind. Maybe they’re giving us gifts for providing water? We do compost….
Here’s some hope that our trio of Scrub Jays will eat our cultivated California native grapes.
Metallic ribbon and a fake bird of prey truly keeps the birds away from our figs.
Hummingbirds love these cultivated native California fuchsias so here’s their bird’s eye view of them.
Cultivated native California grapes. Seedy & thick skinned but good to eat. Since the birds aren’t.
The birds aren’t eating the grapes, so we might as well. 😋
Scrub jay!
Watering the front yard and this hummingbird was really curious about the water and I swear the bird took a drink.
Our cultivated native California grapes are ripening! The birds will hopefully soon find them. Or we’ll enjoy them despite their massive seeds.
Hummingbird enjoying succulent flowers.
Hidden Lakes, Lassen National Forest
Saturday, June 13, 2020
We went on a hike to the Hidden Lakes in the Caribou Wilderness on the Lassen National Forest. It started at the Hay Meadows Trail Head, north of Lake Almanor, California. It was six miles of relatively flat hiking with periodic steep inclines. The trails were not at all crowded, though we brought masks just in case. We saw a male Western Tanager (bird). I cropped to zoom: A closer view, using Pixelmator Pro’s ML Super Resolution with crop:
Metallic flagging and a fake hawk to discourage birds from the cherries. The blue jays are smart and eventually don’t care but smaller birds stay away. Just say no to critter killing netting.
Our cherry tree’s super close **together** buds are opening up! Soon flower buds will rapidly drop on stems, bloom, and then by late May... ripe cherries! If the birds don’t get them first.
Experimenting with our first bird feeding station. Suet with seed for a variety of birds.
Our Elderberries coming back after they scorched in the summer heat last year. Resilient native plants! The birds loved the berries late summer.
Front yarden update: California Buckwheat’s dead flowers are showy red and the Blue Oak has decided it is winter. California fuchsias still have flowers for the hummingbirds. Front of the house illuminated by mostly bug friendly amber lights. 🐞🐝
Birds gorging on sweet basil seeds.
The birds are gorging on seeds in our front and backyard gardens. So happy to provide them sustenance rather than a lawn desert!
Front yard native plants currently in bloom: Epilobium canum (California Fuchsia; red flowers adored by hummingbirds) and Baccharis pilularis (Coyote Bush; small, pleasantly scented white flowers loved by small pollinators).
Epilobium canum (California Fuchsia) keeping pollinators, including hummingbirds, happy.
