Cheering the Cherries

This morning I was out to fill the peanut feeder and set up the birdcam. Yesterday's birdcam was a little disappointing. I had only one good picture out of 700-plus. The number of pictures might surprise you, but I have the camera set to a very high sensitivity. Any movement of the feeder sets off the camera. Since there is almost always a slight breeze, I get lots of pictures of the empty feeder. So this is the little guy that I got. This is a housefinch.

I had the camera aimed poorly as well. I'm still learning, and I've realized that if I have it aimed dead on at a perch, I usually only get the backside of the bird. There were a couple of perches off to each side in yesterday's batch, but the tops of the birds were cut off. Today I set it up on the suet feeder, and I seem to have better luck there.

While I was out this morning, I noticed that our Bing cherry tree is in bloom. Yay! And the sun is shining! This is always a good thing for the pollinators. Our other tree, a Black Tartarian, is still in tight buds, and the Italian prune plum tree isn't even close to blooming. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that both will decide to bloom while the sun is shining.

Also, I noticed that our red flowering currant is in bloom. I think up until a few years ago, most Oregonians thought of these as weeds. They are native to our area, and within the past couple of years, I've noticed them for sale in nurseries. We are lucky enough to have one growing at the edge of our woods. 

I'm seeing a few more tulips now. These next two are growing in the whiskey barrels, which makes me very happy. I was pretty sure the squirrels had eaten all of them.

And the chives are getting tall and lush. I noticed that this one has some flower buds. I'm not planning to make any chive blossom vinegar since I still have quite a bit left from last year. Still, it makes nice gifts for friends, and so I'll probably make some anyway. What the heck? When it's just white vinegar and my own perennial chive blossoms, it's not as if I have a lot invested.

Of course, I had my little guard cat with me on today's excursions. We found a half-eaten mouse on the patio, and so we know there are varmints around. He's none too happy about the dew in the grass. It gets his knee socks all wet.

So this morning I'm going swimming, and then to the grocery store. I was able to get away with being a slouch yesterday, but today, I really must buy some groceries. And I'd like to get a little bit of stitching done before it's time to leave, so I'd better get off the computer and get to it.

I hope you have a lovely day.