WOW! What a fantastic experience, Mike, in downtown no less. I'm glad you had it, because no doubt if it happened to me I would have looked up and not known what I was seeing. I have a very limited bird repertoire, sadly. A home devoid of birds really is a tragic idea to contemplate, Mike. There's no doubt we have a deeper resonance with birdcalls than we are even consciously aware of. I remember us all discussing, in the spring, the way we were starting to hear the birds again. I believe it was Denise who brought it up, which makes sense, since she likes birds. But I remember thinking at the time: Ah, yes, I've just been sensing that too even though I'm a dullard at wildlife. It feels like the whole world is waking up when the birds return. It's not so much that you consciously miss it when the population dwindles to a few species, but when all the sudden the sound is everywhere, your heart just LIFTS. The same way your body thrills at the feeling of sunlight. So, I totally agree that on those islands, the population must be feeling a subconscious dulling. A lack of thrill, so to speak.

Summitst, My backyard Cydonia oblonga has nearly full sun during the growing season, and is shaded by the neighbor's garage (to the south) in the winter. This prevents sun scald injury on the SW side of the tree. My front yard C. oblonga is also shaded in winter--by the house (to the west.) The two quince trees that I grew in another, more open location in St. Paul suffered significant winter damage on the SW side, resulting in loss of limbs and general decline. Wrapping the trunk and branches with protective paper tape can mitigate this kind of damage to a certain extant. I lost these last two trees this year to construction, and have ordered replacements, cultivar 'Aromatnya.' Another hazard here at home is rabbits eating the bark of young trees in winter. A cylinder of hardware cloth around the trunk, one that extends ABOVE the snow line will keep the rabbits out. And then there are the squirrels, which this year destroyed all the immature fruits from the backyard tree. They didn't eat them, they just cut them off the tree one by one and left them lying on the ground. But don't let me discourage you ...

I can certainly tell you are "ready" for Spring, Jeanne. Getting all your bunnies, birds, and birdhouses out to view and enjoy! ;o) I love bunnies, think they are just fine for all seasons, and your little brown one is so cute and looks perfect right there. You did a really nice job on the boy figurine, he's a cutie. Like the little girl too. You have so many pretty and interesting things on display. Your collection of the children planters is great! There is such a sweet innocence to them and all the pastel colors are so soft and sweet. Thanks for sharing your spring decor with us. I just got the Easter decs put away and debated on several bunnies as to whether they should stay out or be put away until next year. Sometimes when I like something--I can go a bit overboard with it! LOL Luvs

I used my fingers OJ, and with one on each hand that makes two! LOL I think I read in the info on the right that it will be 2 eggs and then incubation. I assume that means only 2, but I could be wrong. I was surprised at the length of time between #1 and #2 and the fact that she was sitting on that first egg most of the time inbetween. It seems to me that the first would hatch sooner. We had mallards that chose our front flower bed for nesting at our previous house. They spent 2 weeks laying an egg each day and then she sat on the nest for 4 weeks. They all hatched at the same time. Before the next day the mother mallard had that string of ducklings follow her to the river. She didn't even lead them around the end of a ledge. She had those tiny little hatchlings climb up a 4-5 inch cement edge and then drop 2 feet down on the other side. From there they waddled behind mama about 400 feet to the river. That mama went at HER speed and we laughed at those little ones running like mad to keep up. The ducks are safer in the water. That's why they go so soon. I wonder if that RUN to keep up with mama is to build their lungs for in the water. Unfortunately lots of the little ones get grabbed by turtles in the water. I don't recall ever seeing more than 2 ducklings, from each family, surviving that first summer. Thank you, Nanny. I need to read all that.