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| Female American Cardinal in my Garden |
The January garden wavered between breathtaking beauty when covered with snow and boring dullness when the snow thawed. Sadly, this winter there were more days of the latter. With a lack of blooms, backyard birds become the stars. While the red feathers of the male cardinal make it an obvious favorite, I also love the muted colors of the female. The cardinal reminds us that it is nearly time for the
Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) -- the male cardinal is the poster child of this year's GBBC. Click
HERE for all the information you will need to join in the fun of this important activity.
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| A male American cardinal at our heated water dish |
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| An adorable female American Cardinal |
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| When covered with snow the garden was beautiful |
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| A more dull-looking scene when the snow was gone |
In the picture above there is a large bird on the top branch of the weeping cherry tree. Can you see it? It is a red-shouldered hawk with it's eye on the koi pond.
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| Red shouldered hawk on the weeping cherry tree |
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| Two hawks on the frozen pond |
Duane said the hawks were ice fishing. Not funny. Fortunately, the koi are too deep in the bottom of the pond for the birds to reach them.
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| The pond today is frozen. The bubbler is providing aeration for the fish. No need for the heater yet. |
We will need to do repair work on the pond in the spring: As you can see from the following picture, the water level is several inches down. We believe there is a leak around the skimmer, as the water does not fall below it. The repair job is at the top of our spring to-do list.
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| The pond in August 2019 with fallen water level. |
Although there are no blooms now, there are some signs that spring will arrive eventually. Every January, I show similar pictures. Here's what I snapped today:
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| Golden mop false cypress adds needed color in winter |
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| Top: crocus shoots. Bottom right: daffodil shoots. Bottom left: rhododendron buds |
Last fall I planted a witch hazel with the hopes that it would bloom by now. There are some promising-looking buds but no blooms yet.
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| Witch hazel |
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| Buds on Japanese andromeda Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire.' |
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| First buds on the hellebores |
We had several days of rain this month. As a result the paddock is a sea of mud. The animals are glad to be outside, however. We put their hay in haypillows to slow down their fast eating. Actually, the mini horse can eat so fast it makes him sick. He is prone to foundering. The haypillows work well.
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| Top: Doodes the Nigerian dwarf goat. Bottom: Charm the mini horse and Billy Goat |
No blooms outside, but some beauties indoors.
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| Colorful amaryllis on the dining-room table |
Finally, some Eastern bluebirds visited my garden today. I've seen very few this winter, so their appearance was most welcome. And another reminder to participate in the GBBC next month.
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| Eastern Bluebirds |
I'm joining Sarah at
Down by the Sea for a January view through her garden gate in Dorset, England. And I look forward to hearing about your garden this first month of the new year.
Pamela x
I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited!
I look forward to visiting your blog in return.
Lovely pictures of the Northern Cardinals and Eastern Bluebirds and a good reminder about the Great Backyard Bird Count. Intimations of spring are certainly there in your January garden.
ReplyDeleteI know you usually participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, Dorothy. I look forward to it.
DeleteAs you know, I always enjoy seeing photos of the birds which visit your garden, and your animals too, so a lovely post. It was our bird watch last weekend but I didn't take part this year. I do love to see the snow, just so long as I don't have to go out in it, but we haven't had any at all this year, it's been very mild here so far.
ReplyDeleteI remember some very deep snowfalls in England when I was a child. How the winters have changed everywhere.
DeleteYou have some handsome feathered friends, and I learned something new. I've had mini horses and goats but never heard of hay bags. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome horse owners hang mesh bags in the stall, but horses naturally eat from the ground with their heads down. So the hay pillows are more natural for them. We give them to the goats because the horse would eat their loose hay otherwise.
DeleteAlways exciting to see bulbs nosing thru!
ReplyDeleteLooking back, it's not unusual for bulbs to be shooting up in my garden in January, but every year I'm surprised.
DeleteHi Pam. Your winter garden is beautiful as always and my favorite photos are those of the northern cardinal, bluebirds and garden covered in snow. It has been one of the mildest winters on record here on Long Island, so there haven’t been many snow events to photograph, and the spring bulbs are making an early debut here as well!
ReplyDeleteVery mild here too, Lee.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that there's another gardener who enjoys the magical change of a good snowstorm! I guess it depends on the winter, when there's no snow you wish there was, and when there's endless snow you get tired of that as well. Either way your winter garden is much more interesting than you give it credit for. Even without snow it's far from boring!
ReplyDeleteWe rarely see bluebirds here. Do you put anything special out for them or is it the birdbath that brings them in?
Have a great February!
We don't put anything special out for the bluebirds, Frank. They love the heated waterdish but never go to the feeder. Duane has lots of bluebird houses around the property.
DeleteThanks to your information, I think we will be doing the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. There are a few which come to our feeder that we don't know their names. Well, we don't know their "real" names. We have given them crazy monikers but that won't help anyone else. This will be a perfect time to look up their proper titles.
ReplyDeleteJeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
What fun to have crazy names for birds! My husband doesn't know plants and gives them hilarious names.
DeleteHi Pam, this is my first visit to your blog and I love the photos, of your garden,the animals and birds, and of your home landscape. I'm a member of the Pocono Garden Club,and I've taken all your examples to heart. I've brought a few branches of forsythia inside to force, now in bloom. I'm also counting the birds this weekend. I have not put out bird feeders this winter, as a result, it won't take me long to count. Happily, I saw a robin yesterday . Spring is on the way.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog, Joan. Thank you for your lovely comments. It was great to meet you when I talked at your garden club last week -- that was a fun event! I'm not seeing many birds today and I think there may be even less tomorrow with the big fall in temperatures. I enjoy participating though. BTW - if you put your email address in the box that says 'follow by email' in the sidebar of this blog you will receive timely updates. I look forward to seeing you again -- here or in person.
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