Spring is really coming

Spring really seems to be here where we live. Allergies are up, of course. Just a bit worse than winter allergies now, we do expect them to ramp up more and more over the next month. At any rate, though there are pollens about, I have opened some windows here and there in the house. The fresh air is lovely, it’s not too cold. I’ve turned the heat pump off as well (didn’t want it to run at all, which it only would do at night, depending on what temperature it was set at, but don’t need that when it’s sunny and spring-like all day where our house is.

Our Weeping Willow is putting out it’s greenery. It’s obvious looking out the window to the 80 or so feet to where the tree is, green bumps up and down the long strands that make up a Weeping Willows branches, etc.

Looking at it up close, the Weeping Willow had green coming out a good 1/2″ everywhere. It’s just February 19 today, the 15 day outlook isn’t set in stone, but there COULD be some nights with lows around or below freezing, which depends on many things as to if it’ll be troublesome for plants.

Other things which are growing, our ornamental cherry tree seems to be readying the blossoms that will come within a month or so. Some other things we have, self-planted oak trees in our front area need to be moved, but are already putting out some leaves. A maple tree we have is putting out new growth too, but not leaves. All the maple trees are thickening their buds that will be their “flowers”.

Birds are going crazy eating all the berries created from last years blossoms on the ornamental cherry tree. They’ve pretty much clean off the top half, and are now working on the bottom half. (It hardly had any activity during the whole winter until this week.)

I am worried about the coming heat though. Our A/C has been more and more unreliable over the last 10 years, needs replaced but more than that, overhaul of what we need is necessary. I hold out no hope that the compressor will turn on the first time we need it. It takes money to have it checked out and we know it’s pretty much not worth “fixing” even if it could be managed to get more life out of it. It’s expensive to run like that, when it DOES what it is supposed to, so it’s either cook or be warm, rarely cool enough, but sometimes it does better (depending on sun or clouds, drier weather, etc.) –it’s troublesome because I do terrible physically with too much heat, over 70 degrees F. higher humidity kills any energy I have, I get really ill, and I’d give $1,000 for a minute of cool dry air around me, so it’s worth it to pay that much to do something about it that is a lasting change, and add more $ to it to make it even better. But alas, everything costs, and that is the one thing that is never considered, actually DOING something about it. It’s the last thing that needs done even though I NEED it from April 1 to October 15 at the LEAST usually.

So it’s nice that Spring is here, but it’s too soon. Summer is TOO close, A/C a problem. The birds are happy though. They get to build their nests, lay their eggs, raise their young again. That’s great. I hope I can stay cool enough. That’s all.

Sibley app on Android

Today I saw Cedar Waxwing’s in my backyard. That’s a first for our yard, plus for me.

Recently I got the Sibley app for my HTC EVO. I love it. It’s my favorite bird books in my phone, with added function, bird songs! I really love the way it works too, with a map for viewing with the key right there on every bird profile (easier than the books!) It’s great searching for birds and more. The audio for bird songs is awesome, it really made it super easy to absolutely identify the Cedar Waxwings without having a super closeup view of them.

Unfortunately I have had several force close errors, but I can get it right back up working. Hopefully something will work better with it in the future. (most notable when trying to “edit” My List. Unable to do so. Force Close.)

My plan is to eventually get a Nook Color, root it, and get this app on there to work. I hope I can do that soon, and I hope it’ll work!

I have to remember to leave a comment on the Android Market about my experience with force close with this app.

About My New Hummer Feeders

I was able to get a new bird feeder yesterday, a lovely copper and glass Hummingbird feeder. It’s where I used to put one when I had a deck, the hanger I installed won’t come off, so it’s permanent in a way now. I have to use a ladder to access the spot.

I can view it where I am now, typing, it’s through the kitchen out the window, a far distance but I can see it. Also there is another one I got some months ago and finally installed out front off of the porch, and I can see it from where I stand as well. So far I’ve seen only 1 bird, either a female or juvenile. It seems to really like the newer one the best. The one out front has 3 copper chains that come down to a “basket” that holds the clear plastic dish w/ clear glass top. It’s a beautiful glass top with formed flowers of red glass around the feeding holes. The new one out back is a vertical cylinder glass tube with a copper top and copper base. The base has a perch extended from it that circles the entire bottom. The feeding holes have red painted metal flowers around them.

Frank says he’s seen the hummer out front a lot, since he’s out there on the phone for work often. I haven’t seen it there much, just did in fact, and just the other day for the first time since putting the feeder out some days before that, though others in the house say they’d seen it. There it is again now.

I’ve uploaded a photo of my new feeder on Flickr and also made a Photo post of it here.

Laugh at yourself

We are in Tampa for a couple of days. Thurs. we moved to a different hotel and the new one is right on the bay. We sat on the balcony and watched gulls and blackbirds flitting about for awhile. Then a new bird showed up and another just like it. I hadn’t thought of any of the shore birds as “gulls” just as sea, shore, birds, like that. So I got out my Sibley book I take around with me and didn’t find the gull section right off, puzzled over it and finally thought “GULL” and fastly found what I was looking for, eventually. At first it was evident that these new birds were different and after seeing a bird ID that is considered Rare in the book for this area I got out my Canon Digital Rebel camera and took several photos with my Canon long lens.

Satisfied that I had recorded enough digital data of the birds I sat down and looked hard at the identifying points in the Sibley book and realized that part of the ID I’d made was based on thinking and not thinking at the same time, with outside influence of my 10-year-old daughter pointing at the book. Right there on the previous page was a common bird, yeah, Laughing at me.

No matter. Laughing Gulls in juvenile feathers, then two come along in brilliant mature spring array. Worth a bumbling ID and some picture moments.