My first robin sighting of the season. I saw this guy sitting in my apple tree late in the afternoon.
40 zebra finches jamming on electric guitars and cymbals at the Barbican, in London.
The little guy with the twig sounds pretty good!
Posted in Birds, Eclectic | Tagged birds, Eclectic, music | 1 Comment »
The Chicago Flower and Garden Show opens at Navy Pier this weekend and will run from Saturday March 6 through Sunday March 14, 2010. The theme this year is “Cultivating Great Performances,” underscoring Chicago’s reputation as a great theater town.
More than 25 gardens designed by top gardening and landscaping companies, a marketplace of over 100 vendors where you can shop or browse, a garden gourmet with culinary demonstrations by top Chicago chefs, a kid’s activity garden and free educational seminars are just some of the attractions.
Of course I’ll be there. I am so ready to spend a day among the flowers and forget about the gloom and cold of Chicago’s winters. I’m planning some new landscaping and an expanded garden this year and will be looking for inspiration and ideas.
I’ll take notes and photos and be back with more next week. Until then, some photos from last year’s show.
Posted in Garden, flowers | Tagged flowers, Garden, GardenShow | Leave a Comment »
Don’t wait too long to buy seeds for your vegetable garden. According to a recent AP story some of the more popular varieties may be difficult to find this year.
A combination of factors could cause seeds for home gardeners to be in short supply. Demand in the United States is up. A record number of people started vegetable gardens in response to the poor economy, the scares about contaminated commercial produce and a desire to be more green. European orders of US seeds have increased as their seed growers had a bad year. And finally, farmers that grow seeds are becoming scarce. It’s more profitable to grow corn for biofuel and many are no longer supplying seeds.
Now would be a good time to check out the seed catalogs. A site that I like is mailordergardening.com. They have links to some of the more popular catalogs plus other useful information.
Posted in Garden, veggies | Tagged Garden, seeds, vegetables, veggies | Leave a Comment »
Cooper’s Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk?
After this morning’s bird walk I headed for the feeders to take some photos. There are usually lots of birds waiting their turn in the nearby trees. It was sunny and clear with light winds and, other than being a little chilly, perfect for pictures; except there were hardly any birds around. After about a half hour I spotted this guy looking for lunch. And that explained the scarcity of birds.
This is either a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned. It flew away in the opposite direction and I was unable to get a good flight shot. The bird was large; about the size of a crow. Any identification assistance or opinions would be appreciated.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife | Tagged birds, hawk | 1 Comment »
Be a citizen scientist and help the birds. This weekend is the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a four day event held February 12 through 15, 2010. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.
Participation is easy and anyone in the USA and Canada can contribute. You don’t even have to leave your yard; watching from the window is acceptable. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on any or all of the four days and submit your counts online.
Even if you can only identify a few species that information is important. Not sure what bird you are looking at? If you’re in the midwest, check my gallery of photos of local birds. Other good resources for identification are WhatBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds guide.
All data is valuable because it gives scientists a snapshot of where birds are and the size of the populations. There will be real-time maps and charts available online showing what others are reporting during the count.
I’ll be counting birds in my yard and at Cantigny Gardens during their bird walk on Saturday. Happy Counting.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife | Tagged birds, Wildlife | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes everyone gets along.
Mrs. Cardinal shares her sunflower seeds with a squirrel
Posted in Birds, Squirrels, Wildlife | Tagged BackyardBirds, birds, Squirrels | Leave a Comment »
A tasty and not too spicy chili.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1½ cups chopped sweet onion
- 3 minced fresh garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 28 oz can tomato puree
- 16 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
- 2 16 oz cans kidney beans
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Dash of clove
Preparation:
In a large pot saute onion and garlic in a small amount of oil. Brown ground beef, drain off fat and add beef to onion and garlic. Add chili powder, pepper, salt, brown sugar and clove. Mix well and cook for several minutes. Add tomato puree and sauce. Drain and add kidney beans. Add 1 cup broth. Add an additional ½ cup for soupier chili. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for one hour.
Makes 8 bowls.
Posted in Recipes | Tagged recipe | Leave a Comment »
The birds love homemade peanut butter suet dough. Today I had chickadees, woodpeckers and juncos nibbling away at it. Here’s a female red-bellied woodpecker and a chickadee enjoying a meal.
Other birds that like this treat are bluebirds, titmice, nuthatches, jays, wrens, thrashers and towhees.
The basic recipe is simple and only takes a few minutes to make. I’d like to take credit for it, but I found it in Bird Watcher’s Digest. I used vegetable shortening instead of lard; the birds didn’t mind.
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
- 2 cups plain yellow corn meal
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- raisens (optional)
- chopped nuts (optional)
Preparation
Melt peanut putter and shortening or lard in large pan on low heat. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. Pour into a pan allow to harden at room temperature. Chop into chunks or squares for suet cage. I like to use the plastic molds that the store bought suet comes in. Can also be served crumbled in a shallow dish. Store in baggies in refrigerator or at room temperature.
Now sit back and watch the birds. They know a good thing once they find it.
Posted in Birds, Recipes | Tagged BackyardBirds, birds, Recipes | Leave a Comment »
The Garden
Welcome to LadyMin's Place. Gardner, nature lover, bird watcher, citizen scientist, amateur photographer and sometimes geeky person. The garden is in a suburb of Chicago; LadyMin herself is virtually everywhere.
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