A Murder of Crows, a Flamboyance of Flamingos

A very cold robin, one of over twenty, I spotted back in February.

Yesterday was a beautiful, albeit balmy day here in central Wisconsin.  I, like all hardy gardeners, ventured out into the garden to see what there was to be seen.  The venturing was the hard part.  Walking since my fracture has not been my best life skill.  Having to use a cane does make you plan your forays a bit more carefully.

But having not been able to walk in my garden and having nearly all (maybe 90%) of the snow gone, I was anxious to be in the garden and see and be seen...yes little bunnies a gardener does live here.  The birds were the most appreciative.  Having missed fall clean-up there is a lot of food to be had in my garden.

There were a lot of birds in my garden.  While I didn't see a murder of crows, interesting that a collective group can also be deemed a congress of crows, I did see a charm of finches and heard a gaggle of geese.  While I saw an eagle sitting atop a deer carcass on Feb. 22 just outside of town, I always figure an eagle siting as a good luck omen, there is no where near the convocation, or congregation that can be found along their more central late winter flyways of the Mississippi River.

I also caught a blue jay (scold) sitting on my new porch rail and a downy woodpecker (descent) flitting from branch to branch of my 'Crimson Frost' birch giving me the once over as to say where is that pretty little Austrian black pine we love to pound the crap out of each spring?  Too bad, so sad, My brother cut it down last fall after you birds just about killed it.

I await the glittering of hummingbirds, and the rafting of ducks; they'll be here soon, I'm sure.  Last spring, with our weird weather pattern, I took my mother to see the estimated 17% of the entire world's ballet of swans in Shiocton.  It was impressive, even without any dancing.

I could do with out the quarrel of sparrows that try to figure out some way into my house's fascia to build nests and the noise the starlings make is hardly a murmuration. Although there is something piteousness about the coo of my mourning doves.

No clue what to call the twenty plus robins that denuded my 'Red Jade' crabapple of all its persistent fruit shortly after I spotted them back at the end of February!

And, all you gardeners out there, forecast has 6" to 12" of snow predicted for Thursday into Friday.  So don't  go grabbing that flamboyance of flamingos and be staking 'em out in the garden any time soon, ya' hear!