Northwoods Adventure

I recently went on a birding trip to the Northwoods. A place I had never been.

It was beautiful. 

Great Gray Owl Habitat. We did not see one.

My friend Carol and I after seeing the Northern Hawk Owl in -26 degree temps.

 Wisconsin, Yellow River.  Canada Geese and Trumpeter Swans.

A frosty Black-capped Chickadee.

Such a captivating bird - Boreal Chickadee.

Hoary Redpoll on right.

A fun photo of a Brown Creeper. 

 Red Squirrel.

I love this. Common Redpolls, Blue Jay and Pine Grosbeaks.

Northern Hawk Owl.

Beautiful country. Beautiful birds.

Tiptoe Through The Tulips. Next Spring That Is.

Here is our new fence. It needed something here on the side that faces west, toward the road. So I got out my trusty baby Troy-built tiller.

I went over this mix of gravel road base and nice soil about 6-8 times. The little tiller did the job.

 Then I raked and raked and raked the soil out.

And raked.

And took a break from raking to take this picture and get some air. (Poor, poor Globe Willow tree, but we had it pruned and sawed and snipped. Hopefully it will flourish again next spring.)

 Still needing air, I took another picture. Nice rake job, eh?

 Finally, after pouring 300 plus bulbs of various tulips and daffodils in a big bin and mixing them up, I scattered those bulbs in the trench, taking time to even them out a bit. 

 Then I got to rake some MORE. Putting all the soil back over the bulbs. About a week later I added about 4 inches of nice topsoil and some "pole peeling" mulch on top of that. So..

Hopefully we'll have gloriously riotous color in the spring!

Drunk in the Gardens

None of the birds in the Denver Botanic Gardens would admit anything.

 But I'm sure the Robins were drunk. 

Fermented Crabapples were everywhere, on the trees and on the ground.

They were imbibing heavily.

Even the squirrels were embarrassed. 

After all that liquor, they needed a drink.

 This was the place, where it all was going down. The lovely Oak Grove happened to be surrounded by Crabapple Trees. Why wasn't it called Crabapple Grove?

Or better yet, The Robin's Pub?

 I had to leave for awhile and visit other parts of the Gardens. It was getting dangerous. I'm sure one robin has a piece of my ear.

This feller was singing a delightful whisper song. Ever heard it? Kind of like they're singing under their breath, so you only hear it if you're right next to them. With your mouth hanging open at the wonder of it.

 This Spotted Towhee was completely mum. Wouldn't say a word about the robins behavior.

I think the Cedar Waxwings were guilty too. When I finally found them, deep in the pines, trying not to fall off their perches as they preened, they were buzzing and trilling under the influence.  

All in all, a rather liquorious day at the Gardens.