A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). These tiny creatures are so very entertaining. I think about now, all have arrived that will be here for the summer. I love to see them whirling about like crazy, chasing each other, playing “King of the Mountain” by sitting on top of the feeder keeping everyone else away. Such fun.
And then in her little tiny squeaky voice she goes, “TA DAA!” — at least in my imagination.
After talking about Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) with a dear friend just yesterday – what do I come upon today, but ripe Black Raspberries. A look alike, the Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) will not be ripe for another month.
Before I mention the differences between the berries, I want to mention that the plants themselves look a quite different, the canes in particular. It always strikes me when I see a Black Raspberry bush, the color of the canes surprise me, a very pale green-blue color.
Blackberries
The berries certainly look alike but there are differences. The Black Raspberry, aside from getting ripe much earlier, is a smaller, quite round berry. The Blackberry, as you can see in the photograph, is longer than it is wide, and depending on how much rainfall there is, it is usually a larger berry. I expect this year, the Blackberries are going to be quite small, due to lack of rain. That is unless we get a lot of rain in the next month.
The taste of the berries is quite different. The Black Raspberry is delightfully sweet, while the Blackberry has an earthy, sour flavor. The seeds of the two berries are different too. As you eat them, the seeds of the Black Raspberry are not nearly as noticeable as the seeds of the Blackberry which seem to be prominent. When harvesting the berries you will see that the two look different. The Black Raspberry is hollow, while the Blackberry has a pale green center. And finally the Blackberry is quite shiny, while the Black Raspberry has a white bloom, much like a Blueberry has.
Goodness. All this yummy berry talk has me getting hungry. I should have picked more of those Black Raspberries.
This morning I spotted two male Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) in my Montmorency cherry tree. A tree that is filled with brilliant red cherries. Seeing one of these gorgeous birds is a real treat but to see two together is amazing. And in that tree with cherries that match their color – way beyond amazing. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture the two of them together, surrounded by their matching cherries but here’s one of them in the vegetable garden. I’m going to have to keep my eyes open, watching for them. Not only are there the cherries calling to them, but blueberries are ripe too.
I don’t keep track of birds I’ve seen, where and when. No life list. Yesterday though, was the first time I’ve ever seen a fledgling Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). I won’t write it down. Just interesting to think of.
Cardinals generally lay their eggs late April to early May. Two to five eggs are laid, in a well hidden nest that the female has built, in dense shrubs, vines or low trees. The nest is composed of twigs, bark strips, leaves, grass and weeds, lined with fine grass or hair. The eggs will hatch after about 12 days of careful incubation by the female.
The baby Cardinals hatch with black legs and a black beak, a tiny poof of red feathers on their head. In 9 to 11 days after hatching, when they reach a point when they can fly, they will leave the nest. At the age of about 2 weeks they’ll learn to eat by themselves, but for another week or so their parents will still feed them. Approaching the age of 4 weeks the juvenile cardinals will have a bit of the coloring of soft brown or red plumage.
They’ll stay together as a family for about 2 months, while the young ones are learning to find food, and what predators are, and how to avoid them. After leaving their parents they’ll find other juvenile birds and flock with them. They’ll stay with the flock until they are ready to mate. At around 6 months they will reach their full size. By this time too their beak will have changed from black to the orange we’re familiar with.
It will take about 18 months for the young Cardinal to grow its full adult plumage. It’s a this point that all the adult feathers are in, with all the colors that we expect to see.
And then after all this growth and change I will see these beautiful birds with their lovely colors at my feeders.
Finally, after a long absence, a Black Bear (Ursus americanus) has made its presence known to me. After seeing, not a single one for a few years, this is a treat. This one that showed up, providing me time to get several pictures, looking mighty healthy.
This beautiful creature is a youngster.
They leave their mothers when they are one and a half or two years old. I suspect that is the age of this one. Out on its own. Establishing its territory. Getting to know its neighbors.
I’ve been surprised that the Montmorency cherry tree has not been climbed, the apple tree has not been raided. Only a matter of time now.
There are somewhere between 30 to 60 species of Dogwood in the family Cornaceae. This one, Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa), is quite different in many ways from the Dogwood that I’m most familiar with, Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. But first, the leaves look very similar, and they are both opposite.
Gray Dogwood is in full bloom, as I am writing this, in June. Unlike my familiar Flowering Dogwood, with its large blooms, this Gray Dogwood’s flowers are very small and many, which grow together in rounded clusters.
As summer turns to autumn, the Gray Dogwood’s flowers turn to berries, and not crimson red berries, but creamy white berries, which birds love.
And along with those berries in autumn, come leaves turning lovely colors. And another difference – not the rich red of Flowering Dogwood leaves, but yellow with a hints of burgundy to add to the fiesta of fall.
The summer birds are arriving. I’m having a grand time seeing the first of this, that, and the other bird, as each day ticks by. Yesterday was a good one for seeing firsts. Not necessarily a good day for photos though. As I’ve raved about in the past, my birdbath is a great attraction for the birds but it doesn’t guarantee that they will be still, or even actually stay long at all. This is the picture I managed to get, of my first glimpse of a Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus).
This is more like the image I was hoping to get. This one is from one year ago, give or take five days. June 13, 2022. It was at nearly the same place, about to take a plunge, perched on a branch of the hydrangea.
Not quite in their full summer plumage, the Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) were at the Yucca filamentosa yesterday afternoon as if it were their playground.
Truth be told, I’ve been sprinkling hulled sunflower seeds on the ground, which is what called to them.
Goldfinches are seed eaters. I love to let my gardens be, as summer turns to autumn and finally, winter arrives. Echinacea, Monarda, Anemone virginiana, many, many plants have the potential to feed these birds, well beyond their beauty during the summer.
