This past week I have been busy getting all my plants into the ground out in the garden. I got a few planted Friday, then I finished them up on Saturday and Sunday. Now I have to get the soaker hoses positioned and then spread straw on top of them to cut down on evaporation. I am amazed at how small my garden is this year. I think this is the smallest it has been since right after we moved here. Every year there for a while it got bigger and bigger. But since we have so many big trees and hedges around us now, the amount of full sun has greatly diminished. Also, my ability to take care of a large garden has diminished as well. My aching back can attest to that. Below is a short video of the garden. You will notice chairs and buckets are positioned beside some of the plants. This is because it was a very hot day and the intense mid-day sun was making some of the small plants wilt. I placed these items near to them in order to throw some shade on them. (video below)
Yesterday I was out in the garden watering the plants with a hose since I don’t have my soaker hoses down yet. As I was sitting there on my little stool watering the cucumbers, I saw a small bird land in the golden currant hedge a few feet away from me. He was putting out a constant “chirp-chirp” call, so I wanted to see just who he was. He had gotten down inside the hedge and it was hard to see him, but he eventually moved to a clear spot and I could see that he was yellow with a black cap on top…and very tiny. It was indeed the little Wilson’s Warbler again. He stayed in the hedge for several minutes, hopping around and gleaning insects from the branches, then he flew off. I didn’t have a camera with me so no picture to share with you, but I took a picture with my mind’s eye.
We had a few days of high temperatures around 90 degrees this past week. It felt so good to be wearing shorts, but things have cooled off again and we are back to wearing our jeans and hoodies. I had planted some kale seed and Swiss chard seed during the warmer days, and only a few kale plants have poked up…and no Swiss chard plants, although it may be too early for them yet. Still, I Googled it this morning and I read that I may have planted the seeds when the temperatures were too warm. It is much cooler today, so I put a few more seeds of both kale and chard into the ground before I started on my blog. We’ll see how it goes.
ON THE BIRD FRONT
Alas, I still have not seen anymore hummingbirds, although I am not giving up hope. I’ve had to make myself content with watching the other regular birds we have. The American Goldfinches right now are in their breeding colors and they are so beautiful! When the sun beams down on them they just glow. (video below)
We’ve also had several visits from the Scrub Jay, whose picture graces the Featured Image this week. I think he could see me filming him from the other side of the window because he looked right at me a couple of times. (video below)
Yesterday I happened to look out the front window and I saw a California Quail sitting right on top of our Bird’s Nest Spruce bush. I grabbed my camera to get some video and then I noticed something was different about this quail. He didn’t have the little topknot on top of his head!
From his coloring I can tell this is a male. I wonder if he lost his topknot in a fight? Do quail even fight? They seem to be such friendly birds, raising their broods in huge communities where everyone looks out for everyone else’s offspring. I remember the first time I saw a California Quail. We were on a trip out to California to visit Linda’s mom and dad before coming up to Yakima to look for a house. We went to the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens for a day trip and I remember I saw one perched on the back of a bench. He was such a beautiful bird! Until then, I had only ever seen the Bobwhite, which is in the same family and is very common back East. Sightings of Bobwhite were not very often because those birds rarely visit residential bird feeders, preferring to stay in open fields and meadows.
PARTING SHOT
Summer Girl is patiently waiting for the garden to grow so she will have her favorite place to hang out. For now she has to make do with hanging out on the porch.
Join me every Wednesday (barring any unforeseen circumstances) for more from the Southerner in the Northwest.
Southerner in the Northwest 
Oh, that poor little quail with his top plume plumb shaved right off! Maybe a fight, but who knows. Interesting how the little scrub jay stared directly at you. My resident doves stare at me, too, when they come to visit, strutting up to the edge of the patio floor before going about their business of pecking about for spilt seed. By the way, I am NOT enjoying this chilly spell, but it’s still spring, eh?
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I’m tired of this chilly spell! But that’s the way Spring is around here. It will be hot soon enough!
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Beautiful photos.
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Thank you!
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