As we walked along the Streamside Trail, our Merlin Bird ID app indicated that we were hearing a phoebe singing. I was delighted to finally spot the little sweetheart and get a couple of pictures before he flew away to the next tree.
After walking that trail we went through a back gate into the botanical garden to see what signs of spring we could find there.
An American hazelnut shrub (close-up above) was flowering. The dangling yellow catkins are male and the tiny magenta flowers are female, but the shrub does not self-pollinate. We’ll have to come back in the fall to see if there will be any hazelnuts on this one.
A walk through the Mountain Habitat provided glimpses of a few spring ephemerals just getting started…
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold — when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
~ Charles Dickens
(Great Expectations)
We stopped by the bird blind at the Children’s Wonder Garden but the feeders were empty. However, scratching around on the ground with the squirrels, through a pile of discarded sunflower seed hulls, I spotted a couple of song sparrows!
They weren’t singing and they were hard to catch, but I was happy to capture with the camera my first song sparrow in North Carolina!
wonderful sharing and pictures, Barbara!♥
Thank you, Leelah! 🌷
Can’t wait for our first phoebes… I expect they are winging their way here as I write. 🙂
Anticipation is so exciting! My heart skipped a beat when I heard him calling “fee-bee.” 🙂
Eastern Phoebe is a sweetie. Didn’t mean to rhyme there, but I did. Your photos are charming, remind me that soon we’ll be seeing more birds here. Yay spring!
Thank you, Ally! He was the sweetest little thing, and with such a loud call. I wish you a long springtime with many songbirds filling the air with their calls. 🌷
I love the quote by Dickens — it’s so true! And I love your signs of early spring — gives me hope that ours will be here one day, too!
Dickens definitely had a way with words! I hope your spring will arrive sooner than you expect — we could all use a good change of scenery about now! 🌷
Wonderful photos, love your phoebe, Barbara!! I am waiting for my first one to show up this year, should be in the next couple weeks. 🤞
Thank you, Donna!! I am looking forward to the coming appearances of your phoebes in your photos. 🙂 They look and sound so sweet in the spring.🌷
The eastern phoebe certainly is a sweet looking bird. We do not see them here, but I read they do live in central Texas and migrate to southern Mexico for the winter. It would be highly unusual to see one where I live.
I like the flavor of hazelnut in my coffee, but I’ve never seen the plant. It’s quite interesting. I do hope that you will see the nuts later.
Great photo capture with the song sparrow! It is really camouflaged.
Is the Piedmont Nature Trails part of the botanical gardens? I enjoyed seeing your photos and reading your post today.
Thank you, Teri! It was fun (and lucky) to actually get a photo of the phoebe as he was very busy flitting from tree to tree. The Piedmont Nature Trails are owned by the North Carolina Botanical Garden and are adjacent to it. But the gardens are enclosed by a fence and the gates are only open between 9am-5pm, Tuesday thru Sunday. The network of nature trails are open and free to walk on all the time. Also, no dogs are allowed in the garden, but dogs on leashes are allowed on the trails.
I’ve never seen an Eastern Phoebe before. I like the Tufted Titmouse eyeing you from his sideways perch. How lucky for that Song Sparrow to find a feast for itself among the empty shells and for you to see it. Well, a few things were blooming, slowly awakening from their Winter dormancy, probably much slower than normal due to your big snow you mentioned in a recent post. I like the Charles Dickens quote which is so true for March! May this be the start of many Spring awakening walks for you and Tim!
It’s so interesting to see how common or uncommon some birds are in different parts of the country. I’m beginning to understand why serious birders like to travel so much, to keep adding to their life lists. 😉 I’m glad we both have those adorable little titmice to enjoy, though! While I’m looking forward to the flowers and tree blossoms and warmer temperatures, I’m dreading all the biting bugs that come along with them. Your spring awakening walks won’t be too far behind ours! 🌷
Yes, they want to add to their birder lists … I wonder how many new birds we will add this year. I almost added to my comment that your first spider web hopefully didn’t mean loads of spiderlings. Ugh! I’m dreading the invasion of the little ants which will be here in one month’s time … if any good comes of Winter, it’s opening the door and no worries about flies entering, not surprise spiders or centipedes (especially the latter in the bathtub – my nemesis!) Now all next week is going to be nice (as of right now anyway) and I’m ecstatic about that! Not much to see on walks yet though. No Spring-y things like you encounter.
I have my doubts about adding new lifers to my bird list this year since my days of traveling are about over, but maybe I’ll spot something new in the same local spots I visit, who knows? Last year I added 12. Four of them were on the trip to Georgia. None yet this year!
Our little hand-held vac got such a workout sucking up spiders last summer. But the pest control guy said they had something new for spiders. He sprayed it outside the house and I haven’t seen a spider since December. We’ll see if we get any come summer… My eyes are still scanning the walls, ceilings, and floors every time I move, though. And checking the bathtub…
You might be surprised as to new birds Barbara! That’s great that you have a new pest control solution for spiders. I hope it works for you because I know the angst of creepy crawlers in the house. My mother always said to me “the spider is more afraid of you than you are of it.” I still beg to differ with that logic. 🙂
Your mother had some very wise words of wisdom on other subjects that you have shared occasionally, but I disagree with her on what/who spiders are afraid of!!! 🕷️ I’m glad lots of birds enjoy eating them!
You’re right about my mom’s wisdom about who had the biggest fear Barbara! As to the spiders, I could not sleep if one was in my room and she would come in with her mop and knock it down. That did not satisfy me because knocking it down meant it might crawl onto the mop head, or fall somewhere and thus it would be “at large” and worse than when it was contained in one spot and I could keep my eye on it. She said “I’ll step on it and kill it – really Linda?!” Well that worked until we got the carpeting and stepping did not mean a fatal squishing was guaranteed. I have had some very anxious moments with bugs – probably lost a few years off my life due to them. [I sure can’t forget the Dixie cup used to cover the drain in the sink going airborne and needing the plumber because of it.]
Ooooh! That’s what that bird is. I’ve seen the Phoebes around here, but hadn’t yet looked them up. You found quite a few beautiful signs of spring. 🙂
Thank you, Robin! I was so excited to get the phoebe’s picture with my zoom lens. They are so elusive I never would have seen him if I hadn’t heard him calling. 🙂
Love all your signs of spring. I hope you’re enjoying some nice warmth. There has been a few days up here in New England with teases of warmth, by March has been very lion-like so far!
Thank you, Karma! We’ve had some nice warm days in between the chilly days. On Friday it never got out of the 40s. I keep hearing about high wind warnings for New England. Kite flying and March seem to be made for each other. 🙂