This morning had a Spring-y feel about it.
I walked out of the door and noticed the neighbor’s miniature weeping cherry tree had erupted into frothy pink blooms, so I decided at that very moment that perhaps Spring had finally pushed through the cloud of uncertainty about whether it would ever get here.
I’ve been shedding layers all week and today was no exception. While I am glad the frosty weather is gone so I can finally leave the squall coat at home, I do miss its many features, like a hidden pocket to tuck away the camera, or the large cargo pockets to stuff the peanuts into. I had to reconfigure my wardrobe a bit as my coat had slit pockets, which weren’t “stuffable” at all. Quite frankly, I needn’t have worried about toting peanuts as my furry friends were a no-show at the Park today – so what’s up with that?
Since the Park is still wearing its Winter drab colors, I have to put on my rose-colored glasses to find something good to crow about today’s walk, since the critters did nothing to enhance my journey.
Yesterday, on two different occasions, walkers wanted to show me some “wildlife” so I could get some photos. In both instances, I craned my neck and strained my eyes and could not see either one, which leads me to think I need a prescription for stronger eyeglasses, not just rose-colored lenses.
First, Paul pulled me off the trail to show me a muskrat which was paddling furiously across the Creek. I squinted and blamed the sun for only seeing the trail of water his long tail was creating. The second occasion was Janet, with her binoculars trained across the Creek. She had spotted a black-crowned night heron and wanted me to see it. With my naked eye I didn’t do so well and I didn’t pull the camera out either, because that heron soon grew weary of two women gazing at him, so he lifted off the dead tree and flew down the narrow Creek passage.
But, it was not all “Dullsville” at Council Point Park today. A few signs of life were evident. Though no leaves were on the trees, I saw some wayward sprigs of green on spindly-looking seedlings, whose origin was likely last Spring’s crop of maple “helicopters” that landed in some dirt along the water’s edge.
Today is Arbor Day and the trees made a poor showing, but I’m going to use this quote anyway because it’s true:
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” ~Henry David Thoreau
I must make the following disclaimer: I did not take the picture of the pretty blue robin’s eggs above. Our robins are not even in the mood for mating yet – it’s been way too cold!
My friend Evelyn, who lives in Richmond, Virginia has been telling me about the robin at her house and sent me some photos. Mama robin and her mate were both proactive and industrious. A few weeks ago they built a nest on her deck railing between the electric box and the cable wires. They completed the nest then flew off to parts unknown. After nearly a week’s time, Evelyn figured they abandoned the nest, or forgot where they built it, so she threw it in the garbage. A few days later, another nest had been built in the exact same place. Those robins were no fools! This time Evelyn did not disturb the nest.
Every day another egg was added to the nest.
Three … and counting.
Four eggs – all done.
So now it is incubating time and Mama robin sits all day to keep those eggs warmed for the next 10 to 14 days when they will hatch.
Then Evelyn will send along some baby pictures to me.
But there is more new life about to happen. Evelyn’s daughter (who is pictured above) will give birth in the next week. It will be a race to see which blessings arrive first … a little boy which will be Evelyn’s first grandchild or four robin hatchlings.
To either family, be it the Beaumonts, or the birds … it will be a Spring blessing for sure.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Wow! So fun and interesting!😊 They can follow the whole process, from egg to kids, cool.😊 Robin is my favorite bird among the small birds.
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I thought is was fun as well John – it’s a race to see which birth occurs first …my friend’s daughter pictured at the top of the post or those robin eggs hatching. We do have a lot of robins around here. A few years ago, a robin built a nest in my neighbor’s magnolia bush. He took a photo of the mother sitting on the eggs, then a picture of the chicks a few days after they were born – the parents were out scrounging up food. The picture he took I used in my blog post … it’s not too clear, but you can see the fuzzy chicks with their mouths open. We got a rainy start to the day, but I am headed out in a few minutes to walk – likely no pictures today … it was sunny yesterday and no “wildlife” at the Park. https://lindaschaubblog.net/2016/07/09/mother-nature-has-her-warm-and-fuzzy-moments-sometimes/
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Why sky blue, Mother Nature? They are so easily seen.
Makes me wonder if other birds of prey are colorblind.
Tan seems like a better choice to hide them in the nest.
Best wishes to all the above for a favorable outcome!
We had a beautiful Arbor Day here in Nebraska, and the trees
are finally showing the slightest tips of green on their fingerlings.
Spring is well on its way. 🙂 Yay-hee! Have a great weekend, Linda!
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It does make you wonder what Mother Nature has in mind Uncle Tree. They sure are a bright blue aren’t they? My friend Evelyn found a sparrow egg in her yard awhile back and it was cream-colored with brown speckles. More likely to blend in with the nest than these neon-colored eggs!
We had an ugly overcast day today – I got a walk in late morning but the sun did not appear until about 5:00 p.m. and it is going to 32 degrees tonight. It is a lame Spring to be sure. You enjoy your weekend as well Uncle Tree.
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Such a lovely descriptive post. 🙂. The Beauty of nature is amazing.
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Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it. Our Spring here in Southeast Michigan has taken its sweet time getting here. The temperature will go to 32 tonight, but in Virginia they have enjoyed warm weather for awhile and their robins are ready to raise families while ours are still hopping around in their Winter coats. 🙂
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Miss Linda…………….I’m excited for the Beaumonts and the birds………………….I can’t wait………….I twas chilly this morning and a few drops of rain………………….I wasn’t dressed for winter
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I am too and hopefully we’ll see pictures of all the babies involved … I waited until later to go for a walk since it was so overcast and cold, but the rain stopped, but we had a long wait for the sun didn’t we? We are 15-20 degrees below average they said. And 80 on Tuesday – that is really crazy!
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The wonderful blue hue of those eggs! 🙂 I recently read that scientists have determined that a lot of theropod dinosaur eggs were likely blue in color. That really got my interest since i have a number of raptor dinosaur eggs that i’ve collected over the years.
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I, too, was struck by the color of the eggs. My neighbor had a robin’s nest in a small magnolia bush and the nest was eye level. We could see through the bush without getting too close, but did not notice the eggs as much as the mom sitting on the hatchlings, then she’d leave for food and we’d see four wide-open mouths. It was amazing. That’s interesting about blue dinosaur eggs – they must be huge eggs, are they? Size of a goose egg maybe?
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They are usually around 6 to 8 inches long. They are bumpy with raised nodules… since the parents would partly cover the eggs with leaves and sticks to help hide them from egg predatory dinosaurs. The bumps helped air get in by keeping the leaves a mm or so away.
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Thanks for the picture Tom. I was thinking it looked like a rock and then I noticed the site featuring the egg is http://www.rockhounds.com; in fact it looks little like Michigan’s Petoskey stones before they are polished up. I guess the ones that have been found became petrified rocks then.
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We don’t have robins where I live so I’ve never seen those beautiful blue eggs before. How interesting that your friend will be able to watch the complete hatching process.
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Aren’t they a gorgeous color and out in the open as well. The next-door neighbors had a magnolia bush and the robin built a nest there and we could see through the leaves and watch the robin sitting on the eggs, then she sat on the hatchlings to keep them warm. She’d leave the nest to get food and all you saw was four chicks with mouths wide open. She’ll have a good view and hopefully will send more pictures.
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I’m glad to hear the trees are finally bursting forth for you! I’m still seeing lots of pretty trees around here, although many of them are already into the next phase.
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Those flowering trees are very beautiful. The magnolias should have been blooming in a “normal Spring” but no buds on them yet. A few years ago we had that late freeze in late April/early May and all the magnolia buds were out and froze solid and no blossoms that year.
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Maybe squirrels aren’t so desperate for food this time of year?
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AJ, I think they like to play hard to get because this morning, it was like they’d never eaten in their lives. It was kind of comical and I just finished a post where I wrote about it. I’ve got more pictures of them coming around and there was a guy who always feeds them around the same time as me and even he was astounded. He kept saying I was like a squirrel magnet. I took his picture feeding the squirrels by hand … now I won’t do that as I’m a worry wart about rabies so I bend down close but that’s about it. Once the berries and apples come out at the Park, they’ll be in good shape.
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Wow that is so interesting, maybe they were fasting😂
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🙂
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Nice pics! Oh, spring is definitely coming, late, but on the way!
Today it’ll only get up to 12 C, but tomorrow: 18, and Wednesday 23!! (which is around 75!)
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A little greener this morning on my walk and we will get to 80 tomorrow, but severe weather Thursday because of the hot weather and a cold front coming in. I’d have been happy with moderate temps … not July temps!
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