Something's Eating Our Rhubarb - Rufus Sided Towhee

I was just out looking at my rhubarb plants, when I heard a rufus-sided towhee say "drink your tea." First time this season. Something is eating our rhubarb leaves. Very annoying. My transplanted rhubarb is still living, though it seems to be collecting snails. I'm going to have to see what to do about that. I need to find some vegetable that will grow well in partial sun. That area under the "fake woods" looks too nice to not do something with. Mild spring day today with complete overcast. But you can still feel the sun through the clouds. We've had a bit of rain overnight and perhaps this morning, and it feels humid. The moisture will be good for growing things.

Sunshine, Rhubarb, and Hummers

Just finished more than a week of sunshine ... hardly a cloud in the sky for 8 or 9 days. Now we are entering a stretch where we are supposed to have rain every day for 4 or 5 days. That's the way it goes. I got most of the roses cut away from the border near the garden; now I have to finish digging out the stumps. Transplanted one rhubarb plant last week. It may be sprouting in its new location in the garden. We're also mulching and giving more sun (see cutting the roses) to the existing rhubarb plants to see if they'll produce more. Plus, I may transplant the healthiest ones to the garden in the fall. We've had hummingbird feeders out since May 2, but so far no hummers. They're late!

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

I just saw our Northern Rough-Winged Swallow for the first time this year. Last year they built a nest on the drainpipe outside the kitchen window. A couple weeks ago that nest was taken down: Billie Sue found it on the ground. I suspect the swallow took it down to eliminate competitors. But I hadn't seen him and didn't know where the nest might be. I just now saw him out my office window perching on the bedroom porch. Nice to have the fellow back. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_rough-winged_swallow/id

Just saw a pair of ducks in our creek this morning. Billie Sue saw the male and got us to take a look. Julia and I went out to the kitchen and Lydia got her camera. We were able to see the duck and Lydia got some pictures. Aaron brought out Bekah's flip cam, and I crept quietly out the door to try to get some better pictures. I gave the dog the down sign, and he was very obedient ... I didn't even have to speak to him. I crept around to where I could get a better view, and there turned out to be a pair. I tried to get a good picture, but I don't know how it will turn out. We heard our first rufus sided towhee yesterday. And Billie Sue made food for the hummingbirds. None appeared yesterday. It's still a little early for them.

Warm Winter

We just had two days of really warm weather. January 31 and February 1 saw high temperatures of 52 and 53 degrees respectively.

The winter has been moderate in terms of temperature and snowfall. We had 6 inches of snow for Halloween, but then basically nothing but trace snowfalls, with a 2-4 inch snow in the mix a couple of times. But those snows were rapidly followed by warm temperatures, and the snow disappeared within a few days.

Yesterday (February 2), the temperature came down from the 50's, and today it's brisk. But there's sunshine and little wind; so far February seems endurable.

As I write, the thermometer reads 35 degrees, and the sun is shining with a lot of white puffy ones moving across the sky. Not too bad.