White Violets, Narcissus, Serviceberry Blossoms: It's All About White!

Delicate white violets show their purple splashed throats.
by Grandma Pearl

Today it is all about the white I see in Nature.

White violets are some of my earliest wildflowers to bloom.  To the Victorians white violets meant modesty and innocence,  honesty and humility; the religious connotation is that of faithfulness and spiritual understanding, death and resurrection.
All kinds of bees and bee flies find these dainty flowers irresistible!

Male Hairy Woodpecker enjoying a bountiful breakfast.
by Grandma Pearl

This beautiful white and black male Hairy Woodpecker is looking over his ample choices for breakfast.  I purchased a small bag of fruit and nut bird seed mix and combined it with regular black oil sunflower seeds.  My birds are definitely enjoying the variety.  I also occasionally add pieces of day-old bread as a special treat.  Mr. Hairy obviously doesn't know what to choose first!

Coltsfoot, also known as coughwort,
is used as an expectorant for clearing the lungs of congestion.  It is often combined with other herbs such as marshmallow or horehound to relieve symptoms of asthma, bronchitis and colds and flu.  But recent research has connected the use of this herb to liver disease.
Coltsfoot was probably brought to North America from Europe by the colonists because of its usefulness as an herbal solution to lung problems.

This herb grows in groups in waste areas in early spring, and blooms even before the dandelions emerge and flower.  It is one of the first nectar sources used by honeybees.   Prized by birds as a soft lining for their nests, it appears at just the right time in the spring!
Its leaves resemble a horse's hoof, and fully mature only after the flower has withered.  All parts of the plant were used medicinally. Coltsfoot as a healing resource goes back to the ancient times of Pliny and Galen.

Arabis 'Snowcrop' perennial
by Grandma Pearl

Arabis 'Snowcrop' is one of my favorite little springtime perennials.  The delicate 4-petaled flowers are cold hardy and remain on the plant a long time. It grows in partial shade without a problem, and it is deer resistant.  Snowcrop prefers slightly moist soil, but will tolerate dry conditions as well.  Compact and showy, it makes a very pretty addition to a perennial garden.

White narcissus
by Grandma Pearl

Lovely and familiar, my narcissus stand proudly against the cool spring breezes without batting an eye!  They are reliable harbingers of the season with their sunny yellow centers.  Every day they greet me with a nod and a reflection of brilliant sunshine.  The squirrels scurry back and forth in my bulb garden without causing any injury to these hardy narcissus.  It is necessary to keep them behind a fence though, because the deer think they are just another part of the salad buffet around here!

Serviceberry Tree in full bloom.
by Grandma Pearl

The beautiful Serviceberry tree blooms with oceans of bright white flowers.  It has other names:  shadbush, shadblow and juneberry.  A gorgeous addition to your landscape it produces edible fruits that birds love.  The fruits resemble blueberries but have a very different flavor, and the seeds taste like almonds.  Serviceberries start out red and change to blue as they ripen.  Use them in the same recipes where you would use blueberries, if the birds leave any for you! 

Flowers bloom in May here, then fruits appear in June; which is also the time when shad (fish) start spawning, thus the alternative names.

Mama Chickadee will soon be tending her nestlings.
by Grandma Pearl

White and black chickadees chat happily among themselves while busily tending their nests.  My newest batch of chickadees should be hatching soon.  Several days ago I saw this little bird with a beakful of dandelion fluff.  I'm sure she used it to line her nest inside the bird house she has chosen for her babies' nursery.  Both the male and female spent 2 days gathering materials to add to the loose grass cup they made.  When the babies have hatched, I will attempt to carefully open the birdhouse and quietly take a picture of her brood.

Cherry Blossom up close.
by Grandma Pearl

 My cherry blossoms never cease to take my breath away!  Their delicate and fancy white petals surround a tiny pink rosette center.  What a lovely cloud of blooms they produce!  These are Nanking Cherries that I planted about ten years ago.  Last year they were held back by a snowy cold snap.  But this year they have recovered nicely.  I should have enough fruit for a tasty cherry cobbler soon!

White Quartz Rock
by Grandma Pearl

I have a collection of white quartz that I have found around here.  This piece that is about the size of a hen's egg will be added to my others.  It sparkles in the sunshine, but that doesn't really show up in this picture.  I have also found some sandstone with mica flecks.

Nuthatch foraging under bird feeder
by Grandma Pearl

I love the little nuthatches with their white fronted tuxedo outfits!  They are snappy dressers for sure.  It's the contrast in colors that makes them so distinctive; that and their 'yank, yank,' call.  Acrobatic and agile, they forage under the bird feeders for seeds, and up and down trees for insects of all kinds.  They are year round visitors here, and always welcome in our neck of the woods!

Grandma Pearl
original post 5/13

 Nuthatches:  Little Devil Down Birds

 Baby Downy Woodpeckers

A Walk in the Woods in New York State in Early Spring

Robin's nest in pine tree
Photo by Grandma Pearl

The sun is shining brightly and the temperature has finally climbed above the freezing mark!  So this morning I have decided to take a walk in the woods.  In a pine tree along the way I spotted a bird's nest.  This was constructed of mud and grass, about 5 1/2" to 6" deep and about 6 feet off the ground.  I wasn't able to see inside, but here are a couple of pictures I snapped.  By the way, it belonged to a robin that was perched nearby!

Robin's nest from another angle--couldn't quite see inside the nest.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Robin perched in a nearby tree watching me!
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Further along I spied a deer peeking at me through two oak trees.  It's a young one: I suspect about 2 years old maybe.  It has lost it's winter coat, so that's a good sign that spring is really finally here.

Young deer peeking through 2 oak trees.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

The leaves are crunchy because we have yet to see much rainfall.  It's great to see there's no more snow, though!  

Squirrel nest high in oak tree.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Junco foraging in leaf litter for bugs.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

There's a male junco foraging in the leaf litter for bugs.  I've seen them grab a leaf with one foot and then hop up and backwards, taking the leaf with them and causing it to turn over.  They are crafty insect hunters!

There goes a squirrel--

Too fast for me to catch with the camera, but I can see an old squirrel nest up high in a tree.  It has autumn leaves in it, so I suspect it was used at that time.

Junco checking out the dead grass for insects and their eggs.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

And there's another junco in a grassy area.  They like to look for juicy caterpillars to feed to their young.  I think it's a little too early in the season for that to be the case here, though.

I found an interesting rock that doesn't look like anything else around here.  I wonder where it came from?  It's yellow and has a chalky look and feel.

          

Yellow, chalky rock; the gray rocks below are more typical of this area.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

                                                                    

Sunlit forest floor; some old leaves are still hanging on from last year; there's an evergreen forest in the distance.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

On the way back to the house now, and the birds are very active at the feeders.   Chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches are happily zooming back and forth.  There's a nuthatch on the ground under the feeder.  I don't believe I've ever seen them do that before.  They're usually on trees and the feeder hanging upside down!

   
Nuthatch foraging on the ground.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Grandma Pearl

Little Devil Downbirds