The Nerd Table

[itsasmallworld1]

Hola everybody, happy Workers day!

Have a safe flight home, scrubb.

[mapletree3]

Good morning, nerds. Happy May Day!

Safe travels home, scrubb, and I hope there's lots of power in your future!

Our predicted snow did not arrive! Yay, May!

[Peromyscus]

Hiya from a worker on worker's day. Ya for no snow, yay for electricity and travels, and yay for gorgeous days.

[mapletree3]

I saw the first hummingbird of the year today, a beautiful little Rufous with gorgeous bronze colouring. Also the White Crowned Sparrows are still here and have discovered the bird bath. It was hilarious watching them splash around in it. They put their heads right under and seem to love jumping into the water from the edge and making a big splash.

[Scrubb]

We've had crossbills at our feeders for the past few weeks, and they're still hanging around. Nice and colourful, but I'd like to be seeing some spring birds!

[mapletree3]

We had crossbills all winter but they've moved on now. We has three beautiful yellow headed black birds at the feeders the other morning. It looks like we may have a nice warm weekend here.

[Peromyscus]

Sigh, crossbills.

I saw 3 adult male Yellow-headed Blackbirds in California last year, all next to each other. Very colorful they are. Here in the east I've only seen two.

Today I saw two male Purple Martins flying overhead. Also a migrating Northern Rough-winged Swallow and a Barn Swallow or two.

The Gray Catbirds and House Wrens are filtering back into the neighborhood. I am waiting for the Baltimore Orioles to return, though I don't know if they will nest on my block this year.

[mapletree3]

Pero, you have Catbirds...there are quite a few Cowbirds at our feeders right now. Catbirds, Cowbirds...what's next? The Yellow headed Blackbirds haven't been back, they are so beautiful! We used to get Orioles in California, but I haven't seen any here.

[slowcoach]

No birds, hardly any flying thing.

I have apple blossom nearly, and archangel, garlic mustard, and dandelions, flowering actually, plus a tiny blue flower that is ogooglebar, now that I am oblivious to its name.

[auntieannie]

slow, what you call archangel, is that Angelica archangelica? and your tiny blue flowers, are they (wood)forget-me-not?

[slowcoach]

The first is "Yellow Archangel" a type of dead nettle.

I will look to the other.

************** Modified to add:

No the second is not, I will look for a magnifying glass and go petal counting, it is rather petit, or I will look for a camera and see which I find first.

Camera, but it needed charging:

Here it is below:

[slowcoach]

Only in the shade can you see the colour but then I can't have it in focus

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[auntieannie]

The leaves make me think of a type of Pelargonium.

It's most definitely NOT:
- Euphrasia
- Alchemilla
- the search continues...

[slowcoach]

Stems and leaves (both surfaces and margins) are hairy.

Flower colour pale blue/lilac with dark veins and a green hollow centre with yellow sex parts. only 2-3mm across.


************* Modified to add:

It could be looks a bit like an Ivy Leaved Speedwell perhaps, I am sorry that you can't see the veining on the petals. The problem is that it appears that either one of the petals is more irregular than normal or it has one two many and they are far too small

[mapletree3]

Good morning! That flower does not look familiar to me. I have great bunches of forget-me-nots but they haven't bloomed yet. My cherry tree is in full bloom and usually when you stand under it in the spring there is a lovely humming coming from it from all the bees in the blossoms. I haven't seen one honey bee yet this spring, very disturbing!

[mapletree3]

Hello nerds! The sun comes out and we all disappear! I've been potting and planting and enjoying the flowers. It's 28C here today! What is everybody else up to?

[auntieannie]

yesterday was gorgeous here, but today is cooler and less sunny. and one of my friends has taken the caravan out for the first time this year. I hope she's fine. there was a deluge last night. after a wonderfully warm few days.

[Scrubb]

It went up to 27 in Saskatoon on Monday - spring at last! The last of the snow in the yard melted, except for a couple of tiny little patches under the bushes in the never-gets-sun part of the yard. (Of course, it went down to -2C in Saskatoon again last night, and I'm now at work where it was snowing a few minutes ago...)

We finally have juncos and robins around - the first spring birds of the year.

About 4 years ago we had some Baltimore oriels stop in our yard for a week in May. Well, we had 4 for one day, and one of them stayed for a week. It was wonderful having it around. That same week we had a pair of rose breasted grosbeaks, and some goldfinches stop off too. Since then we've had goldfinches for a few days now and then most summers, but the others have never been back.

The crossbills were new to us this year - and we had one single redpoll who was hanging out with them. First one I've seen in the city, and I also saw a small flock of them at work a week ago - first time I've seen them this far north. (I work 800 kms north of where I live.)

Still no yellow-rumped warblers this year. They're usually the first spring birds along with the juncos.

[itsasmallworld1]

hello all.
Junco is a bird? here it is a sort of plant that grows in marshes mostly.
It is a spring day here too, almost 23C and very sunny. I can't say anything about birds but for I hate those that are eating the avocados at the top of our tree ( we can't reach there and were waiting for the avocados to fall to be able to eat them.. but the damn big birds in our garden are eating the avocados themselves!)

[mapletree3]

I'm glad spring has found you, auntie. At least your friend is in a caravan and not a tent!

I'm also glad to hear your long winter is finally over, scrubb! Most of our migrating bird flocks have moved on this week and we are left with robins, finches and the ever present crows. This was the first winter I've seen redpolls here, we had a fairly large flock of them for a couple of weeks. No yellow-rumped warblers here either. Actually no warblers of any coloured rump.

You're lucky to have a avocado tree, itsas! I guess the birds love them too.

[Scrubb]

This is what our dark-eyed juncos look like. Light tummys, dark uppers, and a pink beak.

And when you see them fly from behind, their tail fans out and has white feathers on either side.

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[itsasmallworld1]

oh it looks cute!

OOur silly gardener has cut? trimmed? the tree last year and it gives very few avocados ever since.. pffff and they grow up there at the upper end of the tree where we can't reach. It is like 6m tall or more.
So avocados fall andwe got to pick them up soon or birds & ants will eat them!

When it is avocado season we get tons! is amazing. We also have lemon trees and oranges.

[slowcoach]

I have cleaned our old, but small, apple tree. It had become a support for honeysuckle. I have hung a bird-feeder in it. I sha'n't hold my breath, it has been a wicked time for our birds these past few years.

I heard the rumble that tells me the fridge has come out of hibernation so I guess it be Spring.

[james]

was lefters kidnapped.

[mapletree3]

I hope not...I haven't seen a ransom note. Maybe she got a job and is busy working.

[james]

She works hard....

[mapletree3]

Hmm, I don't remember her ever being that dedicated to work...perhaps she has been kidnapped!

[auntieannie]

oh, nooooo! send agent wino on the case!

[mapletree3]

Come to think of it we haven't seen him for awhile either.

[auntieannie]

isn't wino in France, now that I think of it?