Bird and plant notes, in the yard

[pameladean]

This morning I was coming up the basement steps with an armload of laundry, and looked, as I always do, out the back door. A mourning dove was proceeding along the sidewalk, and off in the lawn, stabbing its beak repeatedly into the grass, was a solitary flicker. They usually come with a flock of robins or starlings, but this one was by itself. I didn't try to go outside, because the mere sound of the key in the lock will cause a flicker to take flight. It did give me very good back, side, and front views. I'm always particularly charmed by the half-circle of black on their chests, like a little shield.

Later on I was out with the cat, and saw a ruby-crowned kinglet fluttering at the tips of the peabush branches.

Yesterday during a rain shower I observed several chickadees clinging upside down to the undersides of thick branches, apparently sheltering from the wet.

The arborvita corpse is gone, leaving a long swathe of pale grass to mark where it lay.

Canada violets are blooming, as are some late crocuses. The daffodils are just about to start, as are the bleeding-hearts. Lilies have started to come up. Daylilies are six to ten inches tall, depending on how much sun they get. The hairy bellflower is all over the place. Scilla is still blooming. A few dandelions have begun. It looks likely to be a very good year for dame's rocket, at least in my back yard. The white rose of York is leafing out, and now that the huge shade of the neighbors' lilac is, sadly, gone, it's making new canes lower down, and may look more like a bush and less like an aspiring tree by summer's end.

I am a little worried about the Henry Kelsey, but it is always late to leaf out. I should prune it, however, as it got damaged in the heavy March snow that took out the arborvita.

The Norway maples are vivid yellow-green. The lindens have a very faint mist of red buds about them. They don't bloom until June and can take their time, I suppose.

I had a pretty good Minicon, though the options for vegetarian food were sadly limited and, on the whole, I prefer knowing what day and time my reading is rather a while before Friday afternoon. The overall ambiance was quite lovely, though, and I really enjoyed hanging around with everybody that I got to do that with.

Updated to add: Since I just complained about the difficulty of getting vegetarian food at Minicon, I realized that I simply must praise the Green Room to the skies. They kindly catered to my weird food needs, and also let me keep soy products in their cooler. I could never have done a morning autographing and two morning panels without them. I was also very happy that even panels that did not contain the Guest of Honor (who packed every room I saw him in) came with large, engaged audiences who made smart remarks (in both senses of that term) and asked good questions. And if you weren't a vegetarian, the con suite could supply you with real food, a tradition (the real food part, I mean) that I heartily approve of.

I'm still working on the entry about the Guthrie's last version of Hamlet.

P.