WINTER (??) WONDERLAND

The calendar says spring, but the weather says winter.

It was a beautiful transition to see this transformation occur overnight. It began in the late afternoon when huge puffy snowflakes fell, interspersed with the rain. In a matter of minutes, only snowflakes rained down, and began the makeover of spring to winter.




Upon waking, the landscape had the appearance of a black and white photo, with various shades of gray. But soon after, the clouds began to part and the deep blue sky brightened the view, seeming to waken the colors much akin to Dorothy’s experience in the Wizard of Oz.



In the midst of all the snow, one of the eagle pair devotedly remains in the nest. Can you see the head peeking out?



Let's see what season tomorrow will bring...

FUR RONDY!

Moonset over Anchorage

Please pardon my departure from my typical Gardener’s Roost topics of gardening and birding. Instead, I’d like to share the highlights of my recent trip to Alaska to visit relatives and attend events surrounding the ‘Fur Rendezvous’, a.k.a. ‘Fur Rondy’. Let me tell you this, folks in Alaska really know how to throw a party, I mean, Rondy…

We arrived Friday night and rendezvoused with relatives, ate at the Moose Tooth, a local favorite pizza joint. Yum, excellent pie (as in pizza) and locally brewed beer.
After that, Fur Rondy Fiddling at the Moose Lodge.

Saturday, we saw teams play snowshoe softball,

attended the Fur Rondy Parade,

viewed the ice sculptures,

went to the start of the sled dog races.

Paused for lunch.

Went to the Outhouse Races (what a moving experience)

After-dinner entertainment included getting pelted with popcorn while participating in the interactive “Melodrama” at the Snow Goose.

Sunday, we viewed the ‘can-struction’ exhibit… various canned foods carefully stacked and placed to depict scenes/scenery.

Viewed sled dog races at mid-course. Mush.

Stopped at another mall to view the photography exhibit.
Watched ‘Ice bowling’.

Paused for lunch—fine dining at a chrome counter.

The BIG EVENT everyone was waiting for the first-time ever, ‘Running with the Reindeer’ races!

Rainier Beer racers on far left and right in picture>

Monday, we said good-bye to relatives, Rondy, snow, and sled dogs.

EAGLE ON DUTY

The time has come. There is an eagle on the aerie twenty-four hours a day, every day. There is no break for weekends, holidays, or holy days. I caught this photo (from 1/2 mile away) of what you can see of the eagle in the nest and couldn’t help but sing, to the tune of Patti Page’s version of “How Much is that Doggie in the Window,” sing it with me…how cute is that eagle on the ne-est? How cute can that e-eagle be? How cute is that eagle on the ne-est? As cu-ute, as cu-ute can be!



Now keep in mind that this eagle’s body length is between 28 and 38 inches, with a wingspan of between 66 and 90 inches, weighing about 12-14 pounds. With eagles (and hawks), the female is larger than the male, so figure this little lassie is close to the higher number of these estimates. Now compare her size with the nest in which she is sitting, and how she looks so petite in there. You can imagine the scale of the nest.

So, we’ve got a bird on a roost, and we’ll have some chicks in the basket in 30-something days. After a few weeks of their hatching, we may see eaglets popping about near the top of the nest. Until then, we have to be satisfied with seeing the top of an adult eagle’s head and singing a song.

SPRING = POLLEN

Spring has arrived! Guess what else has? Yup, it’s that time of year allergy sufferers dread. When the weather report confirms what you already know—‘pollen counts are very high today due to trees and grasses’. And that, my friends, is when you pray for rain - cleansing, soaking rain.


Along with the rain and pollen has come the reward of having planted those beautiful bulbs. The crocuses are up and fading fast, the daffodils have sprouted and are issuing forth their happy blooms, and now the hyacinths are poking their heads thru the ground and almost ready to bloom. Their heady aroma will soon replace the waning Sarcococca’s sweet fragrance (often called ‘fragrant sweet box’).

"To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.”
-Beverley Nichols(1898-1983)

Fragrances…it reminds me of ‘the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind’. It is a non-profit company, and the largest employer of people who are blind, deaf-blind, and blind with other disabilities in the region. A special bonus on site for the employees, and anyone who would like to visit, is the Ethel Dupar Fragrance Garden. The King County Master Gardeners are a key part in the rehabilitation and upkeep of the gardens, which are rich in plants that engage the senses of smell, touch, and hearing. This is one garden where you are encouraged to touch the plants to enhance the garden experience! To learn more, click on:
http://www.seattlelighthouse.org/index.html. From the home page, you can then click on ‘fragrant gardens’ to learn more about visiting the garden and the plants used there.

So from this Gardener’s Roost, everything’s indicating spring is sprung, from the daffodils to the eagle that is now patiently sitting on the nest awaiting the arrival of her chicks. News on that soon!

OF EAGLES AND RED-TAILED HAWKS

Oh, the activity of late has been phenomenal. The eagle pair has been on the roost in the morning and again enjoying an evening meal as the sun sets.

Then, the other day we captured, on camera, 4 red-tailed hawks flying in the sky above us. The hawks were soaring overhead in a mating ritual, or perhaps a ‘sorting’ ritual. Will they pair up, and if so, which two?

It must have been decided in short order as a few days later I spotted a male and a female on a deciduous tree together. One of them was breaking off branches and flying away while the other sat on a branch, stoic, beautiful, and all puffy.

Interestingly enough, the female of this species can be 25% larger than the male. After reading up on these birds of prey, it is likely we witnessed the mating ritual, which could have been followed by mating. The female will lay a clutch of 1-5 eggs beginning in April, followed by an incubation period of 28-35 days, and a fledgling period of about 10 weeks.

What a spring we will have if we are able to view offspring from both the eagles and the hawks!

Read more about red-tailed hawks here:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-tailed_Hawk.html#description