New Growth

We had a fabulous weekend of sunshine and highs in the 80s or lower 90s. Or so I hear. I worked all weekend, and when I finally got outside after work, the days were a little overcast or simply getting dark. Today is overcast but still warm, so maybe Seattle has finally warmed up from its cold spring. All of a sudden the clover flowers are blooming, much to JoJo's joy. I brought a handful home for her today on my way back from the gym, and she gobbled them up.

The Wollemi pine I got almost a year ago has burst out with a nice layer of new growth. I like the way the tender little needles are all stuck together at the ends. The little pine is definitely bigger than last year, but it's looking a little scraggly just now. Maybe I'll wait to do a full photo on its adoption day in June.

This morning Michael and I saw our first begging baby bird. We call these "dumb birds" because at first glance they look adult sized, but they're all scruffy, wobbly, and look around with a dazed expression. Here's a short video of a house sparrow getting fed by his dad from the bird feeder:


This year we haven't had as many baby birds around as usual. Unfortunately, no one moved into my Nest Cam nest box. I'm very bummed. Last year some Bewick's wrens moved in, but this year, nada. Also, we used to have several families of sparrows or finches nesting in the eaves of our house. They had pecked through then screening on the vent holes under the eaves and were actually inside the attic, though just inside the eaves. I used to enjoy their loud begging in the morning, though it woke up Michael. This winter a rat moved into our attic, and we had all the holes plugged. No more rats, but no more baby birds. Oh well, it's better for the house this way.

I have today off, but a bazillion things to do. I hope I can enjoy the outdoors a bit!

A Piece Of the Jurassic is On My Front Porch

On my front porch I now have an extremely rare tree that dates from the Jurassic! The oldest known fossil examples are 175 million years old. The Wollemi Pine was discovered in Australia in 1994. Less than 100 adult trees are known, and I'm doing my part to propagate them. How cool is that! There was concern that unscrupulous dirt bags would try to steal or cut down the rare trees in order to sell them on the black market. Someone had the ingenious idea to just make a bazillion babies and sell them all over the world, thereby reducing their rarity and making them a non-marketable item. The National Geographic Society has spearheaded the effort to sell these ancient babies, and that's how I got one. You can also get one from the Ancient Pine website. Yes, they're a little pricey, but it's the Jurassic, man! How cool is that! I can't help repeating myself! Here's my little guy on my Seattle porch, aeons away from its little fossil matey on the right.