I’m continuing to enjoy the Merlin bird app. I also enjoy watching the birds around the house. We have robins nesting in a big rhodie; I think the eggs have hatched, since I’ve been seeing the robins come in regularly with worms.
We also have Juncos that fledged recently. The parents come for the suet and black oil sunflower seed. The babies, who look more like finches at this point, cluster around begging. They’re starting to pick and peck on their own, at least some.
This week’s bird list (unverified audio ID in italic; newcomers in bold):
Anna’s Hummingbird
Barred Owl
Black headed Grosbeak
Brown Creeper
Chickadee, Black-capped
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Chipping Sparrow
Crow, American
Evening Grosbeak
Flycatcher, Pacific Slope
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Junco, Dark-eyed
Mallard
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
Pine Siskin
Red Crossbill
Robin
Song Sparrow
Stellar’s Jay
Swainson’s Thrush
Towhee, Spotted
Warbler, Wilson’s
White-crowned sparrow
Western Tanager
Wood Duck
Wren, Bewick’s
Wren, Pacific
Vireo, Warbling
Unlikely IDs by Merlin:
Spotted Sandpiper
Birds who were here last week who I didn’t see and Merlin didn’t hear this week (any in italics were just based on Merlin, and could be mis-IDs):
Last week, one of the authors I follow on Twitter (Ursula Vernon) mentioned a birding app that could ID birds based on song.
I promptly downloaded Merlin, and have been having a blast.
I can just stand in the morning chorus, and it picks out what birds it hears. You can also explore the songs of birds, or look up birds based on appearance and other characteristics. It’s quite wonderful!
I’m going to start doing a weekly bird list. Many of these will be from auditory ID (thanks, Merlin!), but I’ll also include any that I identify visually.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Barred Owl
Brown Creeper
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Chickadee, Black-capped
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Crow, American
Finch, Purple
Flycatcher, Pacific Slope
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Goldfinch, American
Junco, Dark-eyed
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
Pine Siskin
Robin
Song Sparrow
Stellar’s Jay
Towhee, Spotted
Warbler, Hermit
Warbler, Wilson’s
Warbler, Yellow-dumped
Western Tanager
Wood Duck
Wren, Pacific
Vireo, Warbling
We have had some ups and downs with birds this year, but I was happy to see a Junco feeding its baby yesterday!
If you live in the Puget Sound region, the rhodie species garden in Federal Way is well worth a visit. It’s at its peak in May and June, but they have done a good job with the garden structure — it would be a nice meander year-round.
The walk into the gardens has a concentration of really lovely rhodies! The jolly pink one is Rhododendron oribiculare SW China
They had a wonderful glasshouse! I think of rhodies as being temperate, but there are some sub-tropical rhodies.
Although the gardens are at their peak in May and June, they do a good job of making them appealing year-round, both with a variety of plantings and with good structural design.
Yesterday, I met up with Mom and Dad and my brother and sister-in-law to wander the Rhododendron Species Garden in Federal Way, WA. It turned out that there was a bonsai festival going on in the outer courtyard that separates the rhodie garden from the bonsai museum. Here are photos from the bonsai festival. My understanding is that all of these are owned by members of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association.I’m just including (almost?) everything, since I don’t know what will tickle whose fancy!The information is from the tags associated with the trees.
Japanese Black Pine 36 years as a bonsai 66 estimated tree age Other: stand created by Dan Robinson and Anothony FeilbackKurume Azalea – Rhododendron obtusum var. sakamotoi 20 years as a bonsai 50+ estimated tree age Other: Urban YamadoriHinoki Cypress – Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Hague’ 6 years as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Grown by Boon Manakitvisit, styled at 2016 Convention, Pot by Vicky ChamberlainEzo Spruce Picea Jezoensis unknown years as a bonsai 20-60 estimated tree ageChinese Elm – Ulmus parvifolia 21 years as a bonsai with current owner unknown tree age Other: Import from China
Ponderosa Pine Pinus ponderosa var scopulorum 1 year as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Collected by Randy Knight, Japanese potMountain Hemlock Tsuga Mertensiana 15 years as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Collected in Vancouver BC by Anton Nijhuis Japanese Crabapple Malus Floribunda 5 years as a bonsai Air layered in 2015 Other: Exclusively pruned since air layeredSutsuki Azalea Rhododendron Indicum – no – Tsuki 28 years as a bonsai 30 estimated tree age Other: Imported from Japan, Japanese Pot I would have loved to see this in bloom!Mountain Hemlock Tsuga mertensiana 5 years as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Purchased from Anton Nijhuis at 2016 PNBC Convention, Pot by Jan RentenaarJapanese Larch Larix Kaempferi 13 years as a bonsai 20 estimated tree age Other: Field Grown at Telperion FarmsChinese Elm – Ulmus Parvifolia 50 years as a bonsai 60 estimated tree age Other: Acquired at PSBA convention 2005. While carving out several large scars, discovered stones lodged inside of trunk. Chinese pot.Japanese Larch – Larix Kaempferi 10 years as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Japanese Pot (Yamaaki)Chinese Juniper – Juniperus chinensis ‘Shimpaku’ 20 years as a bonsai 40+ estimated tree age Other: Japanese Pot (Yamaaki)
Blue Atlas Cedar – Cedrus Atlantica ‘Glauca’ 24 years as a bonsai 30 estimated tree age Other: Styled from upright tree I missed the tag on this one! It’s a flowering quince, but I don’t have the details….Cork Bark Japanese Black Pine – Pinus Thumbergii ‘Ondai’ unknown years as a bonsai 75 estimated tree age Other: Japanese Tokonome potChinese Juniper ‘Shimpaku’ 6 years as a bonsai 25 estimated tree age
They also had some mame bonsai trees (miniature bonsai trees):
Tiny azalea mame bonsaiThe mother of mame bonsai: Trident Maple – Acer Buergerianum 45-57 years as a bonsai unknown tree age Other: Tokonome pot
It turns out that there is an additional category of bonsai: tiny arrangements of perennials. Here is a sampling of my favorites:
The Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way has some really lovely trees that live there year-round. We didn’t go in yesterday, because there were a lot of people, and there were rhodies to see. But the museum has some truly amazing bonsai trees. I’ll try to post a little tour some other day….
