Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Like old times

2017 heron picture
Driving up Truxell today, past the pond, an interesting head was interspersed with the Canadian geese, below the bank. It was the heron, for the first time this year. "Look at you," I thought, pulling over to watch, rolling the phone to camera.

Down went the heron head, and came up with a decent sized fish, clamped one side to the other. Then the head lifted, the wings extended, the heron lifted and soared. "You sly dog!" I thought. You have a family to feed. I turned around and headed for the rookery, five miles down the road. Like I could find my heron.



I've passed the rookery already this year. Even last week there were far fewer leaves. I watched for a while, hoping for a picture of a heron coming or going, but everyone seemed quite situated, so I headed back.


We've had heavy weather all week. I've emptied the rain gauge of half an inch overnight several times in the last week, and the rain barrel is full.



The trip home featured interesting clouds building. Back home I was indulging in my little garden, and suddenly had a warning on the phone for heavy weather five miles west, in Richfield. As in, weather moves from west to east. I came indoors, ahead of thunder and lightening.


Here are some photos of the front of the house. Amazing what three years and a willing granddaughter can make of a cottage garden. Laura asserts, "technically, it's not MY garden!", but she staunchly defends the prior planting of things I classify as weeds. She has a far better memory, and has saved some plants I could bend over and reach.


Allium, like anemone, have not done well out front. We'll broadcast some more topsoil and fertilizer in a while.




But "stuff" is happy to grow. I can't recall the names of much at will, but sometimes I know. Way, way at the end is the hosta called August Lily. The wooly thyme looks good. The Stella de Oro, under the bench, will have lots of blooms. I've tried to confine everything to "its place", so I can ruthlessly cull.


Since the rain began, it's been hard pressed to end. Plenty of thunder, too.

I've devised another project (of course), and mostly need to see how to facilitate it. As I have yelled to the heavens, I Need Something To Do! Registering teenagers to vote will be a great thing to do, and I'm trying to find an organization that has an "in" to the hallways of high schools.


28 comments:

  1. Joanne, that is so interested about the heron. I had no idea that they nested together. My GB Heron stayed all winter. I was shocked. I've seen it fish and drop the fish on the ground nearby. I could only guess it was waiting for it to quiet down so he could swallow it without getting finned.

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  2. I miss seeing the heron from where we used to live in Southern California; thanks for sharing them here! So much rain you have had and we are in such a drought! I think it is a great thing to do to get teens registered to vote; might be interesting to see too how many of said teens have parents who vote, might make it a family affair somehow!

    betty

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  3. Laura has done beautifully with the planting. The heron is lovely. When I lived in Illinois, eagles nested on a farm near our house. It was a thrill to see them.

    Love,
    Janie

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  4. Yes, that sounds like a good project. My spare time is spent at the ACS discovery shop...which is a good project for me.
    Enjoy Laura's planting. Like the other photos too. :)

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  5. PS: I have really been enjoying your header tree. It's lovely.

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  6. Lovely photos- especially the storm brewing.

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  7. That's a very inviting garden you have!

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  8. I am a tad envious reading your post. On lots of counts. The heron (and being lucky enough to see it catch a fish), the rookery, the rain, the gardening assistance...
    And I LOVE your new project.

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  9. Storm clouds are brewing all over. I am thinking that we should start building an arc.

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  10. I have never seen such a rookery Joanne. Thank you for posting!

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    1. Their nests are all in sycamore trees, and there is large grove of sycamores along the Cuyahoga River on Bath Road. There are hundreds of nests. I read that a record 413 chicks were hatched this year.

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  11. We had a rookery n the garden of the last house we had in France which we guarded against the local farmers who wanted to shoot out the nests as the young were hatching. We had armed confrontations in our garden..threats, shots fired at us...but the rookery remained.
    The resident heron was a pest...picking off the baby ducklings...so we had a heron watch to scare him off. He was welcome to the fish...

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  12. A good news update all around! I enjoyed your photos.

    Laura and you make a good team in the gardening department!

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  13. You are truly a wonder. That looks like some storm there.

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  14. Stella de Ora -that rang a memory bell for me. We planted those for years. Your garden is impressive - very organized and orderly.

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  16. Enjoyed your photos and your garden. It is so great that Laura is there to help. I wish I had a Laura :-) The heron photo is a perfect shot.

    That big, dark, dramatic sky looks very full of rain. I hope it doesn't over do it for you. I believe rain is expected here by Thursday. It will be nice to freshen everything up.

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  17. I like your idea of registering teenagers to vote, get them started early and maybe they'll continue when they're adults.
    Your garden is looking nice.

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  18. Hari OM
    There is supposed to be a heronry somewhere close to the Hutch, but I have yet to locate it - though do see a heron flying by on occasion. (Our 'rookeries' are for Rooks and Crows only.)

    Your garden is looking 'proper' - well done you and Laura! Hope the rains are not so fierce it get washed away - NC got a whack yesterday apparently.

    Signing on youngsters sounds like something you would excell at Joanne - hope you find that place! YAM xx

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  19. Talking of what's classified as weeds, we have masses of poppies this year, and I know they're generally regarded as weeds, but I love them and I won't pull them up.

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  20. Herons are wonderful, and I like your garden.

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  21. You are going to have a beautiful summer with those flowers. Have you joined the League of Women Voters in your area? They do a lot of voter registration (and training of volunteers who are certified to register people to vote).

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  22. love the allium and the bird bath, your garden is a rock garden, have you ever grown cottage pinks or hardy geranium or dwarf conifers like mugo pine I could see some of them in there.

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  23. A garden makes a house a home and yours is just lovely.

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  24. Herons are fantastic birds. While out rollerskating in the park the other day I watched a red-tailed hawk swoop down & scoop up a small gopher in its beak, then take off toward the trees. It's an exciting sight to see!

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  25. That is well worthwhile. I wonder if teenagers are becoming more politically aware than they have been in recent years. Laura is a gem.

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  26. glad to see the heron! and the rookery. it finally rained here too all last week while I was gone so I'm told. still waiting to see the towels.

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  27. It's been a rainy week. But things are growing and no floods. It's hard to find Goldilocks weather.

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