![\"Budding](\"http:\/\/gawrimanecuta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Budding-Appletree.jpg\")
<\/a>Budding apple tree.<\/p><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s April 21th<\/sup>, the weather; disappointing. My herb patch would normally be brimming with one-foot tall lovage, a couple of rhubarb pies already in the making and the apple tree ready to showcase its\u2019 majestic apple blossoms.<\/p>\n So much said for the weather this year. The heater is still on; winter-jackets falling off dinner table chairs and the yearnings for the warmer months linger on every Canadian\u2019s lips.<\/p>\n Mind you, the birds seem to be adjusting just fine as observed by one of my neighbors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood Morning Gawri,<\/p>\n I was up at 4.30 this morning and birds were already awake chirping, then as it became light the sky was filled with them in flight over the wetlands in all directions as though they had to get somewhere in a hurry. There is a pair of swans picking out a nest site at the point of the bend of twelve-mile creek. There is also a pair of swans getting ready to build a nest on the pond opposite my balcony.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh yes, it\u2019s that time of the year again. The summer visitors have already taken residency in my backyard. The Red Cardinals who return every year into the cedars and I\u2019m sure there is an egg or two somewhere in there as Mr. Cardinal stands watch while Mrs. Cardinal goes about gathering food. His brilliant red decorates my nude apple tree like a Christmas ornament.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I did see Mommy Blue Jay feeding her baby on the rogue branch that I refuse to cut due to the high volume of animal activity it attracts. I get a bird\u2019s eye view from my favorite spot in the living room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Territorial disputes are common between Grackles and Red-winged blackbirds bickering over nesting sites. They always try to destroy other bird\u2019s nest to reduce competition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This brings to mind an avian horror story that occurred two summers ago. My neighbor came rushing out of her kitchen, one beautiful sunny spring day, because she had heard some sort of a commotion in her backyard she thought warranted some investigation. To her dismay she saw a couple of grackles and a couple of robins arguing over what looked like a piece of food. Soon she came to realize that one of the grackles held a baby robin under its\u2019 feet. The baby bird barely having any feathers on its\u2019 body; its\u2019 partner in crime pecking at this newborn chick. My neighbor quickly ran to fetch her broom to help this poor baby but unfortunately one of the grackles started to attack her instead. She watched in horror as the grackles left with the crying baby robin and flew away into the distance. It was alive when then they took it. The robins gave chase but the\u00a0baby robin probably ended up being someone\u2019s meal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I see a nest in the apple tree. Someone has borrowed the old squirrel drey as a makeshift bird\u2019s nest. Last summer a young raccoon suffering from distemper used this same drey as a cooling station.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Drey in the middle of the apple tree.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n As for the robins; it\u2019s location, location, location.<\/p>\n They are aplenty, scouting every branch, post, flowerpot and pipe for that perfect location.<\/p>\n A pair or two always return to the crab apple tree in the front yard.\u00a0Do you see the robin in the nest?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lets not leave my lovely doggie “Izzy Boo” out of all this excitement. He has some serious beef with one particular bunny in the backyard. He\u2019s been busy chasing the cottontails in the mornings and evenings\u2026 and if he doesn\u2019t feel like the bunny is worth the chase, he\u2019ll just eyeball the poor thing.<\/p>\n Once, while Izzy was sniffing the spring air a bird whizzed past behind him. Izzy turned around and you could see the expression of wonder on his face, \u201cwhat was that, did I miss something\u201d?<\/p>\n The squirrel clan has a sturdy home in the neighbor\u2019s fir tree. They scurry down that tree early in the morning, the very moment I put out the birdseeds. I swear they have someone on sentry duty up there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n