Peppermint and Clematis

There is a long bed of peppermint on the South side of our house.

It’s 50′ long, keeps a lot of weeds at bay and cools the roots of several clematis I have growing up arbors. One of these clematis harbored a nest of little sparrows…until last night.

These little birds have been SO loud. They sound like chirping crickets hopped up on caffeine. They start early in the morning, chirp all day and continue into the late evening. Their parents made fast food trips every 15 minutes, 11, 4 seconds to feed them.

Late yesterday I was out cutting and bundling peppermint for hanging when it happened.

I touched the clematis.

Instantly all three baby birds flopped, fell or flew down into the mint. I had the two teens handy, so we started searching for baby birds.

Our mission? Return baby birds to their nest.

sparrow's nest in clematis

After scrambling, searching and more mint clipping we returned the babies to their nest. They showed their gratitude by flopping, flying and falling out again. And again.

baby sparrow in my mint stained hand

It was getting dark now, so we gathered them one last time and stuck them in a small box beneath a nearby rose bush for shelter and easy parental access.

I had a hunch it wouldn’t be pretty this morning.

It wasn’t. Baby bird #1 had hopped out into the grass. Cold, wet and barely alive, Gracie Lou the Mastiff puppy was guarding it. I heard Baby #2 chirping and saw the parents tending to it, but I never did find Baby #3.

A burial and small funeral was held for Baby bird #1 after barn chores were completed.

Baby bird #2 is the current success of this story.

Because it was still chirping loudly I spotted it in a crab apple tree. As of this writing its parents are still waiting on it and shoving food down it’s throat at frequent intervals. I watched it for a few minutes as it learned to flop-fly from branch to branch.

Baby Sparrow #3 in a tree

Afterward:

While we had been looking for them in the mint, daughter #4 said, “Mom, if any of these babies live, I am naming one of them Jack!”  That kid is a real wit.

And so, baby #3 is now known as Jack Sparrow. Or maybe it’s Jackie Sparrow?

.

Here it is bathed in early morning sunlight and absolutely glorious in pink.

Nectarine Bloom

Nectarine in Bloom

Nectarine Blossoms

Beautiful, isn’t it?

OK, no herbs or gardening stuff for you today, because everything in the herb garden is still frozen, and I haven’t gotten into the greenhouse yet. Sheer laziness on my part…

So- instead I have a video for you!

As I was driving my Herb-Child # 4 into town yesterday, we spotted a pair of Bald Eagles. This may come as no surprise to many of you that live in Bald Eagle country, but it really floored us!

Now, normally we see scads of Red Tail Hawks, Kestrels, Owls, and other birds, but these two were simply phenomenal!

We’ve seen Eagles once or twice fishing at the lake about 7 miles from here, but these two were just hanging out in the cornfields, and lounging in the wind breaks.

Sorry the quality is poor-

I caught them with my little Flip camera and was driving the backroads simultaneously. I know, don’t say it.  It was worth driving into a ditch or bean field in order to get this film!

I don’t know if it’s any better in fullscreen-but you can try and see if there is any improvement.

Wow!

The !#&$%! beetles get to it every year. I have read that besides roses, the fruits of peaches, nectarines and such are among the favorite foods for the hideous beasts. The good news is they are so busy destroying the nectarines that they generally spare the apple trees and roses right next to it. They also have yet to discover the Apricot tree about 50 yards away (crossing fingers behind her back.)

They eat the fruit right down to the pits,or stones. See how this fruit is absolutely covered in the darn things?

Japanese Beetles Eating Nectarines

Japanese Beetles Devouring Nectarine

After the beetles get finished there is not a nectarine left on the tree. The birds won’t eat the blasted beetles and they seem to have no natural enemy.

Guard your fruit, folks! These wee beasties are true wretches.

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