Notes From Zone 4

Usually, we have gold and purple finches all winter long, and they segregate themselves when eating the thistle feed at our feeders. But we haven’t seen a purple finch since last fall, and we missed them! But they are back. A flock landed in our yard today, and have been eating sunflower seeds rather than thistle, which is a bit strange for them. The ground has gotten so bare in just a couple of days that I can see daffodil foliage already. Amazing. The crocus shoots are out as well, though we still don’t have any actual blossoms. The pond is still frozen solid, however. But you can see the ice that covers it, rather than just the snow. Soon we’ll see if the fish survived the long winter.

The tulips are out in full force right now, even thought the daffodils haven’t finished their run. They look really nice against the backdrop of the stone wall. The daffs haven’t really begun to fade yet, so the contrast is really nice. We need many more bulbs, just for the record. A flock grosbeaks has arrived at our feeders on the upper balcony. We’ve had the gold and purple finches for a while, but the grosbeaks just got here.

The birds are back. I’d been griping that our feeders were staying full, but it looks like the snow has convinced them that thistle really is yummy.