American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Hello everyone! I hope this Six on Saturday post finds you all well. The weather continues to be weird but all is well regardless. I filled the bird feeder yesterday afternoon but this morning a lot of ground feeders were looking for food. So, I went outside and sprinkled some on the ground under the feeder. Several species of sparrows and the Dark-Eyed Junco will go to the tube feeder but they prefer eating off the ground or even the at the open feeder. I didn’t have much luck taking bird photos this morning because the birds I wanted photos of kept flying off. There is too much going on in the front yard to allow them to relax.
#1-A few American Robin (Turdus migratorius) have been here all winter but there are a lot more now. They don’t normally eat birdseed and the ground is pretty much frozen. They seemed a little bewildered hopping around looking at the ground hoping a worm would emerge… They often complain about bullying from the other birds, but with a name like Turdus…
House Finch male (Haemorhous mexicanus)
#2-Several House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) males were squabbling this morning but I finally got this good shot of one at the feeder. I noticed there were several extra-large female sparrows feeding then realized they were Purple Finch females. DUH!
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
#3– Talk about a bird that is hard to photograph! A single Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) was so excited it couldn’t sit still. It would fly down to the ground then back to the tree, preen its feathers, then fly to the feeder, then to the ground… GEEZ! I don’t know how many photos I took of it and they were all even more blurry than this one.
White-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
#4-The White-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) was happily playing around on the tree most of the time. It seems to prefer seeds from the ground and the open feeder but on occasion will also go to the tube feeder. It seems like it prefers being upsidedown as well… Sometimes I have seen several of them fairly close together in the elm trees but only one (or one at a time) comes to feed. I have several good photos but this one is the best I could do this morning.
Bird’s Eye Speedwell (Veronica persica)
#5-The Bird’s Eye Speedwell (Veronica persica) are the first wildflowers to bloom. There are thousands and they are VERY tiny. I had to use a magnifying glass to get this photo. A very similar species, Wayside Speedwell (Veronica polita), looks so similar I am not sure how to tell them apart. One supposedly has slightly smaller flowers, but I bet if you look the two side by side you may still be confused… Their fruits are different but there aren’t any yet since they have just started flowering. Ummm… Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri says V. persica flowers April-June and V. polita March-June. Hmmm… So, maybe this species is V. polita instead of V. persica. Photos of the stems on Missouri Plants shows they are kind of reddish on V. persica and greener on V. polita. The plants in my yard have green stems. Well, GEEZ! I was hoping for V. persica because I like the name “Bird’s Eye” better than “Wayside”. I did notice their flowers fall off very easily, too. Did I mention their flowers are VERY tiny?
Mother of Thousands (Kalanchoe x laetivirens)
#6-The Kalanchoe x laetivirens (Mother of Thousands) flowers are now opening! This plant was in the back bedroom but the top of it was touching the shelf above it. A couple of days ago I looked at it and two of the buds had opened so I moved it to my bedroom. I have had this plant for several years and have whacked its stem in half many times to regrow it. If you don’t do this once a year the plant gets very leggy and its leaves are smaller. Cut the stem and the leaves grow HUGE.
Some information online sys this plant rarely flowers indoors and they are insignificant. Hmmm… I definitely wouldn’t call this inflorescence insignificant…
That’s all I have for this on Six on Saturday post. If you wish to participate in Six on Saturday posts, be sure to read the Six On Saturday-a participants guide from The Propagator.
I was busy working on the blog this week, writing wildflower pages and uploading photos. Sorry I didn’t read your posts so I will have to do some catching up…
Until next time… Be safe, stay positive, and be thankful. GET DIRTY whenever you have a chance!
The Belmont Rooster 
Lots of familiar birds in your photos. They have enjoyed the day here, too. A few mornings ago I looked out the back window as it was getting light. A fox walked by near the house. It is the first I’ve seen from our house in the 17 yrs we’ve been here. I was happy to see it.
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Hello Jim! The birds were happy today but there wasn’t a lot of them. Toward late afternoon the big Red-Bellied and Downey Woodpeckers showed up. The Red-Bellied had a lot of fun swinging on the feeder and making the seed fly out. He would hide seed in the fork of the tree then the Downey would come and fly off with it. I haven’t seen our neighborhood foxes lately. I am glad you saw one in your backyard. Was it a Red Fox? Thanks for the comment!
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It was a Red Fox and it looked pretty healthy.
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There is a den somewhere along the trail and have been here for many years. I see the babies along the road sometimes and then in the backyard on occasion.
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Speedwell got our attention just in the past few years. It seemed to arrive for the first time back then, and promptly proliferated. Some say that it was always here, but had gone unnoticed until it proliferated. I sort of believe that it was always here. It looks familiar. However, there is no explanation for the recent proliferation. Weirdly, it is not proliferating now, and has gone back into obscurity.
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Hello Tony! I noticed it a few years ago when it was flowering in the yard in front of the south bed. This spring it is in abundance in “the other yard” next to the southeast corner of the old foundation. It is a plant you can easily mistake for Lamium amplexicaule (Henbit) and Lamium purpureum (Dead Nettle) this time of the year (at least here) until until it starts flowering. Their leaves are all very similar in their first stages but after a few weeks, they will be completely different. The Speedwell gets your attention now because it is flowering like crazy. Thanks for the comment!
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Right now it is pretty. It dries out through summer, even where it gets watered. It does not like aridity.
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It does the same here leaving bare patches in some areas.
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Hi Rooster thanks for the 2 posts – good to see the birds – all different to anything we have here The purple finch is lovely & it’s interesting to see the black & white nuthatch vs our sepia tinted varieties! Also very happy to see you with your cute new family member. – I hope you get the chance to introduce her to the wonders of nature like you do us! I went outside last night to get the cat in and a full grown badger walked up the slope right past me, bundling along, getting on with what he was doing – Don’t mind me! Amazing. Only my third sighting in 12 years 🙂
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Hello Debbie! Great to hear from you! Some of the birds at the feeders are migratory and are just passing through. It is always good to give them something to eat while they are here. Others are here year-round and they apreciate a helping hand as well this time of year. It was good to see my granddaughter for the first time in person and we all had a good visit. Pretty neat about the badger how it walked right past you. He must have had a lot on his mind. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
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It must be a joy to watch all those birds and their activities on cold winter days.
We have mother of millions here…not the sane plant though, and a weedy problem.
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Hello Jane! The birds can be entertaining for sure. Sometimes some of them get in a squabble but for the most part they get along. When there are a lot of them I keep the blind open so I can take photos. I tried starting Mother of Millions from plantlets I removed from a plant at Lowe’s (didn’t want to pay the price) but they didn’t grow and eventually died. I think the plantlets were not ready to be on their own. Thanks for the comment!
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I think you should be glad the Mother of Millions failed. It has that name for a very good reason!
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That is the same with the Mother of Thousands. The plantlets fall off in other pots and then I have them everywhere.
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