New Construction and Addled Eggs

Well is appears that Mr. Downy Woodpecker is the NEXT woodpecker to take up residence on the lot. This makes the fourth species of woodpeckers. I am surrounded by deadwood --- no, Horsetail this is not one of your jokes and I will not repeat the "pecker" joke my hubby shared this morning. We are concerned that many of these dead trees are going to fall in the coming months, but the good part is that many woodpeckers are finding this a great place to hang out. I have not been a watcher of woodpeckers in the past, and now that they are close, I can spend my mornings watching them.

This morning the Pileated was down in the ravine working on his three car garage. The pounding broke into my dream time just at the sun was trying to break through the rain filled clouds. This morning was just like living in the city next to construction but I know that the results of this noise are more environmentally friendly and won't last for too long.

I also saw a lovely white swan glide across the river down by the dock and hope someday to capture that scene with the camera and share with all of you. I think I will have that chance because there appears to be a resident pair. There is a sad note to these swans as I think the resident is a mute swan. The DNR is addling (shaking) the fertilized eggs of this non-indigenous species to prevent the swans from reproducing. There is a concern that they are destroying the underwater grasses and therefore hurting the ecological balance of the river. Of course, enforcers are not nearly as committed to those builders that are destroying large amounts of coastline to build huge concrete and brick monsters upstream of my place. I think those folks should be 'addled'...maybe using a large bulldozer?

I uploaded the photo of the rhododendron (Gletschernacht or "starry night") that I fell in love with at the landscape place when I return to the apartment on Monday. I bought it and have absolutely no place to put it. I thought it was an azalea which is better for size control, but should have studied the plant a little more closely. The color is divine and I want to make sure it reaches full size so have not planned for its location prior to purchase. Just like impulse buying at the grocery store...make sure you have room before you put it in the cart.