April showers bring May flowers. Here, grasses and wildflowers and flowerbeds were well-brought by late March.
Spring Break showers made difficult necessitated mowing. When the sun broke through on Sunday afternoon, hums of mowers and weed eaters filled the air.
How much rain did we get on Saturday? Sally Wilson’s two rain gauges gave conflicting answers. Everett Smith reported 1.25 inches.
Full-swinging bird activity brings many viewing opportunities for humans.
Birds depleted the dog hair in our suet feeder, so we added in bits of unbleached cotton batting. When I NestWatch’d (www.nestwatch.org) on Sunday, I found some of those white fluffy bits atop a black-crested titmouse nest of green mossy materials. And, I watched a Carolina chickadee stuff her beak (cotton mouth?) and fly to a PVC nestbox.
Last week’s paper showed Laura Craig’s lesser goldfinch-covered feeder. Once this week, I saw an American goldfinch with similar coloring on my lesser goldfinch-covered feeder. Up close and in with the lessers, the larger size gave it away.
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James Polk, Live Oak at Pin Oak, Facebook’d on March 20, “They’re baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!! Get your hummingbird feeders up. We saw our first hummers this past Wednesday and they are at our feeders daily now. Enjoy!”
James continued, “You can pay a few bucks or alot of bucks for feeders! The ones with perches are best so the hummers can sit while they drink. Wal-Mart and Home Depot usually have a good selection. Aspects Inc. Hummingbird Feeders are the upper end at around $25 and up but you can get a basic one much cheaper at WM or HD. Once you get started you will be hooked!”
It’s easy. Boil 1 part sugar with 4 parts water. Cool and fill your feeder of choice. Change syrup every day or two in hot weather. It spoils.
I favor the Aspects Hummzinger HighView (available 8 oz. and 12 oz. from Amazon) for lifetime replaceability, easy-cleanability (snap off red lid and smooth clear bowl) and fantastic hummer viewability. The birds sit at 3 ports or 5 ports, respectively, on the raised ring above the rim.
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Gals from all over the area will sit by fours at 18 tables and move by twos at the end of each round at Rocking Horse Academy the evening of Saturday, April 11. It’s the Epic Mega Bunco Fundraiser organized by Mountain City’s Karen Herrmann.
Karen writes, “$20 to play, this benefits Relay For Life Fundraiser for Buda, Kyle, & San Marcos. We will have a silent auction and other tickets to win more prizes. Prizes for most Buncos, most wins, second highest wins, lowest number of games lost. This is a pot luck event, please bring sides and or desserts. Come at 6 p.m. to check in and eat, dice rolls at 7 p.m.!”
By April 4, you must RSVP to Karen Herrmann at 512-268-6381,512-268-6381, or email herrmannk@hayscisd.net. She needs to know who has RSVP by April 4 to make sure we have plenty of tables to play on!
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Each week, readers must send tidbits to me to make sure we have enough material for this column. ptom5678@gmail.com (subject: TIDBIT) or 512 268 5678. Thanks! Love, Pauline
