Winter/Spring in Michigan

When the weather's nice, I try to work outside. That's a real challenge in March and April in Michigan. I've finished cleaning out all of the bird houses - bluebird/tree swallow, house wrens/chickadees/etc.

Our country, like the whole world, is in chaos. I'm not surprised. Our beloved president is having a fight with our governor and has apparently told suppliers NOT to sell any health related supplies to our state. Perfect. My brother just sent a short treatise explaining why the corona virus is so dangerous. Perfect. And spring tornado season is upon us probably worse than ever. Perfect. The earth will survive. Will we. Should we. One day at a time, eh?

From the beginning of last week

Clicking on photos enlarges them.

I have a pile of wood chips left over from tree trimming crews clearing electric and telephone lines that I'm trying to spread around the garden before too many plants start to grow. I've been stockpiling cardboard from all my deliveries and saving magazines instead of taking them to the recycling center in Sandusky, Michigan. I lay down the cardboard and/or magazines and then cover them with a layer of wood chips. It's really hard work but it keeps my mind occupied. I'm making slow progress; sure could have used help.

The bluebirds (Sialia sialis) are still staking out their territories; I wonder what the tree swallows will make of this when they arrive - which should be any day now. I think our bluebird looks a little like the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Our Robin (Turdus migratorius) doesn't resemble the European one, imo but the behaviors of our American Robin (Turdus migratorius) and the European Blackbird (Turdus merula) are strikingly similar. Of course.

The next day

Bluebird - Sialia sialis

Bluebird - Sialia sialis

European Robin - Erithacus rubecula

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

European Blackbird - Turdus merula

Even when overcast, mornings here are lovely. I'm slowly adjusting to the change in time from standard to daylight savings.

I try to do my grocery shopping early before large numbers of people come to the stores. I haven't been able to buy lunch snack carrots for my dogs and was running out. Walmart hadn't had any for over a week. Fortunately one of my favorite stores here did. And because I was early, I was able to shop there with other Q-tips.

Covid 19

This pandemic started in China but could have started anywhere. It was originally an animal virus but jumped to cause corona symptoms in humans. The Chinese had a head start on Americans and have drawn some conclusions which I've paraphrased below. This is, as far as I know, anecdotal, but nevertheless, the conclusions make sense and should be helpful to us. I am not a doctor. And this information, which I suspect is accurate, may be corrected and improved with time as we learn more about the corona virus. This epidemic, pandemic may last until we have a vaccine, which, we've been told, may be no sooner than 18 months from now. Over the months, there may be several peaks and valleys as the infections spread. All of us will be affected in one of more ways.

1. Autopsies they have done show that the buildup of fluids in respiratory pathways to the lungs and in the lungs solidify and block the flow of air. Those blocked airways must be opened and one possible way to do that is for affected persons to drink small quantities of warm liquids like broths, tea, lemon infused water, etc. perhaps as often as every 20 minutes. When viruses are swallowed with those warm liquids to the stomach, the acids there "kill" the viruses.

Sunrise This Morning

(Clicking on Photos Will Enlarge Them)

2. Gargle with antiseptic infused warm water every day. Infusions may be things like vinegar, salt, lemon juice, etc.

Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia

The viruses attach to hair and clothing. Soap and detergent don't "kill" the virus but the bubbles surround the viruses making it easier to remove them from the body and from your clothes. When you get home, shed your clothes and wash them in a washing machine immediately. Then shower with soapy water to encapsulate the viruses and wash them down the drains.

Viruses stay "alive" on metal surfaces like hand rails, door knobs, etc. for as long as nine days. Wash those surfaces. Try NOT to touch them directly with your hands.

Spring Irises

5. Don't smoke. Cigarettes. Cigars. Marijuana.Vaping. That compromises your lungs further and makes it easier for the viruses to work.

6. Wash your hands frequently with soap that foams - again to trap and remove virus particles. Twenty seconds. Carefully. Soap does not "kill" viruses.

OK - Extra Credit*. What are these? (Hint: NOT crocuses.)

7. Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Especially those fruits and veggies with lots of color. These increase your vitamin C and zinc levels.

8. Animals do not spread this virus. It is spread from person to person. Do the elbow bump instead of shaking hands. Or do the "Namaste" greeting with your hands in front of you in the "praying" position.

9. Avoid the common flu that visits us every winter because it may weaken your immune system setting you up for a successful invasion of the corona virus. Keep your annual flu shots up to date. Check with a doctor. It may not be a good idea to get that shot now. Do not drink cool or cold liquids.

10. If you feel a scratchy throat or tenderness in your rear upper palate, gargle with warm liquids, preferably infused with vinegar, lemon juice, or salt frequently. Brush your teeth with a bubbly toothpaste and include your tongue and your upper palate. Spit the froth down the drain.

Turkey Vultures - Cathortes aura

Morning Sunrise

Beach Erosion - Lake Huron

I wonder if the water levels of the Great Lakes, now higher than at any other time in recorded history, will ever return to "normal". Maybe like our oceans we have yet another new reality to deal with. The beach was about 100 - 200 yards (meters) further out only 7 years ago.

Spring Rhubarb

Species (wild) Crocuses

Snowdrops

Winter Aconite.

Aconites easily self seed. This year's seeds will remain in the soil undisturbed for a full year before they germinate. The cotyledons (seed leaves - two of them per seed) will emerge a year after the seeds are shed. The cotyledons remain alone; new true leaves do not develop that first spring. If you look closely in the center of this photo you can see at least four or five seedlings from last year's production of seeds. Those seed leaves will produce sugars that will be stored in a tiny bulb until next year, its second year of life. The second year it will produce its first small leaf which resembles an umbrella, perhaps, but without the fabric. The plant is small and will be barely noticeable. Looking closely at this photo you can see at least three second year plants with an umbrella leaf but without a flower. By the third year a flower may be produced if enough food could be made and stored by the leaves. The leaves remain umbrella-like surrounding the flower. One plant soon becomes a gathering of plants all descendants of the original plant like the above photo.

* - Bulbocodium vernum

Pre-Plague Pandemic

I should be in classes today, two classes. School is closed so I have time on my hands. I suspect it will be months, not weeks, until school reopens.

Yesterday I spent trying to sort out the HUGE price increase for one of my medications. Last year it was about $25 for a three month supply. This year I was initially told it would be $167 for a one month supply. Why are we paying so much for health care. (Note the lack of a question mark. I know the answer. Greed.) Bernie, Elizabeth are right. No other first world country seems to pay what we pay. Insurance companies are NOT our friends. I wonder if they absorb half of what we spend as pure profit as has been suggested.

Regardless.

A friend sent photos of crocuses in her yard. While my own crocuses have a way to go still. I live further north, my hope springs.

Speaking of . . .  a few months ago I bought a male singing canary from Kelly Villaneuva of Kelly's Pet Salon. The plan was to think springy thoughts in the dead of winter listening to his cheerful songs. Alas. He is a she and is more likely to lay a egg than to sing like a male. Regardless. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Temporally she has a cage partner. A while ago a small bird flew into one of my windows and was knocked unconscious and broke a wing. The dogs rescued, their word, not mine, it and brought it into the house, wet and slimy. When it's recovered it will re-join its outdoor companions.

Two weeks ago I cleaned out my bluebird/tree swallow houses. Kathy had told me that she had just done hers so I thought that it was time to do mine too. I have always thought that the tree swallows arrived before the bluebirds and snatched up the available houses. Now I'm not sure which species gets here first. I love to watch the swallows swooping though the skies excited to begin courtship and nesting activities. However, this year the bluebirds seemed to have arrived first. The truth? I don't really which species gets here first. Maybe in the past the early bluebirds have arrived and moved on before I see them. Tree swallows seem more insectivorous while bluebirds seem perhaps more omnivorous. Insect eaters would have a harder time arriving early, fewer insects. Omnivores could rely on overwintered seeds and berries if insects are still dormant. Makes sense so that might be true.

My Michigan Bird Life book published in 1912 writes that the bluebirds, Sialia sialis sialis, first nests appear as early as the first week in April. (It has been driven from much of its historic range by the introduced English sparrow and also by red squirrels which prefer the same kind of cavity nest.)   The photos below show a female.

Tree swallows, Iridoprocne bicolor, arrive in large flocks from late March to the middle of April according to the book which also states they like to line their nests with white feathers. Cleaning out the boxes proves that point.

My own birdhouses - on metal stakes scattered throughout my yards - typically have one, sometimes two broods of young. The parents sometimes rest on the electric wires recovering from their sweeping up on the wing of flying insects for their youngsters' food. After the young have fledged, they often join their parents on the wires with as many as a few dozen parents and offspring from "my" nest boxes resting on those wires. Sometimes one clutch of tree swallow youngsters is followed a few weeks later by a clutch of bluebird young in the same nest box.

In addition to bluebird/tree swallow boxes, I also put out many house wren, Troglodytes aedon aedon, boxes - which also have to be cleaned out annually. I do NOT mind that job. It allows me to see how many houses have been occupied the previous year. Usually. Most. If not all. And house wrens have a lovely song.

The shadow stripes of clouds cast on Lake Huron and the waves' white caps created a perfect picture recently. The water levels of the Great Lakes have apparently never been higher. Is that a result of climate change/global warming one wonders. Is this to be the new normal. Erosion is seen all along the coastlines of all of the Great Lakes. It seems like we have more than "normal" rainfall for a few years now making agriculture problematic for quite a few farmers. Many fields have had drain tiles dug and placed in the fields in an attempt to prevent local flooding and subsequent crop loss.

Black Monday? Plague Monday?

My first dog, Pepsi, was born today many years ago. Much missed and always remembered. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Turkey vultures are back, a sure sign of spring here. So are red-wing blackbirds, and American Robins (Turdus migratorius).

The witch hazel, Hamamelis, opened last weekend. I was pleased. My Icelandic Sheepdogs? not so much.

My favorite hellebore, Helleborus foetidus, is about to flower too. I love it because it is so reliably winter hardy, flowers very early, and self seeds. 

The winter aconites, Eranthis, bloom much earlier and are, by me anyway, more appreciated than later arriving crocus.The early wild bees, emerging from hibernation now, enjoy their nectar and pollen this time of the year. Like the hellebore above, winter aconites easily self sow. 

Soon the male catkins of the hazelnuts will be shedding pollen for the inconspicuous female flowers. Last year for the first time several nuts appeared (and the few squirrels missed them!).

There is much talk of the corona virus and the mishandling of the developing crisis. Elderly folks are supposed to avoid crowds. How, one wonders? The oil problems and the stock market collapse is adding to the state of unease here. Our stable mental genius with his great and unmatched wisdom and his strategically brilliant mind will most certainly handle things and help us with these issues.