Birds 'n blooms

As i feared, when we got home the apple tree has lost most of its glorious bloom. I'm so thankful we took the pics Monday before we left, for many of the petals now adorn the ground. The bees are still hard at work.

Ok, as promised, Duane's wonderful pics. I had wanted pics of so many things. Orange County is exploding into bloom. Jacaranda trees are purple; morning glory or bougainvillea are blooming over archways & walls; roses are blooming everywhere, as are clematis, pansies, & petunias. It is very beautiful. However, we didn't have a lot of time as we were leaving yesterday. Duane got some pics of his mom's rose garden (which backs to the neighbors, so double the beauty), some glads, & some shots of her back yard.

This is the rose bush Duane's brother picked up for her for Mother's day & we all gave it as a joint present. Very pretty.


















Some more of the roses. Duane's mom's are on the right side of the wall. Her Mother's day rose bush looks white (but has traces of pale pink) in the front right.


























These glads were planted by Duane's sister Laura long ago. She died before i met Duane. They thought the glads were lost when some yard work was done, but they had spread & came back.

These shots are from Duane's mom's back yard.

Then this was along our way home, in the lower elevation of the mountain road. This blooms in the springtime along our roads. I had been calling it "gorse" because it is a yellow mountain flower, kind of a weed. But the last time i was at the Discovery Center (it calls itself a "state of the art Visitors Center & educational facility") i learned that this is called "Spanish broom." Also that it is a non-native weed & they'd really like to see it go away. I also looked up images of gorse & while there is a superficial resemblance from a distance, gorse flowers look nothing like these.

Yucca is also blooming.

We have quite a variety of birds come to our house. I can't identify them all. But when we got home last night there were several of these fellows. They are new, we've never seen them before. They are also quite shy. Duane had to move slowly to the window to get these shots. Any movement at all in the house & they are gone. I've no idea what they are. Will have to check it out at the Discovery Center next time we're there. What is interesting is that these birds are eating both sunflower seeds & suet. Most birds do one or the other but not both.

This is a close up of the one Duane took Sunday. It is kind of blurry but i just love it 'cause it catches him in action. And his expression is so intent!


















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