Berry Bountiful in Fruit and Wildlife

Wild Berries Picked on Die Weide

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Die Weide today because we found bounty and beauty all around.  After a light day of garden chores due to more than an inch of rain last week, I sat down to rest next to the picnic table as usual, only to be interrupted by the loud 'kirrr-kirrr' I know to be a hawk. I  looked over the neighbors woods to see not one, but three hawks circling in an apparent mating dance. One hawk stooped on another but they dropped below the treeline before I could see the result. The hawks were a rather nondescript light brown color, with a light band on wings seen from above perpendicular to the leading edge close to the wing tip. I haven't found a google photo of one yet to identify, but I'll keep looking. The hawk is slightly smaller than a red-tailed hawk though.

Not a minute later, I heard a fierce deep humming sound I recognized as hummingbirds flying around the wild honeysuckle growing near the shed. One of the hummingbirds started swooping around in tight figure-eights around the other, then landed on a limb. I quickly, but carefully went to grab the binoculars from the shed and studied the bird. I didn't have my camera, but this is a picture of what I saw - a black-chinned hummingbird: (Thanks to JeffCo Gardens blog for this photo) The hummingbird performed another figure-eight flight but this time the hummingbird swooped in ever growing vertical loops around the hummingbird still sitting amidst the honeysuckle. Awesome to see!

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After the bird watching we set out to pick the ripe berries that abound in May after good spring rains. We were delighted to find a bounty of berries in the Northeast corner of the property. If we ever decide to get goats, we'll fence off that corner to prevent loosing the annual bounty we obtain from that corner. We'll be picking berries there for the next three weeks too!

Happy Berry Picker

 Below, Inge snapped a photo of our apples growing on the trees we planted this year. I snipped off most of the fruit, but left a couple on to keep Inge happy. I left both apple trees (cross pollinating but different varietals) with 3 to 5 apples growing.

Apples Growing Nicely on new trees

 During our walk in the woods to retrieve the trail cam we saw two deer bounding away. Later I heard a steady drone and realized I must be hearing a bee swarm. I followed my ears to this tree on the North boundary of the property. The bees furiously flew around a quickly growing clump of bees that must have been surrounding the queen bee. You can see the bee swarm clump located at the juncture of the down-growing branch from the horizontal limb. I wish I could get them to populate my bee hive. But I am hoping to get our package of bees next weekend.

Bees Swarming on Tree in Woods

Birds chirped and tweeted endlessly as we walked the woods and pastures and enjoyed what turned out to be a wonderful day on Die Manchmal Gruene Weide. (And to top it off, the room is now filled with the wonderful scent of berry pie Inge is baking!)