A Very Cold Easter Weekend
Austin was extraordinarily cold last weekend. We even had sleet here near the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. I tried to prepare for the freezing temps by covering my flowers with sheets and putting a heater in my new container water garden. The sheets seemed to work, but I still lost a few fish to the cold.
Looks like I have another excuse to visit Hill Country Water Gardens. Not that I really needed one.
One interesting thing we observed during the cold snap last weekend was a lone hummingbird. S/he hung out at our hummingbird feeder all weekend drinking from the feeder and shivering. I felt sorry for the little guy who looked very cold indeed. In the photo below he's drinking at the far side of the feeder. Please forgive the through-the-screen view.
The newly planted passionflower, pentas and milkweeds below the squirrel-proof birdfeeder seem to be doing well despite the cold. The cardinals happily ate sunflower seeds during 30 degree chills.
The milkweed seems very happy in fact. I hope its neighbors do as well.
I visited Wild Birds Unlimited near the Lakeline Mall a few weeks ago and bought this wren house:
The man at WBU said that the 1-1/4 inch entrance hole would be big enough for a Carolina Wren, but all my bird books disagree. If the Carolina Wrens ignore the house I'll increase the diameter of the hole myself.
Speaking of birds, I found a fun Live Birdfeeder Video cam which I believe is in Louisville, KY. Pan all the way to the left or click "Home" and you'll see the feeder. I saw a pair of cardinals feed each other via that site this afternoon. If you know of other live birdfeeder cams, please let me know the URLs. Thanks!
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