Northeast Gardening: Daily Musings, 1 by creeping_jenny

creeping_jenny wrote:
Hello,
I'm new to DG, and thought I'd introduce myself--it's neat reading everyone's garden observations. Our garden is a 1/5 acre in an old neighborhood close to the city of Rochester in Upstate NY (6A)--not a lot of room, but we managed to get it certified by NWF as a backyard habitat. We dug our own pond some years ago and host unexpected wildlife, even a woodcock one fall. We've hatched many baby birds over the years, and recently I took this picture of a cardinal fledgling. It jumped from the nest its parents built next to our house in a hawthorn. He looks a little grumpy! Until recently, I didn't realize that many songbird chicks leave their nests before they can fly. Note the nearby snail and holes in leaves, we've been plagued by them this year despite all the snail-eaters around.