FINCH BIRDS IN OUR PORCH

Their arrival represent the emergence of the real spring time in Ripon!

Click photos to enlarge*

Today it is bright and sunny. After dealing with a lot of rainy days the past week, finally the day tells me it is really spring! The birds are chirping and they are noisy; the plants and trees have leaves sprouting in different directions. And some finches have started to come to our porch for feeds. They are so cute and quite noisy, too!!! This is the third year we are providing them with food and drinks (at the bird bath) in front of our house. The cost of feeds could be costly but then, there is nothing like seeing them come daily in our abode. So, we forget about the economics of allowing these birds to give us some music until spring rolls into summer.

I took these photos just now at 5: 37 P.M., Monday- California time, as I hid behind the curtain of our front door. I had to stand on the chair as I am too short (5'1) to see through the upper part of the door where the glass portion of it enables one to see the outside perspective of our front yard.

It takes a while for the finch birds to get used to seeing us at home as they come for feed but soon enough they'd adjust and won't fly away anymore~ even if we were sitting in the rocker in our porch. It was neat at just about the same time last year. We would have coffee and they'd flock into our porch for feeds and they are rowdy! But they are nice and they come in lovely colors of yellow and black. The trouble with the finch birds is they mess around so much on the porch (while taking off the shell of the tiny black seeds they eat)! However, that is bearable. We bought them feeds by the pounds at Costco (like Uniwide Sales in the Philippines). Otherise they are really lovely! Blue birds come here as well as blue jays, sparrows, crows and sometimes, wood pecker, too! When birds start coming to our place I know it is really springtime here! I am always tempted to catch them and cage them but husband always tells me that I am not supposed to do that~take off their freedom~ these birds... in case I decided to keep them caged. Ayayay!!!

This spring, I didn't plant anything at all since our travels have been frequent. Watering them regularly could be a problem. Despite the fact that we have an automatic drip system for the lawn, some plants need individual care for plant food (vitamins/ fertilizer) and sunlight. This spring, some of my potted plants have died because of the cold weather this advent of spring. So our yard is pretty empty except for some plants that I planted two years ago like the roses, lime, lemon and the palm tree. I used to plant a lot of herbs and veggies that I harvest from summer to early winter. Now, I'd miss those times I have my basket with me and me filling it up with my veggies like green beans, corn, green onions, mint, parsley, sweetbasileaves, etc. Where it used to be so cozy in our porch because of the proliferation of the two kinds of morning glory I planted lastt year, this time it is empty of any climbing plants (vine). I just hope our in-c0ming tenants would plant some thing here to make our house a home once more when we're gone. Surely, I'd miss the space we have here, the yard and most especially the birds coming in and out during the change of season- but living in the city has its trade off and plus points for us~ so it is a choice between here and there. Ciao!

I'd miss the birds when we start to live in the city next month.