Disturbance and Findings while Weeding

This Saturday past Vickie and I spent the morning weeding; I did the Medicinal Bed and Vickie the Idaho fescue and Yarrow "driveway" into the duck yard from our giant asphalt driveway. I have not seen weeds so tall and thick as this year. While cleaning up Tansy this is what I found:

 Oh my gosh what a beautifully constructed nest from dried flower stalks, 
grasses and such, gathered right here at MuRefuge. The nest which fit 
comfortably in the palm of my hand was repositioned low into an 
adjacent Pacific Wax Myrtle (Myrica californica). 
Early the next morning I was checking from afar the nest and 
noticed two Sooty Fox Sparrow hovering. Perhaps this was their nest 
and they are annoyed at the human disturbing their home?
What was so amazing about the nest in the Tansy is that Shasta runs 
through this area whenever the adult Indian Runner ducks are in the garden. 
She loves to jump up, lurching towards them to
see them fly. This activity brings a broad happy smile to her face.
Unfortunately the ducks are NOT happy and run out of the 
garden into their duck yard far away from that big furry four legged.

And with continued weeding both Vickie and I noticed many, many, many ladybugs. With the cool damp nights and the recent rain of almost an inch here at MuRefuge the aphids, ladybug food, seem to be thick. 

Go ladybugs! FYI: ladybugs attract aphids.

And this Sunday morning past while performing qi gong I noticed motion in my left peripheral vision. Turning my head towards the oriole feeder there upon the feeder a male Hooded Oriole perched slurping up the nectar from the feeder. I did not get a picture but you can check the link for a gorgeous one as well as information about this stunningly beautiful bird and its habitat.

DUCKLINGS UPDATE

As you can see the 2 youngsters (inside their enclosure)
and their older sisters (outside roaming) are ready to BE all together.
The ducklings are 7 weeks old Monday, April 27.
To be on the safe side the youngsters will be kept enclosed 
until at least 8 weeks old so they will be less likely to be 
snatched for a snack by flying predators.

A native bee at the Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea).

‘Skylark’ (Ceanothus thysiflorus) in foreground and on right
Coastal Poppy (Eschscholzia californica var. californica) in background 
and on left. Both are teaming with native pollinators.

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