This little guy greeted me this morning on my way back from the bus stop this morning:

I'm pretty sure this is a song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) singing his little heart out on a bare big leaf maple branch.  He saw me and carried on singing while I took this little video.  He then darted into a neighboring cedar to continue his song out of sight.  I'm sorry for the quality (or lack thereof) of the video - it was mostly the song I wanted to share with you.  He does come briefly into focus in the middle of the video.

Makes me happy listening to him!  I hope you feel the same way.

More about song sparrows:
Seattle Audubon's Song Sparrow Page (The song is different from my little guy's, but my book says there are 43 different subspecies, so I presume the song varies.)
Cornell's Ornithology Lab's Song Sparrow Page

Groundhog Day

So, our East Coast friend, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted an early Spring this weekend.  Looking around my garden, I thought... "Well, I could have told you that!"

I have 3 "early bloomer" plants in my garden, and 2 of the 3 are ready to burst:

This is an Indian Plum (Oemlaria cerasiformis).  It is the earliest native bloomer.  It is a medium-sized shrub that will have some lovely small white flowers soon. 

Close-up of Indian plum bud

The second early bloomer is my Helleborus.  This was an impulse buy at the local home improvement store a couple years ago.  I took a detour through the plant section and saw this in bloom in January and HAD to have it! The species is native to Eastern Europe and Asia, but is grown extensively here in Washington State.  Most importantly, it does well in the SHADE, so it is a good plant for my back yard where the sun is blocked year-round by the house and the mature fir and cedar trees.

Helleborus Silvermoon getting ready to burst!

USDA Helleborus plant profile

Hellebores.org - a site for people who grow Hellebores

My third early bloomer isn't visible at the moment.  I'm afraid my neglect of this corner of the garden has choked it out this year.  It is a "White Glory of the Snow" or Chionodoxa gigantean alba.  This is a lovely delicate bulb.  The first year they came up I thought  they were going to be snow drops, but then they opened up into beautiful star-shaped flowers.  Here is a photo of one from 2 years ago when it first came into bloom:

BBC Plant Finder - Glory of the Snow

Hopefully I can get out there and de-choke the bed so we can see them this year.  Stay tuned and see!