Wednesday Garden Pic: Winter Jasmine & Palm Warbler!

Today's North Florida weather is a day time high of 50 degrees F and tonight, 25 F with a "real feel" of -13! 

I have all my blooming daffodils, gerber leaves, amaryllis, hydrangea's & the Winter Jasmine covered. They'll have to stay covered tonight and tomorrow, which is predicted to also be below freezing.
It might be hard to believe, but I remember a Febuary in like 1986 or 87, when we were living in base housing, we had humid temps over 80 degrees F! That was unusual actually for here. Needless to say, that particular year was a drought year, starting out so hot so early like that!

Still, I need to go out and work on trimming down the pampas grass--or something, while it's dry & sunny. It's after 12. Probably the heat wave time for today. :)

Todays' Garden Pics:
My Winter Jasmine shrub in full regalia!

 You can see leaves are starting to pop out! It must be pruned right after blooming to keep it shaped. Apparently, according to what I've read on it, it can make a good Bonsai, if you're into Bonsai. 

It brings sunshine to an otherwise rather barren southern winter landscape!

Next: A Palm Warbler!

This little bird flew into my glass sliding door a few days ago, knocking himself silly. She was so stunned, Hubby was able to pick her up and carry him out to the garden bed near the feeder to recover. She was dazed and unmoving for at least 10 minutes--a great opportunity for a good close-up photo!

I actually didn't know what kind of bird it was at a glance. That's one reason I have a feeder is to attract birds into view, so I can know what they are. 

So I looked through images on-line. Though, it's not visible in this photo, this bird has a bright, bright yellow tail spot hidden under the fold of her wings; that plus yellowish tinges elsewhere, the light brown striping and lack of notable wing bars led me to conclude this is a "Palm Warbler," which is common to our Gulf Coast. They winter here and further south, but nest in Canada, so they're just temporary guests.

The plumage can be more yellowish on chest and eye stripe, especially males, but the bright yellow on the tail is their primary identifier. Males can have a more notable rusty brown steak on their crown as well. It's not uncommon for birds to have a duller coloring in winter.

I read these do tend to have a problem with window collisions. However, in all the years we've lived here, this is the first bird that has ever run into my glass door! 

It was, however, an amazing opportunity to see, hold and photograph a wild bird up close!

*****

Come back tomorrow for Mama Kat--I have decided she has a suggestion I'll be doing!