First strawberry of the year growing in the vegetable garden. Spent much of the weekend weeding, cleaning the filters, and working on some more hypertufa "rocks" to cover the pond liner.

First mixed the ingredients; I was doing a large modular block and needed it to be strong, so used:

• 1Xportland cement
• 1Xsand
• 1.5Xpeat moss

Here's the solution mixed together with water. Didn't want it runny, so only added in about a gallon of water.
Spread the mix over a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth that I'd previously bend into shape to fit into a corner of the pond and hide the liner. The hardware cloth provides both shape and reinforcement for the hypertufa. Placed logs underneath to help the cloth hold its shape under the weight of the mixture.
The hypertufa creates a pretty natural-looking texture on its own without a lot of shaping. Inserted wire reinforcement where I wanted to create rocky extensions to break up the shape of the pond and provide perches for frogs or birds.
Finished it off by spreading some peat moss on the still-damp hypertufa mixture. This will add a little texture, and create a bit of traction for pond-dwelling wildlife.

Now must wait three days for the cement to completely dry, as I do not want any lime leaching into my pond.

A Monarch Butterfly scouting out our Swamp Milkweed

The clouds mosquitoes have attracted predators; Dragonflies and Damselflies that attend the garden whenever the sun's out and the skies are clear. When they're not darting through clouds of mosquitoes or gnats like a whale shark through plankton, they're either sunning themselves on our rocks or retaining wall, or hawking; crouching like aerobatic leopards on the dried husks of last year's Bergamot and Goldenrod.

A cool and damp end to spring; currently 65 and extremely windy with a severe thunderstorm watch over most of Minnesota. The Columbine are taking to seed, and the Rue Anemone are just about to peter out for the year, while Prairie Ninebark is just about to pop. False Solomon's Seal just petered out, though they will be recorded in this week's phenology report.

Garden Report:

Wildlife Spotted:

• American Toad
• Baltimore Oriole
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Blue Jay
• Cedar Waxwing
• Chorus Frog
• Cottontail Rabbit
• Crow, Common
• Eastern Bluebird
• Goldfinch
• Grackle, Common
• Gray Catbird
• Grey Squirrel
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Loon, Common
• Mallard Duck
• Mourning Dove
• Northern Cardinal
• Nuthatch
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Purple Finch
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Robin, American
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Sandhill Crane
• Tree Swallow
• Virginia Opossum
• Wood Duck
• Wood Frog
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

Emerging Wildflowers:

• Brown-eyed Susan
• Butterfly Weed
• Early Meadowrue
• False Dragonhead
• False Indigo
• Harebell
• Monkeyflower
• Purple Coneflower
• Showy Goldenrod
• Swamp Milkweed
• Tall Boneset
• Virgin's Bower
• Wild Bergamot
• Wild Grape
• Woodland Goldenrod
• Woodland Sunflower

Wildflowers in Bloom:

• Aborted Buttercup
• Canada Anemone
• Columbine
• False Solomon's Seal
• Hooked Violet
• Jacob's Ladder
• Prairie Smoke
• Rue Anemone
• Shooting Star
• Swamp Buttercup
• Wild Geranium
• Yellow Violet

A Junebug perched in a tree in our pond garden.

Heard a pair of loons last night as the thunderheads rolled in and the Tree Frogs chattered in the swamps. Hearing crickets now along the retaining wall and in the garden. No frogs seen in or near the pond yet.

Still relatively cool with temps in the low 70's. Isn't supposed to heat up into the 80's until the weekend.

Prairie Smoke covered in morning rain

A very damp, cold start to June. Only 63 outside, with sporadic thunderstorms. At least four days of the last weeks have seen rain, with Superior's water level rising, and there's flooding in some areas of Iowa. Good time for the garden; Columbine's grown about 2 feet tall, and is filling in many of the unplanted areas along the retaining wall. Haven't heard peepers for over a week now; only heard Tree Frogs last night.

Vegetable garden's taking off, with the tomato plants shooting up, the raspberries building up thick clusters of foliage around the base, and the strawberries are blossoming.

A Wild Geranium blooming in our pond garden

Nasty year for invasives. The Swallow I took to be tending her nest proved to be dead, her eyes poked out. Placed her and her nest in the woods. Have read about a "halo" put around the entrance to the Bluebird Houses; it is supposed to keep House Sparrows out.

The Creeping Charlie in the back lot is over a foot tall, and the dandelions are overtaking the edges of the lawn in thick, spreading clumps. Sadly, we've had to resort to using a preventive and a spray this year. I would rather do things organically, but have not heard of anything that has much effect on the dandelions. We'd be less militant against them if their airborn seeds and deep, resilient taproots didn't make them one of the most ravenous invasives to compete with native fauna.

Won't allow the chemicals anywhere near the native gardens, so spent several hours pulling out crag grass, dandelions and other non-natives.

Prairie Smoke in full bloom

First Monarch Butterfly spotted. Tree Swallow seen in other nest. Unfortunately couldn't check for eggs or young as the mother was very ardent about us not opening it.

Saw a black-and-yellow dragonfly (believe it was a darner) hunting mosquitos near the pond, and a number of delicate light-blue damselflies in the tall grass.

Raided Bluebird nest

Opened the bluebird house to find each of the eggs penetrated with a jagged hole and swarming with ants and small flies. Classic sign of a House Sparrow raid. Sadly, while death is part of nature, this is not nature's way. House Sparrows are an invasive, non-native species, introduced (both intentionally and accidentally) by European immigrants.

While many birders use glue traps or even electricity, we can't stomach killing them, and have attempted more passive measures, such as controlling what we put in the feeders and pairing bluebird houses in the attempts to draw Tree Swallows, a native species that can coexist with the bluebirds, but often repel House Sparrows. Will have to try monofilaments to frighten them away the next time a Bluebird makes its home in the box.

If you ever see this in one of your bluebird houses (from what I've heard, it can be a lot more gruesome than this), clean the house out, and keep an eye on the house to make sure the House Sparrows do not move in. If House Sparrows do enter a nesting box, it is perfectly legal and advisable to remove the nest immediately.