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The weatherman says it has never been this cold on this day in our town. This morning the temperature is at 31°F or -0.5°C. With a strong breeze, it feels like 24 °F or -4.4°C. I will have to go out to the garden and see whether the tomato plants grown from seeds and put into the ground last week survived.

Three years ago I planted a yellow magnolia tree named Judy Zuk Magnolia, in honor of a former President of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It grew one flower the first year, none the second year, and this year it is displaying a dozen of bright yellow flowers mixed with small streaks of orange-red. Here are some shots of the flowers which are bigger than those of the Butterfly Magnolia from last month.

Judy Zuk Magnolia.

Judy Zuk Magnolia.

Here’s another kind of Magnolia that is blooming late in the season. In fact, it keeps blooming during a good part of the summer when all other magnolias have come and gone.

Jane Magnolia.

I’ll finish this post with photos of our backyard birds who have been quite busy during this spring mating season.

Goldfinch ruffled by wind.

Carolina Chickadee.

Male Northern Cardinal hiding in Jane Magnolia tree.

American Robin.

Eastern Bluebirds couple taking a break from incubation chores.

Female Eastern Bluebird getting ready to go back inside birdhouse.

Then someone who thinks it is a bird.

Squirrel eating up high on an oak tree.

Finally, a shot of a Red-tailed Hawk at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on February 22, before the coronavirus lockdown.

Red-tailed Hawk.