Spring Pairings

I just couldn’t resist posting pictures of some of my favorite spring pairings. This lovely couple comes to the feeder every day – he gallantly stays underneath the feeder, pecking at seed on the ground and watching for trouble, while his little lady feeds heartily at the feeder. In this picture, he’s looking up at her as if to say, “You okay up there?” 🙂

Hey, babe! How you doin’ up there?

And this mourning dove couple visits every morning and always stay close together on the ground, going for the easy pickin’s. 🙂

Always together, in all kinds of weather

And then there are the confirmed bachelors…

I stand alone, thank you.

I think we can see why this guy is a bachelor:

Look, I’m a bird pretzel! Hey, my feet taste good!

I love this tree pairing–

SO pretty!

And how about this fun pairing of cat lovers and dog lovers pastas? 🙂

And then there’s Miss Daisy, who’s always paired up with one of us. 🙂

Happy spring! 😀

We’re part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop!

Snowy Spring, or Winter’s PS

Look what happened on the first day of spring!

We woke up to a good 6-8 inches of snow on the ground!

Which drew birds by the dozens again, including some of my winter favorites:

I love how these little beauties nestle into the snowy branches.

Later in the day, a brilliant blue sky let us know spring was keeping an eye on the untimely snowfall…

And a wonderful thing happened – Daisy suddenly started enjoying the snow! She didn’t avoid it like usual, she went right into the thick of it, and after I stopped taking pictures (of course) she romped into the deepest snow in the middle of the yard – chest-high on her!

Hey, this snow isn’t so bad after all! It’s kinda fun! Now let’s go for the deep stuff!

Of course we paid the inevitable price – 20 minutes of blow-drying ice balls off her feet, legs, chest and stomach. But it was well worth it! I hope she takes to the snow much sooner next winter.

Our daffodils – the four-inch stems that had managed to push through after the ice, snow, and a flooded flower garden – took it well and now that the snow is gone, they’re giving it their all. What hardy little troopers!

And given the “all clear”, a few of our purple crocuses hurried to show their beauty before the next storm could shut them down – there are about four buds in this picture, two of which are just waiting to burst open (you can see that the garden hasn’t been cleaned up yet after winter – there are still some small snow deposits around).

We’re part of the Thursday Barks and Bites blog hop! Join in and see what everyone else has been up to!

Late Winter Doings, Daisy Style

Well we got a momentary peek of early spring temps one day last week when the thermometer read 44 degrees – for a whole six hours. The next day we were back into single-digit wind chills; but hey, at least they’re not going below zero!

We’ve had a couple more beautiful snowfalls too, and the five inches or so that’s on the ground now is frozen solid. And I mean solid – the ice at the base of the driveway is at least two inches thick.

I can never get enough of winter photography; to me winter presents unique and ever-changing beauty.

The rising sun creates a reddish glow on the trees, which we don’t see when the leaves are out.

A particularly vivid sunset, which we also can’t see when the trees are in full leaf bloom.

We’ve made sure to keep the birdies well fed, and in turn, they’ve given us a lot of entertainment along with their cuteness.

You can always tell how cold winter is by how chubby the birds are!

These guys took the easy pickins.

And while dozens of little birdies braved the weather to visit our feeder during snowstorms, ice storms, and frigid temps, what did Daisy do?

Yup, that’s our little log-dog squishing herself between a blanket and the sofa back, oblivious to the birds’ winter plight. Don’t know how she even breathes like that!

We were happy to see that not only did our rosemary plant survive the winter and continue to give us extremely aromatic herbs, but it provided a nice spot for birds awaiting their turn at the feeder.

I’ll just wait my turn on this yummy-smelling bush…

Mom and Pop cardinals continued flocking in for food – this guy demonstrated how flexible a bird neck is:

What you lookin’ at??

Meanwhile, Daisy did her best impression of a canine airplane:

Airplane-ears Daisy.

I guess every creature has their own way of getting through each season!

 

The Little Birdie Who Thought He Could

We finally had our first winter snow this past weekend! We were so thrilled, even though it was only about 3 inches deep.

Of course, it was rained away two days later. 😦 But while it was here, we LOVED it!

After a snow, our Bird Diner is always busy, both at the feeder itself and underneath, where messy pickers fling seeds.

All plumped up for winter!

And there’s just something about the bland atmosphere that makes bird colors POP

One little chickadee thought he could pay us a visit. I guess he needs to see a Bird Optometrist for a pair of tiny glasses, because he flew into our sliding glass door HARD, leaving behind a tiny little feather and knocking himself into a stupor:

He sat like that for more than 15 minutes, beak open, not moving a muscle. I started wondering if he’d killed himself and frozen in place!

Wow! That was some landing!

He was near the house, where it’s a little bit more protected from predators like hawks, but there are a couple of huge cats that roam the neighborhood, and they’d just love to happen upon a stunned bird. So Daisy and I kept watch just in case.

Are you okay, little one?

Fortunately they didn’t come around, and this little guy finally started moving his head in tiny little increments, as if he was testing to see if he could manage it.

Half an hour later, he was turning his head normally and he moved really close to the house until he was ready to fly away. A happy ending!

🙂     😀     🙂

Peeking and Poking – The Real Peeping Toms

We’re among those in the midst of a dangerous, nasty heat wave. Last week we had temps of 102 with a heat index of 110+ for several days, and it’s still bad. It’s absolutely unbreathable out there. I’ve spent more time indoors this summer than I did all winter!

I heard reports that farm animals (particularly cattle) and wild turkeys have been dying from the heat. I didn’t want that to happen to our little (and big) visitors, so I put a tray of water on the patio near the bird feeder so they wouldn’t dehydrate.

Okay, I didn't realize this old pan of my grandmother's is actually a roasting pan and the water got warm....fortunately we didn't end up with turkey soup!

I guess they consider this a safe haven now, and they’re getting more curious about what lies beyond the walls. First they started peeking:

Then they started poking:

Yes, it’s actually tapping on the glass door with its beak! How wild is that!?

Thankfully, Daisy doesn’t like the heat at all, so she’s been lazying about on any pillow she can find. This keeps her away from the glass door, where I’m sure she’d have gone ballistic!

It's too hot to move!

Stay cool, my friends!

Talkin’ Turkey – Oh, The Drama!!

Wow oh wow – this is a real turkey of a summer! LOL

Remember those three little wild turkeys who quickly turned into medium-sized turkeys? They come to our bird feeder every morning now and peck at whatever has landed on the ground.

The original trio that's now The Twosome.

WELL….. last week a family of TWELVE wild turkeys showed up – two parents and TEN little fuzzers!

A few members of the Clan of Twelve with Poppa.

They usually come for dinner and spend at least 20-30 minutes dining on whatever has fallen from the feeder.

Today, both Turkey Clans showed up at the same time. Not good.
I couldn’t get any photos because I was riveted to the action and didn’t want to walk away to get my camera.

The medium-sized turkeys (now only two instead of three; I don’t even want to think about that) approached the food area at the same time as the Clan of Twelve. The Twosome were more than happy to share – not so with the Clan of Twelve. Momma and Poppa ran the Twosome off, flapping their huge wings and making never-before-heard (by me) turkey warning sounds.

Poppa was content to push them ten yards away – but not Momma. She went after them, driving them hither and yon, until there was half an acre between those two usurpers and her brood (now down to only 9 babies, but I don’t want to think about that either. They’ll always be the Clan of Twelve to me.).

Momma (light colored), Poppa, and a few kiddies.

One of the babies actually tried to step in and chase off the Twosome as well! Ah, like mother, like daughter. 🙂

By the time Momma came back to her Clan, Poppa had rounded up his group in a tight little bunch, and they all headed out of the yard. I don’t get it – they’d earned Exclusive Feeding Rights, yet they passed up the food and left.

Apparently the Twosome was hiding behind the huge evergreen in the back corner of the yard, because once the Clan had gone, they came back and reaped the rewards of their patience.

This is like a combination of an Aesop’s Fable and a daytime soap opera: The Days of Our Turkeys? The Turkeys of Our Lives? The Young and The Turkeys? 😀

Needless to say, I had to keep Daisy AWAY from the window during this whole fiasco. But she’s back on guard now. 😉

Poppa and a few Poppettes 😉

Guess Who Came To Dinner….And Breakfast!

Wild turkey family!

Yup, a proud mama turkey and her three little turkey-ettes! Early yesterday morning, DD heard what she thought was an injured dog call outside, but when she opened the sliding glass door blinds, she saw the Wild Turkey Family hanging out on our patio!

The Three Turkey-ettes

They left after a while but came back again in the evening; apparently they’re just strolling around the neighborhood, hanging out, finding food, and bringing smiles and awe to all who see them.

That Mama Turkey is one BIG bird!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 🙂

Where'd the turkeys go??

Mesmerized Bird

I had plenty of time to take a photo of this guy – he landed on the perch, ate a bit, and then stared into the bird feeder for more than 5 minutes straight. Just stared. Absolutely motionless.

Did the sight of all that food mesmerize him?

Was he trying to figure out a way to eat all of it at once?

Was he counting the grains?

Did he eat too much and fall asleep?

Was he playing a game of 1-2-3 Freeze??

Was he listening to Madonna’s song “Vogue” on a tiny bird iPod and he “struck a pose”???

What’s he doing?!?

Have a happy weekend everyone! 😀

“She Felled Me Like A Tree….”

That quote came from DD after a particularly bruising experience with Daisy this weekend. 😦

I'm sorry, DD. I just wanted to play with the bird.

Yesterday DD took Daisy out back for her morning run. As usual, Daisy spotted a bird on the ground and gave chase. No biggie there.

BUT – as they got close to the bird at top speed, the bird didn’t fly away. Its wing was broken, and it just stood there, probably terrorized. DD tried to stop Daisy but the grass was wet and slippery from an early morning thunderstorm. And Daisy, although small, is VERY strong – this pup’s ALL muscle.

Well, Daisy kept pulling and DD tried to stop running and the next thing she knew – BAM! – she had slipped on the wet grass and hit the ground on her hip. “Felled like a tree.” By a 15 pound Havachon. Who’d have thought it possible??

But that’s not the worst of it. Daisy spun around and kept pulling with all her might – and she backed right out of her harness! She immediately charged the poor crippled bird and was on it before DD could scramble to her feet. All I heard from inside the house was “NO! DAISY NO! NO!”

I looked out the window and saw DD standing over Daisy, trying to pick her up and having a hard time with her. I saw Daisy pawing wildly at something on the ground – I figured it was a rabbit nest, but it was the injured bird.

Finally DD got Daisy into her arms and came panting back to the house, dragging the limp leash and harness behind her.

They were a mess. Soaking wet and covered in wet grass clippings; Daisy’s white paws were green. Poor DD was so upset about the bird and the fact that Daisy had escaped from the harness!

Psst - don't tell Mommy, but I really enjoyed catching that bird!

I’m happy to report that the bird was okay. We saw him a little later walking around by the fence; I hope he was able to make it to safety somewhere.

We discovered that Daisy had slipped her harness because it was just a little too loose around her body, and when she yanked backward, it slipped over her front leg shoulders and set her free. Thank goodness we weren’t on a busy main street somewhere! And we were lucky that the bird had her attention, otherwise she’d have been almost impossible to catch if she’d raced around our big yard. Plus she could have escaped in one of the areas where the soil has eroded under the fence, giving a small dog like Daisy enough clearance to army-crawl under it!

Lesson learned. We were so concerned about Daisy’s comfort in the harness that we didn’t realize we’d loosened it too much. Now it’s fitting snugly again and we tested it on her to make sure she can’t escape.

We’re still a bit jittery from the experience, though. Especially DD, who’s nursing a big bruise on her hip – but that pain is nothing compared to the painful thought of possibly losing her Daisy!

Sometimes People Surprise You…In a Good Way

DH was out of town doing a fund-raising MS bike ride this weekend, so DD and I had a Girls Weekend. We had SO much fun!

We went hither and yon – lunch out on Saturday, dinner out on Sunday; we went to an antiques auction, played a couple of our favorite games, did a little fun shopping, and went to a movie. AND we got to sleep in on Saturday!

Image via http://www.free-wallpapers-free.com

There’s still a good amount of wildlife in our area, even though there’s been more development here over the last couple of decades than I’d like to have seen. Spring is gosling time, and we have plenty of those cute little fuzzy babies toddling around with their protective parents. Fortunately, they don’t come into the residential areas, but near lakes, ponds, and – strangely enough – in roadside grassy areas, you see the little families waddling around, foraging for food.

But why, oh why, do they think the grass always look tastier on the other side of the road?!

It’s not that big of a deal on the quiet country back roads, but for some reason they also like to nest at the edge of the main roads too. And that’s where the problems come in – when they decide to cross the busy main road for dessert.

Lots of people who live in my area were originally from New York. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island and Staten Island have lost thousands upon thousands of families to our area – people who work in the City but want to live in a more countrified-suburban area. And New Yorkers are not famous for their patience….remember DeNiro in Taxi Driver? “Hey, I’m walkin’ here!” Yup – he nailed it. The deer, raccoons, ground hogs, rabbits and other poor critters lying squished at the side of the roads are a testament to that. So are the harried restaurant servers, sales clerks, and other folks who deal with the public and are always ready for battle – you should hear the stories they tell.

Gratuitous Daisy photo. LOL 😉

Well, I was so happy this weekend to see traffic backed up in both directions along the main road in town while 2 large families of geese slowly waddled their way across Main Street while people smiled and clicked their phone cameras through open car windows. Mama Goose followed by a line of cute little yellow-gray fuzzers, all followed up by Papa Goose, who squawked loudly and cast threatening looks at all the cars. It’s just too adorable.

And so my faith in humanity was restored. I think we need more “gosling moments” in the world….