Rocky eating his breakfast

Birds in my Backyard

Summer is Leaving

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is blooming. There will be Fall Trails to wander down and sweet sheep faces will greet us at the South Carolina State Fair.

Morning Fledglings

This morning I took a cup of hot tea out on the deck to sit awhile in the nice breeze and noticed not a wildbird or squirrel was moving about. My thots were there must be a Hawk in the area.

Four Hummingbirds were sparring over the feeder on the kitchen window. Their teenie poops land on the squirrel house sitting on the deck railing below the feeder. Interesting...never seen that before!

From the trees on the next street over I could hear two baby Hawks screaming and hiss-growling to be fed. It was uncomfortable to hear them sound so distressed. After awhile their cries started moving from tree to tree when here they came gliding silently right above me over the house.

One landed in a tall pine tree in the backyard neighbors yard. He was a huge fluffy adult-size juvenile with little control over his floppy wings. He sat there and continued to scream. His nestmate answered each time and came soaring over the house and landed on top of the Red-headed Woodpecker's tree. A few years ago the wind blew the top out of the tree and it gave the young hawk a nice flat ledge to sit and rest on. The Red-headed Woodpeckers sat in nearby trees bobbing their heads and growling. They have babies in a hole in that tree.

Both young hawks continued to scream and hiss-growl. Not in unison, but back and forth, maybe a way to keep track of one another. I understand the parents continue to feed them for many more weeks after they fledge, but they never appeared.

The young Hawks made their way clumsily from tree to tree and finally soared soundlessly away.

My Very Orange Day

This actually happened to me today and I sent this Email to my neighbor. Her husband Floyd was mowing and when he's finished he puts the mower in the barn.

Libby, You won't guess what I did.

After I visited with you I came home & dabbled on the computer for awhile and decided I needed to shut it off and do something to move around. So I decided to get the trash together and take it out to the dumpster.

Over the weekend I cleaned out one of the lower cupboards & found a 3# can of Fiber Therapy. It's Wal-mart's store brand for Metamusil. I had bought orange flavor..it was powder. It was FULL. It had sat in that cupboard for several years, so I had set it by the trashcan to be thrown out.

When I was getting the trash together I had a brilliant idea. Dump the powder down the sink, because it would make the trash bag heavy, right? then I ran the trash out to the dumpster & waved Hi to you.

When I came back inside I ran alot of water in that kitchen sink & tried to run the disposal. Nothing. That Fiber Therapy had set up and wasn't going anywhere. It had become a 3# ORANGE BLOB.

I had to scoop that slimy clumpy stuff...three pounds worth...and all that orange water out of that sink & disposal and into my bucket. My hands turned orange. I kept scooping forever...it was like scooping out a slimy lumpy Halloween Pumpkin. I got the giggles like we got in church when we were girls and the adults were frowning. My hands are orange and I have a Dentist appointment at 10:15 in the morning. This can't be happening. The kitchen smells...orange.

I now have a five gallon bucket FULL of orange fibertherapy & water sitting in the kitchen sink. I HAVE to get rid of it before Larry wakes up for the midnight shift.

I am waiting till almost dark to run out in the backyard and dump it. Floyd is back there mowing. I'm waiting for the barndoors to shut. Whew. Ok, I start downstairs to do the deed and FALL on my BUTT and SLIDE down the stairs. It happened in a Flash reminding me of a Bobsled. I thot of you. I was so stunned. I was carrying a half empty cup of celestial seasoning lukewarm tea & it went everywhere & on me. I am ok. Just some rugburn on the left little foot. I was amazed at how it knocked me senseless...i sat there for awhile & finally got up. It is almost dark out, I gotta hurry.

Oh no, the phone rings. It is my brother calling to say he just got a call & is going to be a great-grandpa. We hang up. Now it is REALLY dark outside. As I head to the backdoor with the five gallon bucketfull of orange my thots were...oh please don't let the handle break. Ok, now I'm outside & hurrah...the barndoors are shut.

I sneak around by the big shed and dump the bucket & there on the ground is a five gallon-size lump...on the ground. I'm Horrified. Good Grief. So I run for the garden hose, but now my thots are...Oh, where is that Mr. Hiss the Gray Rat Snake Constrictor who is nocturnal and hunts at night? I first saw him by the deck & that is where the water faucet handle is. I got the water on & hosed that LUMP for awhile, but it's not going anywhere. If you see squirrels or birds tomorrow with orange faces you will know a nice morning snack greeted them to the new day.
P.S. I will sneak out early in the morning & maneuver it into a bag.

Whew. I'm getting too old for this. -Lynn

American Grey Squirrels

Summer has been busy for the squirrels. During a storm the babies nest blew out of their tree & I found it in the front yard. I carried it around back & laid it on the deck by their tree. It was fun to watch them carry it all back up the tree. Some of the nest material was the coco mat lineing of my flower planter. I peeked inside & they had pinecones stored in there.

The two babies continue to look for peanut butter sandwiches each day and stretch out on their bellies like a dog to nap on the deck railing. A favorite of theirs is apples. We enjoy it when they look in the kitchen window to let us know we are slow with our offerings. On a cool morning I took my coffee out on the deck. Bits of peanut butter sandwich were landing around me.

A reminder that the squirrel kids had taken their breakfast up the tree.

The tailess squirrel continues to forage on the ground around the birdfeeders. He can still be mistaken for a Guinea Pig and it is always fun to spot him.

The squirrelboys are starting their mournful Yowling to attract squirrelgirls & will do a jitterbug in front of one that comes near. Their jitterbug looks like they stepped into a pile of ants & they have the heebejeebies. It's comical to watch.

There are a good number of their Summer Leaf Nests high in the trees where they sleep in the summer. Sitting out in the early morning I have enjoyed watching them leave their nest, stretch & yarn and begin jumping from tree to tree to find breakfast. They throw themselves into the air and when you think they surely have missed they grab the tiniest branch & rescue themselves at the last second.

One summer I was sitting in the yard reading. Loui the cat was under my chair napping. Squirrels were running through the treetops, tree to tree, and one missed. He came straight down & landed at my feet. I was shocked. Loui was electrified and pounced, but the little guy got away. Squirrels are fast.

Nest

On Easter Sunday The Rabbit was nibbling grass on the front lawn.

Weeks later a rabbit burrow appeared on a bank near the garden. It's next to a small brush pile of twiggy branches. In this pile the wild mother rabbit dug a hole and lined it with her fur.

Early one morning a tiny rabbit was hopping around in the branches and later in the morning he was tucked back into his nest for a nap. Other mornings found him in the burrow with fur blanketed over the opening. We wonder if there are Nestmates.

Now just a few weeks later two junior size rabbits and their mother were seen in the backyard and garden area playing chase, leaping, standing tall to reach flowers on the shrubs and nibbling new grass followed by tender-to-watch washing of ears and face.

September Sunrise

Baby Nibbles and his Mother our "Wild Rabbit Visitors" continue to come together at Sunrise to nibble grass and forage in the Birdseed under the Feeders. They have enjoyed the Red Sage & Black Eyed Susan leaves and in exchange produce small piles of brown rabbit droppings for the garden.

Baby has grown quite large now and bursts into sprints & leaps around Mom when she's feeding.

They have become somewhat tame and move to a comfortable distance and continue feeding when the flowers and birdbaths need a drink. A loud noise or the Warning Call of the Blue Jay will send them dashing for cover.

Wondering if they are the owners of the Den dug into the Compost Pile by the Garden.

Nibbles

A very large wild rabbit has been magically appearing on our lawn for the past year.
Living in a housing development, we welcome the squirrels and birds that come, but a wild rabbit is a treat and especially welcome. It wasn't unusual to hear someone say. . .
"Hey, did you see the big rabbit?"

This summer the "big rabbit" left us a sweet gift. Out back in the flower garden with the white picket fence is Nibbles, a tiny brown rabbit. He looks like a kitten with a tiny white powder puff following behind. One early morning sighting found him creeping out from under the big shed, stretching each back leg and yawning. Then he stood up and washed his face and each ear.

The young squirrels are curious about him and get close for a sniff and once over, but seem to be disinterested and go back to foraging for birdseed. He ignores them and nibbles away at a long blade of grass. His high speed sprints and leaps on his short baby legs are comical to watch.
He can be sitting in a spot and in a flashing split second disappear from view or he practices the "freeze" and sits there staring with not a whisker moving.

Sunrise trips to the backyard to fill birdbaths are now rewarded with sweet "Nibbles" sightings.

Baby Robins

Two fluffy baby Robins
with bright orange beaks
sat on the deck railing birdbath
this morning.

One was dipping
to get a drink
and his nestmate
was drying out
in the golden morning sun
after a nice bath.

Brown Rabbit

Yesterday at Sunset a large brown Rabbit
was poised standing on his hind feet
next to the garden's birdbath.
He investigated a sprouting onion
on the brush pile and hopped
around the perennials in the
garden, stopping occasionally
and standing tall and alert.

This evening we will put some
Alfalfa from the pet shop out
for him. Sweet.

Newly Hatched

I was just turning on the faucet to put water in the birdbath
and something dropped to the ground.

It looks like a newly hatched
Female Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

It was black and sky blue
with dots of orange and gold
around the edes of its wings.

It was crumpled and soft like a newly
unfurled leaf and crawled onto my hand.

I hurried around to the Lithodora Groundcover
just recently planted. It has blue flowers.

It crawled across the plant and up onto
some pine straw hanging off the railroad tie
above. It hung there drying out.
When I returned later it had flown away.

Balogny?

Yesterday I noticed that there wasn't much bird or squirrel traffic at the feeder. This morning as I was getting gardening gloves out of the big shed i heard a loud buck-buck-buck-buck noise come from our largest pine tree. It kind of sounded like a chicken.

Up high on a branch was a Hawk. I remembered recently finding a clump of bird feathers near the birdfeeder and another day the young squirrel had shown up missing his tail. Have I created a Smorgasbord for the Birds of Prey?

Bird's and Bloom's Magazine says not to worry,,,Hawks have to eat too. OK, I'll just have to quit naming my favorite songbirds, so when they come up missing I won't be so crushed. But what about Greenbean, Dove, Thrasher, King, and Rocky?

Maybe if I hung Balogna from the tree,,,

Baby Squirrel's Tale

As I waited this morning for the first cup of coffee I spent some time looking out the kitchen window to see which birds were first to the backyard feeder.

Just outside this window a large pine tree stands. It is home to Rocky the Gray Squirrel and her two babies. It's fun to watch them come down the tree stretching and yawning to find breakfast peanuts and seeds left for them. If the peanuts and seeds are late arriving they stand up tall and stare at the window. Occasionally they'll come right up to the window and look in.

This morning found them parading down the tree and my head began spinning,,,something amiss. They stretched and yawned as usual, but were in the company of a third baby and it's missing it's TAIL! Not even a stump left. He looks rather like a Guinea Pig.

Throughout the day I watched for him in the yard and he seems to not be bothered by his loss. I would love to know his "Tale of The Lost Tail."

Note: A week has gone by now and today the young tailess squirrel
was searching in the grass below the birdfeeders for seeds. He seems fine.

"Winter Honeysuckle"

On our latest Trek to Riverbanks Botanical Garden we found "Kiss-Me-At-The-Garden-Gate" and "Sweet Breath of Spring" sitting among the plants that were for sale. These are two names for the winter-blooming shrub "Winter Honeysuckle" that supplies nectar for Hummingbirds arriving early in the Carolinas. We bought one and proudly brought it home.

It has a stiff form and jiggles in the wind. The flowers are white and frilly with bright yellow anthers arching out from inside. They smell like Lemons and their fragrance drifts on the breeze. The early spring bees have come to do their pollen dance on it.

During February as I sat on the deck, "Greenbean" the Hummingbird zoomed around me and then sat on a Crepe Myrtle branch above watching me. I quickly hung out a nectar feeder, but the baby squirrels played a game of tip it and run below to lick the nectar off the deck railing and finally they just chewed it apart, so I threw it away. When "Greenbean" returns, Winter Honeysuckle will be waiting for him on the deck railing outside the kitchen window. I can't wait.

A Verse written by Joyce Hemsley of Sunderland, England:

"The Seasons have just drifted by,
many moons have graced the sky.

Whilst Winter's Honeysuckle bloom
has filled the air with sweet perfume."

Puzzle

Four-thirty in the afternoon.
The Neighborhood Rooser is crowing.

Acrobats of Dusk and Dawn

I wandered outside to sit and watch the Moon at 6:30 am. Birds are sleeping.

Suddenly a flash like when you catch a glimpse of your eyelashes under certain light caught my attention.

What was that? There, quite near my face.

This is breathtaking,,,it's a bat.

The yard is full of tall pine trees and the bats twirl and spin around and around. Their wings make no noise. They are catching insects.

I enjoy stealing out to the deck at dusk to watch their acrobatics.
Here they are at dawn.

Song of Solomon for Gardeners & Birders

"For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds
is come,
and the voice of the turtle
is heard in our land"

Five Squirrels?

There have been four Squirrels combing the grass for weeks underneath the hanging Bird Feeder in the backyard.

Above them the Carolina Wrens have been shelling seeds and singing a happy spring yodel song. One a distance away answers. it sounds like an echo. When the Squirrels get too lively the wrens chatter and hiss.

Just now watching from the Kitchen Window, i counted two wrens and FIVE squirrels. The new small one has a hairless tail. I smell a Rat. Four squirrels begin running around in circles, ricocheting off trees. The rat runs up a tall pine tree, then walks slowly right down it defying gravity. It disappeared thru the Red Tips and over to the neighbors.

Note: I bought some traps, but only got the courage to set one once. The rats disappeared. My neighbor must have been braver.

Oh Rats

Have those Iowa Rid-a-Rats #1 and #2 found their way to the Carolinas? Rocky the Squirrel has enjoyed a piepan of birdseed this winter with the company of Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice, Snowbirds and Chicadees and one Dove named "Dove".

Tuesday morning found two big Rats grazing beside Rocky along with three additional Squirrels. Oh Rats. Rocky lost her most prized possesion, her piepan of seed. I can see her now sitting next to its spot on the deck railing shaking her tail and looking toward the kitchen window. She loved it so, but it had to go.

A Suet feeder hangs from the wire that's strung between the big shed and a pine tree. Today a very exotic looking gold dome-shaped bird feeder was added next to it. A circular perch hangs below the port holes that have a little roof to keep the rain away. It's very light weight. nice.

Holy Cow, a look out the window to see which bird found it first finds China the neighbors tiny Red Dog laying under it. Ha! Who would of guessed,,a Chinabird.