“Here’s one of those wormy things!” exclaimed Grant.
“You can’t call them worms!“
“Wormy, caterpillary things.”
“Whatever!”
This morning’s count was six.
In the interest of preserving sanity, I really must limit counting to maybe twice a day and at prescribed times.
Perhaps I could issue them with minute id tags.
“Lady, we can’t be stopping for counts and photographs.”
“Making butterflies is hard work!”
Indeed it is. Being able to witness the whole metamorphosis is such a privilege.
One steps outside the front door these days into the fragrance of milkweed and the steady vibration of bees and flies and assorted creatures much caught up in the process of procreation.
Just as well they are too busy to notice me crawling around looking for my elusive buddies.
Here’s a very grand bird.
We always slow down as we pass the pond at the end of the road because you never know who might be there.
A heron extended its neck to check us out but I was gratified that it did not fly away.
A great-blue heron. I have never seen one with its neck fully extended. It was impressive!
Grant observed earlier today that our feeders have become like a busy food court.
Currently, the grackles have muscled their way in with their fledglings. It’s hard keeping track of who is who.
The adults seem to shove food into any open beak and the babies pester indiscriminately:
“Who do you belong to? “
Cow birds, Red-wings, grackles. The sparrows hardly get a look-in with their babies. Grossbeak and Towhee hardly ever feature. Catbird and Thrasher nowhere to be seen.
But we are not short of visitors.
The woodpecker can’t wait to take back sole possession of the suet feeder.
“You have a rough crowd here!” he complains.
Then there’s these guys:
“Oh Helleo!” they say, cocking an eye
If Starlings are the biker gang, I think pigeons fancy themselves the posh lot.
“I say, do move along please!”
“Out of respect for my children! Step aside.”
“But what about my babies?” asks the mild mannered Mrs Cardinal.
“Don’t worry,” say the sparrows
“We’ll see those snobs off soon.”
“I say, that’s a bit rude!”
“What what?”
“Now see he-yah!!!”
They go everywhere together, in a big flutter.Having emptied the food and water bowls , they flocked off.
Meanwhile, at the front of house
Baby or an adult sun bathing? Ignored, it soon flew off.
As soon as one meal serving is done there is demand for another. Yesterday the kits were back:
Grant heard them chittering in his window well and soon they popped up on the porch.
“Thank you for feeding my children”
While we were counting caterpillars, we heard another familiar voice as His Nibbs emerged from under a bush.
“Any chance of breakfast? And a chin rub?”
Well sure. We had not seen our pal for a while, and one always worries, you know…
…it’s what we do.
Didn’t you count the caterpillars last year as well? I had to laugh at your “minute id tags” 😁 … you should have been an inventor! Love the picture of the heron – how long is that neck! Oh … you are quite busy with the feeding of all animals (and lets not forget about your own cats … or are they on self-serve?) And good to see the visiting cat again 🌸.
And you both do it admirably, Carolyn! Fantastic photos! Thank you!
Joanna
Does food taste better when you climb in with it? I shall have to try.
It would appear so!
The big wood pigeons in our garden are ‘bullies’. They see off all the smaller birds, then fight amongst themselves until one dominant one gets its fill from the seed dish. Luckily, they make so much mess flinging the seeds about, the smaller birds can eat those in peace on the periphery.
Best wishes, Pete.