Predawn Encounter!

   Being up before dawn gives one an entirely different view of the world.  At that time, the mind is not yet cluttered by the day's events and the brain can decipher things far more clearly.  Distractions of everyday life can often get in the way of what is really happening right beneath our noses.  I see things.  I hear things.  My brain absorbs things.  It is no wonder that this is a favorite time of day for me.  

  I was on the pier before dawn to watch the sunrise.  The show did not disappoint as a kaleidoscope of hues lit up the sky.  Since the weather forecast called for dense clouds, I was sure the sun would catch hold of each and every one.  It was spectacular!  Then, a real treat was in store for me as I meandered back up the board path to the Little Bayou House.  A soft chirp let me know that one of my bird friends was awake and aware that I was out and about.  On a dead branch of the avocado tree, a lone blue jay stared down at me.  It softly chirped again and looked down at the bench where I usually put seeds for my friends.  The bench was empty.  Obviously, the jay was letting me know that it was hungry!  I had to remedy that situation right quick.  With a cup of seeds in hand, I was surprised to see my friend still on the branch waiting for breakfast.  Carefully, I sprinkled the seeds on the board seat and stood back to converse with bird.  "There you go, my friend."  "Chirp" "Yes, I know you are hungry but it is still pretty dark."  "Chirp"  "Alrighty, then!  Have at it!"  "Chirp"  Yep, it almost seemed as if the bird was answering me.  I stepped back about two feet and the jay fluttered down to the bench, grabbed a seed and flew back to its perch.  Ahh, life is good.

  Being still dark, I headed inside to make a mug of coffee and, then, joined my friend in the garden.  There, in the stillness of the early morn, we shared a bit of satisfaction along with our repast...my coffee...the bird's sunflower seeds.  We were both happy campers.  Life is good.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Give

   With all of the property to our west being totally clear-cut, it leaves very little space for the animals that were dwelling there.  All of the dens and nests (some already containing little ones) have been destroyed and all any "slow moving" critters perished under the huge equipment.  Those that were able to escape have nowhere else to go except here.  It saddens me that greed can overtake commonsense.  Folks, we have to leave some green space for the critters of this world.  It is not our place to obliterate all of nature.

  That said, I am overrun with critters now.  They are literally starving and have taken to raiding the fruit trees and gardens.  If I learned one thing from Pop, it is important to share what foodstuffs you have so I guess that is what is happening.  It used to irk me that the squirrels would raid the birdseed that I put out each morning.  Sometimes up to ten squirrels would be squabbling over the sunflower seeds which left little for my bird friends.  I tried shooing the fluffy tailed rodents.  I tried fancy squirrel baffles.  I tried hot sauce laced birdseed.  Nothing worked...so, I embraced the little fluff-butts and ceded to their demands.  

  This afternoon, one squirrel was quite adamant about getting its belly full at my expense.  Even though I was working in the flower gardens just a few feet away, this squirrel kept coming to steal seeds.  It would grab a sunflower seed and hop up on the post to eat it.  Then, down to the seed again only to hop back up on the post.  The critter was too cute so I decided to help it out a bit.  A whole handful of seeds was placed on the post.  As soon as I started weeding again, the squirrel bounced back grabbed a seed and hopped to its post.  Imagine its surprise when it found about a cup of seeds laid out for it!  That squirrel hit the jackpot!

  If the friendly squirrel comes back again in the morning, I shall repeat the process.  Perhaps, if I feed it enough here, it will leave the tomatoes alone.  If not, I shall just have one fat squirrel on my hands!  

The "Bird Whisperer"!

   It might be my imagination but it appears that the doves are getting tame.  I admit that I feed the birds to keep them around the place since I love to watch them but, my goodness, they are now getting underfoot!  Son was the first to notice when he almost stepped on a dove.  The bird just would not move out of the path!  Son sidestepped around the dove and went on about his business.  We laughed about the incident.  Son has always been one that can easily befriend wild animals so nothing more was thought about it.  Then...today.

  This morning, I was in the yard raking the oak leaves that are raining down upon us from the many live oak trees.  Earlier, birdseed had been put under the garden bench (for the songbirds' protection from the hawk) and dozens of assorted birds were filling their bellies.  Whenever I would get too near their feeding spot, all the birds would fly to the limbs of nearby trees to wait until all was clear again.  Well, all but the doves.  They stayed put.  Sweet!  I am the bird whisperer!

  

  My chores moved me to the veggie plot to do a bit of weeding.  It was there in the midst of the baby carrots that a juvenile dove decided to become even more friendly.  The bird walked (yes, walked) right up to me.  With an outstretched hand, friendship was offered...and accepted.  The dove hopped onto my hand!  What?  There I sat in the midst of the carrots with a dove on my hand!  I dared not move as to not frighten the bird.  We sat.  I marveled.  

  After a few moments, the dove settled down into the soft dirt and watched me pull weeds.  Wow.  Just wow.  I felt so honored.  Hopefully tomorrow, my bird friend will be out again but, also hopefully, the hawk will not.  Take care, Little Friend!

Mad Squirrels!

  Today found me working with concrete.  The nigh on sixty feet of drainage and the little holding pond were not doing their job so guess who tackled the job of concreting the whole nine yards?  Yep, me.  Tonight, I am sore.  My hands hurt.  My back hurts.  My wrist hurts.  I hurt.  But, the job is done!  

  While literally sitting in the drainage ditch pulling concrete, I was just feet from where I usually feed the birds.  The birds did not seem to mind and, quite often, I had to shoo the doves out of my way.  Birds are curious creatures but I did not want them getting in the way.  The squirrels, on the other hand, were mad.  They were just plain, ole mad!  I was too close to the birdseed for them to feel comfortable.

  One of the squirrels headed up in the pine tree and barked at me.  He was irritable and hungry.  I promise, I think he even threw a pine cone at me since suddenly one plopped down in the concrete.  Another squirrel was adventurous and came near enough to sit on the board path.  There, it held its little paw across its tummy as if to say "I am starving here, Lady!"  All of the others simply stayed far, far away.  They were having no part of sharing a meal with me being so close.  Silly squirrels.  Achy body! Owww!  I hurt!

Happy Eating, Mama Squirrel!

   Today, I watched as a very pregnant gray squirrel ate from the seeds that I put out for the birds.  Two thoughts went through my head.  The first was more about a ridiculous statement from the owner of the feed store where Mark bought the sunflower seeds.  The lady told him that "Squirrels won't eat shelled sunflower seeds!"   Either she is delusional or has weird squirrels.  I don't know about her squirrels but Bayou Squirrels eat just about anything they can find and shelled sunflower seeds makes them happier than a mouse in a cheese factory.  In fact, the squirrel left behind the table scraps of fruit and nuts and went straight for the sunflower seeds.  Methinks the feed store owner just wanted to make a sale for the more expensive type of seeds.

  Second thought was geared to the squirrel herself.  Since squirrels usually have their first litter of the season in February or March, this one was close to delivering.  My heart went out to the poor little lady.  Since we are in the midst of some pretty winter-like weather, she has to be fretful about her little ones being born in the midst of an ice storm.  While the female squirrel can make a pretty snug nest, it does leak at times.  Water gets between the twigs and freezes making the whole thing like one big ice cube!  Mama Squirrel will will often go days without eating or leaving the nest just to protect her babes.  The whole load of rearing the young falls upon her.  Nest-building, birthing, feeding and protecting, the mother squirrel does everything.  All the while, the jerk of a male does nothing but go around eating up her stashed food supply and will actually kill the young of competitor males.  Sad to say, I always cheer for the red-tailed hawk when it decides to go after a male squirrel.  Today, my heart went out to Little Mama so I literally made the offer for her to eat as much as she wanted and I would continue to put out more seeds for her.  

"Pride Goes Before The Fall"

   Early this afternoon as I was gathering an armload of firewood for the woodbin, I noticed that three mourning doves were eating birdseed.  I had strewn extra portions these past few days to help the birds through the wintry weather.  They seemed appreciative of the black oil sunflower seeds and mixed birdseed that Mark picked up at the feed store this morning.  Several times, I heard the doves cooing at each other all-the-while pacing under the flower benches.  The goofy doves are prime targets for the hawk so it made me happy that they were a bit protected.

  Obviously, one of the trio was a female and the other two were males.  One male in particular was "showing off" for the benefit of the female's attention.  His wooing went rather unnoticed as the little female just kept on eating.  The amorous male kept trying to garner her attention but the rival suitor was just as adamant.  Little Miss Female ignored them both.  Soon, instead of trying to attract the female, the males spent their time trying to intimidate each other.  The younger of the two was putting on quite the show of intimidation.  He was literally strutting his stuff!  The older bird was more subtle and more confidant.  He let the young whippersnapper carry on for a bit then, suddenly, he had enough of the shenanigans.  Needless to say the more mature bird won the heart of his ladylove.  The youngster's pride and haughtiness got the best of him.

  It is a bit early for the birds to think of nesting.  It seems to me that the "ice age" we are experiencing this week would be enough to put a stop to this idea but obviously not.  Hopefully, Mama Dove will nest in a sheltered spot.  The cold rain and sleet will not be a happy experience for her.

My Guy!

   Whenever I walk out of the french doors, I am immediately accosted by at least a dozen birds.  These are wild songbirds of several sort that come to eat at the "Under Bench Diner".  I have taken to scattering birdseed down under the flower benches to protect the small birds from the marauding hawk who is ever present when the birds dine.  It sorrowed me to know that I was fattening the birds for the hawk's dining pleasure so all of the cutesy birdfeeders were taken down and stored.  Perhaps if the hawk goes elsewhere, the feeders can be used again but, for now, the birds seem perfectly happy to peck off the ground.  Cardinals, chickadees, titmice, sparrows, jays, doves...you name it, they usually come.

  This morning, one of the birds that seems to be a leader came first.  The male cardinal hopped up on a log as soon as I opened the door.  I was empty-handed, however, and that was not to his liking.  The bird scolded me!  Finding this humorous, I sat down on the steps to see what he was going to do next.  This confused the cardinal causing him to stare at me in the most comical ways!  Oh, how I love this little guy!

  Needless to say, the birdseed was soon strewn on the ground and my friends came to breakfast.  They were happy.  My little, red cardinal was happy.  I was happy.  Life is good.

The "Down Under" Birds

   I love feeding the songbirds that are fulltime residents or are migrating visitors to the Bayou.  I consider the birds among my friends so  why wouldn't I share a meal with them?  You can imagine how it wounded me to see that I was fattening them up for the small hawk that is also a resident here.  The Cooper's Hawk found that the birds were easy pickings from the feeders as it sat in the nearby hickory tree.  After finding the telltale feathers of a recent kill, I decided to stop putting seeds in the feeders.  I just could not...would not enable a hawk to have easy access by my doings.  If the hawk caught a bird anywhere else, so be it but I would not make them "sitting ducks", so to speak.  The songbirds did not understand this sudden lack of foodstuffs and often scolded me if I was nearby.  It was a quandary.  Do I neglect the songbirds?  Do I allow the hawk to feed?  Puzzlements.

  Well, things always have a way of working out for the best.  The constant scolding from the cardinals, chickadees and titmice finally convinced me to buy more birdseed.  To semi-protect the little birds I had to come up with a new plan.  I had to outsmart the hawk or, at least, make it more difficult for the predator to feast upon the songbirds.  Now, the birds have gone "down under".  No, I did not send them to Australia.  I simply put the seed under the flower benches next to Puddle Pond.   The smaller birds eat in peace and drink safely from the Pebble Creek under the cover of overhanging plants.  In fact, the hawk seems to have gotten the idea that it would be simpler to look elsewhere for prey.  It has not been visiting as often as it had in the past.  Maybe the birds are tad safer now.

Just a Little Miffed!

  This morning as I was out walking, I could hear quite the racket going on back by the front door.  Begrudgingly, I headed back that way to investigate noise since I had left the door unlocked.  Not many folks are coming to the Bayou but it was better for me to see who was knocking.  So, I shortened my hike time and walked up behind the greenhouse.  From here, there is a full view of the front door and no one was there.  What I heard was a battle between five squirrels!  The rascals had raided the birdseed but were not willing to share.  The greedy, little things had started squabbling among themselves and the fuss took itself into the arbor that surrounds the french doors.  The "knocking" was literally their hard heads boinking on the glass window panes as they fought.  My goodness!  They did not even notice that I was in their midst for a few moments.  I clapped my hand loudly and all five scampered away...three up the oak tree, one up the black gum tree and one insisted on racing all the way down the hill to the pier.  (Silly squirrel)  Well, that job was done!  Now back to my hike.  

  The path led me back down behind the greenhouse but under that black gum tree.  The once terrified squirrel was now feeling rather feisty as it was sitting high up in the safety of the tree.  That rascal started barking at me!  He obviously did not appreciate having his bar brawl broken up.  Oh, what am I going to do with these tree-climbing, birdseed-thieving, glorified rats!  I can only imagine the damage they are going to do to the garden.

 

Another Tiny Visitor

  Our rain continues which is normal February weather down here in the Deep South.  Fog, warm, rain then a short cold spell and back to fog again seems to be the routine.  This year, however, those cold spells seem to forgot to come.  As a rule, it is warm enough to be called spring but we are all holding out on the thought that there will be one more "freeze" before the gardens are planted.  Critters, on the other hand, have already declared that spring is here and that love is in the air.  Nesting has begun.  

  Braving the drizzly rain this morning, I put more birdseed out on the tray on the lawn table.  I still have no feeders but the birds do not seem to mind.  As long as they are getting free food, they are happy.  As I stood just a few feet away from the table, a pair of chickadees popped in for breakfast. These tiny birds are often found flocking with their buddies the titmice and sure enough, I could hear them in the nearby cedar tree.  The little chickadees are more vocal about demanding seed if I dare forget to fill the feeders but the titmice express their elation when I do.  

  Here, we have the Carolina Chickadee which closely resembles the Black-capped Chickadee.  Really, the only visible difference is the Black-capped Chickadee has deeper grey on its back and more pronounced white wing edgings.  Our little Carolina Chickadee has greyish wing edgings.  The songs are different between the two birds which helps somewhat but the biggest factor in knowing what type Chickadee is found here is the range maps.  Black-caps do not range this far south and Carolina Chickadees do not range far north.  Their ranges do overlap a tiny bit and the birds are not overly concerned.  They get along fine and will often hybridize.

  Chickadees of all types are very approachable birds.  If you have enough patience and the gnats are not too bad (our bane), these tiny birds will often land on your hand to feed.  Put a bit of seed in your hand, sit still and wait.  Soon the little ones will come to visit!  

  Chickadees are cavity dwellers just like the titmice.  They will, however, create their own holes in rotted wood if no empty holes are available.  The male and female bond and stay together for many years. During courtship, the male will bring food to the female.  Both build the nest and both share parenting responsibilities.  Folks, fill the feeders and watch for these sweet birds.  They are perhaps the most adorable birds to visit and will be happy to visit a spell with you.  

Where the is a will, there is a way!

Squirrel-proof bird feeders ...HA!.. there is no such thing! At least not for the squirrels that live here. I have been fussing about the squirrels eating all of the birdseed and not leaving a bit for my poor hungry avian friends. Ezzy, the dog, has been confined to inside the house since she has developed a nasty rash on her tummy and is not feeling up to par. Her medicines make her drowsy and a bit clumsy so I thought she should just stay inside to recuperate. Her squirrel chasing has been temporarily sidelined. My husband brought home a beautiful feeder that was supposed to be designed to keep the squirrels from stealing the feed. The weight of the squirrel would cause a cage to slide down covering the feeding slots. This worked for the first few days and I was thrilled! How nice to look outside while painting the windows..(I finally finished that job today!)..and see birds..not squirrels..on the feeders. I was elated! Then this morning..horrors! There were squirrels everywhere! On the ground, on the poles and on the feeder! On my squirrel-proof feeder..Oh, NO!! NO!! At first, I was a bit upset..then I started to see the humor in this whole scenario! Here I thought I was outwitting the little varmints and they outwitted me! I had made the mistake of hanging the feeder on a piece of driftwood that my son put up as a post for me. This gave the squirrels the perfect perch to reach the feeder. Up one would climb and after peering at our front door for a few minutes to make sure the big, bad squirrel chaser was not there, he would make his move. While holding on with his back feet, he would literally be suspended from the tree limb and cling to the feeder with his front feet. No weight on the feeder meant the feeding slots stayed open and he could eat! This is one smart squirrel! But..I am not sure that the others were not smarter! On the ground beneath the feeder, were several others. They were snatching up all the seeds that their more adventurous brother would drop from the feeder. I could not help but sit and watch their antics for a while before allowing Ez the joy of bursting through the door to clear the yard. Not that she ever catches one but she does enjoy chasing them. Now, Ms Ezzy is not the brightest crayon in the box either. She will get so excited when she sees a squirrel that she nearly breaks down the door to get at it. Not bad..but when you consider that she barrels out of the door and runs to the same tree each time..then you can understand what I am saying. The squirrels used to run to this hickory tree each time but now they scatter..running in all directions. Ez runs to the hickory tree and sits..staring up at the branches all the while wondering where the squirrel went. The little rascals sneak back to the feeder and munch away. Ez will sit for hours staring at the tree..the squirrels get their fill and my feeders are depleted. I will be glad when the rash heals and the dog can stay out during the day. At least with her sleeping under the feeder, the squirrels will stay in their feeding tray and off the birds' feeder!