Its All About The Birds!

  Obviously, birds are meant to be my friends.  Lately, that has become more apparent than ever.  I think nothing of hand feeding the herons, egrets and pelicans but now I can add wild quail and mockingbirds to the list.  Over the past few years, I have picked up chimney swifts, catbirds, mockingbirds, cardinals, doves, wrens, woodpeckers, blue jays and owls.  Of those, only the cardinal decided to give me a good peck.  The others calmly accepted the fact that I was merely trying to help them.  The cardinal was evidently in pain after being hung up in some wire and, perhaps, I used a bit more force than necessary in freeing the bird.  That said, the newest escapade involved a juvenile eastern bluebird.  No, I did not actually hand feed nor hold the youngster but it seemed to be highly attracted to me, for some odd reason. 

  Early this morning as I was picking the figs, I heard the bluebird family making their way to the birdbath.  Each morning, I have watched as they start their day by splashing in the cool water.  It never occurred to me that I would have a "close encounter" with one of the little ones.  This morning, however, one little rascal decided to take flight before the parent birds gave their directions.  The squirt flew directly for the fig trees and, therefore, directly toward me.  Maybe the little one did not see me but it nearly landed on my hand as I was reaching up to pluck a fat fig.  Can you imagine the poor thing's thought when it realized that it was almost in my clutches (which was never my intention in the first place).  Both parent birds came fussing at their little one to "abort the mission" and retreat!  The little one tried but being a novice at this flying stuff, it simply fluttered to the ground.  There, it sat, bewildered.  Mama and Papa Bluebird came to investigate the safety of their wayward child and, then, came to investigate the person picking figs.  After flitting about the tree for a few moments, they seemed assured that I meant no harm so they gathered their brood and went to search for grasshoppers in the lawn.  Our brief encounter ended on a happy note.

 

Just watching

  These are definitely the hot, lazy days of summer here on the Bayou. Things are great during the early morning hours and then again late evening but at just about eight o'clock in the morning, whew!  It gets hot!  Most of my outdoor chores are accomplished at daybreak.  It is then that I move indoors to do the household drudgery such as cleaning.  All of this has to be done before noon, as then, even indoors starts to warm up and get uncomfortable.  So, once again, I move outdoors but not to work.  Then I do my "watching".  

  Early this afternoon, Ms. Ez and I were sitting outside trying to catch a cooling breeze.  It was far too hot for the old dog to play fetch so she lolled on the grass beside me.  Our time was spent watching a wasp crawl around on the bench beside me until that guy got a bit too brave. (No more wasp.)  Then a flash of blue caught my eye.  Ahh, somebody is smart!  A male bluebird landed on the birdbath.  Funny thing, though, instead of splashing about, the bird started calling.  Hmmm, now this might be interesting!

  Sure enough, this was Daddy Bluebird!  Not far behind was Mama and the little ones!  The parent birds were teaching their fledglings how to find water during these torrid days of late summer.  I watched the family as the three little ones played in the water under the watchful eye of the parent birds.  It seemed to me that these little birds were having a grand time splashing in the water.  It brought back memories of how my siblings and I would go swimming in the Bay back when we were kids. Our chores would be done in the early morning hours and then we would run down the road to my grandparents' house.  Their house was just next door to where the Little Bayou House sits now.  (My brother lives there now!)  We would jump right off the pier and frolic about for an hour before Grandmother would call for us to come up the hill. She would give each of us a cookie and send us back home again to another round of chores.  Those little bluebirds were having their cooling swim before heading back bug-hunting.    

  After the birds left the bath, I wandered into the garden to find a passel of bluebirds in among the tomatoes.  The old tomato worms had better watch out, those hungry birdies will find them!  It did not seem to bother the birds one bit that I had the sprinkler going in the garden. They were darting in and out of the plants all the while chirping to one another! Great fun on a lazy, hazy day of summer!

New Beginnings

March 1st..a day that brought a new beginning into the family. A tiny baby boy was born to my niece..welcome to the world, Jadiel. I hope your life is filled with all the wonderful things that you deserve..and I pray that you receive nothing but kindness, love and happiness for all the days of your life! This little bundle of joy just did allow me to finish his crocheted afghan! I have been working on it here and there as I found time over the past month. I thought since his arrival was not due until mid-March, I would surely have plenty of time! Oh...never go by due dates...babies have a way of coming when they want and not when they are expected! This little fellow decided not to wait another minute! He weighed in at five pounds and thirteen ounces and was only eighteen inches long. Just a little peanut! I did finish his baby blanket in time though and have it all neatly wrapped and ready.

Another new beginning was discovered in the garden this morning. If you remember I had talked about taking cuttings of the Confederate Rose to root for new plants. I was excited to see some tiny new leaves popping out on the cut branches and when I checked the cut ends..sure enough there were roots! It appears that most of the cuttings are rooting although several were quite fully rooted and needing to be set into the ground. It looks like I will be digging holes tomorrow! Baby plants need to be tucked into a bed of nice warm soil to be able to grow!

Also..in the hotbed, the tomatoes are all showing their little green leaves! I am excited but then almost a tad bit trepidatious! I knew that I had planted a lot of seeds but last year hardly any of the seeds sprouted. Well, this year it seems that every seed that hit the ground is on its way to becoming a healthy tomato plant! So....I guess instead of thirty plants, this year I might be planting closer to two hundred plants! Perhaps someone in the neighborhood could use a few plants..I hope........

One other bit of news of life beginnings..the bluebirds were checking out the neighborhood for nesting sites today. A pair stopped by the vacant home that hangs in the Black Gum Tree by my front door. It seems awfully early in the year for them to be home shopping but who am I to question their business??? My son just recently cleaned out the old nest and examined the durability of the house. He assured me that it should be good for at least one more nesting, but just to make mom feel better, he pounded in a few more nails! Now at least I know the old nursery rhyme about the cradle tumbling out of the tree won't happen with my bluebirds!

Baby Blues and wonder dogs

Mama BlueBird chose the birdhouse closest to our front door as her new home and promptly set to work. For the past several weeks, I have patiently watched the five lovely blue eggs that she laid in the nest. Also, for the past several weeks, Ezzy, our mutt has guarded this tiny abode against all sorts of critters. Ezzy loves to chase anything that will run from her but she absolutely loves birds. (Hehe, maybe she is a "bird" dog!) This morning, a squirrel found the nest and thought of raiding it. Obviously, bird eggs are on a squirrel's menu. Mama Bird tried her best to fend off the intruder but to no avail. This was at 5AM, Ezzy still being in the house had not yet set up guard in her usual spot beneath the birdhouse. My morning coffee was interrupted by a fierce barking at the front door..company at 5AM?..a burglar fumbling with the lock?..what crazy ideas were going through my still sleepy brain! Quietly, I slipped to the door, listened and then realized what was bothering Ezzy to the point of hysterics. I flung open the door and she bolted nearly ramming headlong into the screen door. The squirrel panicked and simply froze on the roof of the birdhouse. Mama Bird had now summoned the entire bird population of South Mississippi to join in the defense of her home. The screeching and squawking of what seemed like hundreds of birds filled the early morning air. I, being the totally sane person that I am, ran out of the house waving my arms above my head yelling "Shoo! shoo!" What a ruckus we all created! The squirrel, who by this time has regained his senses, scampered to the top of the tree and dove. Dove to a nearby fence post! He did not make it. Instead, he plummeted to the ground and crashed into my cute, ceramic toad house. Dazed, he slipped through the fence only to encounter Ezzy! Now she thought this was the most fun she has had in ages, the squirrel thought he was done for, the birds thought their chorus successfully vanquished the demon and I thought.."I am glad that nobody saw me!" After a great chase, Ezzy went back on watch from her spot beneath the nest just waiting for another exciting race. I headed back to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee. Good ole Ezzy!

Today was the big day..as of last count there are four naked babies in the nest! Honestly, they are so ugly that they are cute! But then, maybe they are just cute because they are babies. I know that they will grow rapidly into the beautiful blue birds that I love. I will definitely be putting out more bluebird houses. The eastern bluebird eats a large number of insects every day so they are very useful birds to have in the garden. I would like to build at least 10 more houses to place in and around the peach garden. Hopefully, I can encourage more of them to make my garden their home.

After the squirrel incident, I went out to pick the first of the ripe tomatoes. I am not sure why we only have cherry tomatoes this year since the seed packets said "plum" tomatoes. The crop looks good if I can keep the stinkbugs and worms away. Early this week, the stinkbugs were taking over the garden so I mixed a spritz bottle full of garlic water and doused the tomato plants.The bugs have moved to the beans and

my tomatoes smell garlicky! I picked almost two gallons of the small tomatoes. The garden also yielded eight fat bell peppers, a lovely handful of chives and some garlic cloves. All of these destined to become a batch of tomato sauce! It was not long before the large pot was bubbling happily with yummy red sauce. Four and a half quarts of tomato sauce were added to the shelf! All in all, another good day on the Bayou.