Only One Task On Her Mind

   We, as humans, oftentimes find it difficult to stay focused on our task at hand.  Admittedly, I do.  Son laughs a bit when we will be working on a project and I spy something interesting.  His comment is only "Oh, look a bunny!"  It does not even have to be a rabbit that distracted me!  It can be a butterfly, a snake, a frog, a glass of lemonade, a funky shaped cloud....anything will cause me to lose interest in a chore and set me off in a different direction.  Let me clarify that this is not something that has to do with age.  This has been a lifelong thing with me.  So, one can easily see how I came to find the box turtle this morning.  I simply got distracted from the task at hand (also known as throwing scraps in the compost bin.)  Anyway, I did, indeed, find a turtle and did, indeed, have to go greet said turtle.  It is just my way.

  Actually, my visit with the box turtle was quite interesting.  A female turtle had ambled out of the marsh and was still rather covered with mud.  She trudged up the hillside just a wee bit, stopped then peered in every direction.  I greeted her.  She ignored me.  Hmmmph!  That is some way to treat your neighbor!  I plopped myself down on a nearby log and watched her.  Just as I suspected, the turtle started digging a hole.  My turtle was to be a mama!  This box turtle had come from the marsh to lay her eggs.  

  My first instinct was to sit and watch her until she was finished just so I could put a wire frame over her nest.  If this is not done, the raccoons would raid the nest and leave nary an egg.  Yep, my first instinct was to watch...then I remembered that this was a long, drawn-out process and I was sitting right in the midst of about a bajillion mosquitoes and just as many deerflies.  Nope, I was not going to allow myself to be eaten alive.  I would check on our sweet lady and her "birthing" progress later!

  All in all, it took nigh on three hours before she was satisfied with her task....about an hour to dig the hole, maybe another half hour laying the eggs and then the remaining time covering the nest.  Once she was finished, it nearly impossible to see where she had dug the nest.  Nothing was left to lead any predator to her eggs except maybe a scent.  Once she made her way into the palmettoes and then into the marsh, I set the cage over the nest site.  Hopefully, this will keep any marauding critters at bay.  The cage is slightly raised to allow the little ones to make a dash for the palmettoes but is heavy enough to discourage those wanting eggs for supper.  Good luck, Little Ones!  

Soaring High With the Ospreys...

  With the sun shining and the winds calm, I was truly tempted to toss down the rakes and shovels and escape to the woods.  My brain needs the comforting that only Mother Nature can bring.   I used some willpower, however, and stuck with the yard work.  If I ever want to finish this project, I cannot keep getting distracted.

  Since I could not go to nature, it came to me!  The usual birds were in the feeders and several doves were on the ground picking up dropped seeds but overhead a single osprey kept a constant vigil.  I am thinking this is the male of a breeding pair that was courting two weeks ago.  Then, he did the full fish dance while she sat screaming in the top of a pine tree.  He would soar to great heights then start dropping.  Drop, hover, drop, hover...all the while with his feet dangling loosely below him was the show for the day.  Then, off he went to catch a mullet to present to his ladylove.  She accepted and that was that.  Now, the pair have a nest in the back of the Bayou and she is actively incubating the eggs.  Since that is time-consuming, he does all of the hunting.  Each day, he spends the time over the water in search of, not only his food, but hers, as well.  He will defend her and the nest fiercely against all predators and make sure she is safe.  This year, they have nested nearly a month early due to the warmer weather.  Hopefully, all will go well.

  Today, this fine bird hovered over the area of the yard where I was working.  He stayed there for quite some time before venturing back out over the water.  I would stop occasionally and dream about soaring (or gallivanting off for a hike!) with my friend, the osprey.  If only I was not so committed to getting this cleanup done!  Oh, well.  Tomorrow may find things a bit easier and I can, at least, head back to the creek bed and collect the thoughts.  The brain works better back there.  Thanks for visiting, Friend Osprey.  You made my day much better!

Flour...yes, I need flour!

  Son often says that I am easily amused but, also, easily distracted.  It is true...on both accounts.  I often am entertained by the most mundane things but it is true that my attention span is short when it comes to drudgery.  Let one moth flit by and I will forget the chore at hand and go chasing after it.  Today was no different.  I was distracted but. also, highly amused by a single lizard.

  Along about noontime, I set out making chicken pot pie for the menfolk.  Everything was chopped and ready to be thrown together when I decided that the mixture needed buttermilk biscuit dough instead of the normal crust.  I headed to the pantry to get flour when I passed the north window.  Just outside that window sits the large rosemary shrub.  I have no idea how I spied the lizard in all of that green but I did and that was where the cooking stopped.  I had to grab the camera and take a photo of the lizard.  

  Once I was outside, I promptly forgot all about chicken, veggies and buttermilk biscuits.  That was the cutest lizard I have seen in a long while!  Truth be told, the thing had just hatched and was still wrinkly from being confined inside its eggshell.  The lizard was a grand total of about three inches in length and had the most adorable face!  I watched as it made its first attempt at capturing lunch which was a tiny fruit fly!  Oh, my goodness!  

  A good fifteen minutes later, I remembered our lunch and had to hurry back inside.  I was not particularly happy about leaving my tiny friend as I knew I would probably never see it again.  As I passed the same window, I took a quick peek only to find no lizard.  Whatever caused me to see that critter in the first place?  Oh, yeah...flour.  I need to get the flour from the pantry.  That sure was a cute lizard!