Critters Around The Yard

How can you not smile when watching these little stinkers?  Yes, they managed to yank the lid off.  Guess that’s one of the reasons the feeder was on clearance!

A young blue jay in the tree outside my bedroom. He was not happy being by himself!

Two Clymene moths. I had never seen moths like this before. Always something new to learn about!

The tiniest stink bug I have ever seen!

As the summer comes to a close and the nights become colder, you will sometimes wake up to find that a preying mantis has been hunting around your windows at night.

A young hummingbird coming to the feeder and learning how it works.

Enjoy your day and take a moment to look  around and appreciate nature!

Critters in the Yard

I was looking through my Blog Photo Folder shaking my head at all the photos I have collected and not used.  Yeah, I  know.  I haven’t been posting.  So today I’m going to share some of my favorite yard-critter photos.

One of my favorite denizens of the yard. I am very fortunate to have a thriving community of these bug eaters. Every spring I look forward to finding baby Preying Mantis’s hopping about in my grass and shrubs.

Here is a baby Blue Jay not yet fully molted. He’s trying to decide if I’m a big bad monster or not.

How do they eat hanging upside down like that?

This could possibly be an adult Antlion!

We have a family of crows that spend time in our yard. We lost one of the adults last year, but three crows came back this spring. There appeared to be four babies being raised this summer. NOISY little buggers begging for food. These are two of the adults in a quiet moment under the tree.

Yep, those cute little buggers ripped the lid off the bird feeder. What was really hilarious was watching them “fight” each other through the plastic. Eventually they realized they could each have “their” territory without the other one being able to touch them and they settled down to eat side by side. I am happy to report that we scavenged the hinge from the old feeder (it goes clear across the back) and the lid is now intact once again.

Ahhh, Bumble Bees! I love these guys. I know spring has sprung and the soil is warming when I see the new Queens out and about having dug their way out of the ground, their winter hibernation over.

My son grabbed this photo for me one day. (See all the squirrel pee on the lid?) We usually have about 5 pair of American Goldfinches running around. But they aren’t much for sitting still. Soon they will be molting into their olive-green winter clothes.

Please excuse the blurriness. I was in a hurry to grab a picture before they all flew away or saw me and then flew away! Oh, and not laugh too loudly either! Because this was hysterical! All of the birds you see in this picture are baby Robin’s. Some are fresh from the nest and others are getting their colors, but they are all youngsters. Plus a few that weren’t in the frame. It looked like all the parents just dumped their kids at the “pool” and left. And those kids yelled and pushed and flapped; all of them wanting their fair share of “pool” time. And in an amazingly short amount of time all the water was gone! 😀

YAY! We have Chipmunks again! Our elderly neighbors had become crazy cat people. They and the cats are gone and small critters are coming back. I saw a rabbit run through the yard the other day, too!

Well, I’m thrilled for the moment. I’m guessing it won’t be too much longer and they’ll figure out there are feeders in the tree and then I’ll be bitching about all the seed they’re stealing!  Look at those bulging cheeks!

Hope you enjoyed the critter pics!  Night!

Winter Bird Picture Round-up

The Juncos and Mourning Doves sharing spilled grain. They prefer to eat on the ground rather than at the feeders.

Well, life went crazy last spring and I never seemed to ‘catch-up’ as it were.  So I have all these photos in my ‘Blog Photo File’ that never made it into a post.  So I’m going to give you a line-up of the winter bird photos left with no home.  🙂

An early fall picture of a female Downy Woodpecker. One of our year round residents. The males actually do most of the brooding on the nest.

The Tufted Titmouse is a bold little bird that has been known to pull hair from sleeping dogs, cats, and squirrels to line their nests with.

I have not always been thrilled with Blue Jays. I’ve seen them tear apart other birds’ nests. But they are very engaging and lovely birds. I had one Blue Jay that had learned to imitate a dog’s growl. And when I would sit outside on the bank near the feeders, he would come down to a low branch on the tree and growl at me!

Someone, probably a deer, had knocked the bird seed out of the feeder to the right. So everyone was taking advantage of the extra. It was so cold at this time that even hot water poured into the birdbaths froze right up in less than an hour.

The Northern Cardinal. We usually have at least 5 mated pairs using our yard. These are the birds that tell me, with a special type of chirp, that night is falling.

A Black-capped Chickadee and a House Wren squabble over lunch.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker has just put a sunflower seed into the hole at his feet.

Now he is pecking it apart in order to eat it. Since he started doing this, and, no doubt, widened the hole; many other birds now use this hole for hulling sunflower seeds!

The Mourning Doves all huddled in the tree on a cold winter morning. Hopefully, I won’t be able to take any more pictures like this for at least another six or seven months!

 

 

Lots of Feather Messages

Random Thoughts

Feathers have been roaming around in my thoughts lately.  Over the past couple of weeks I have been finding feathers in my yard on a regular basis.  A number of them were standing at attention in the grass.  Some light and fluffy ones showed up around my feet.  One slightly beat up feather was left by a dove watching me at the window.  After looking me over, the dove shook itself and reached down and pulled the feather out.  She/he then looked at me again, dropped the feather on the ground and, with one last look, flew away.

Many people believe that feathers are gifts from the Universe bringing messages.  That they bring us an opportunity or reminder to connect, to see, to find answers.  A message, also, that Love and assistance are there for the asking.  We just need to remember that we need not walk alone.  Easier said than done.

When was the last time you sat down quietly and went within to seek your messages and to ask for Love and assistance to be brought into your life?  When was the last time you sat quietly and gave Thanks to the Universe?  I know I’m way over due.

I was outside trying to get good pictures with natural light. That little fluffy feather is also a Blue Jay feather but the wind kicked up and started blowing the feathers around so that was the end of outdoor picture-taking of feathers!

The tattered one, third from the left, is the one left by the dove.

Life At Our House

Lots of messes here need to be addressed.  But for now, here is what I have been snacking on:

Husband made these for work by request. And, of course, some were left behind at home.

Fur Babies and Other Critters

I wish my balance was this good. Usually they crawl across upside down.

I put fresh paper towels in for Stitch. Look at those stuffed pouches!

Can you see that he has stuffed his pouches so full that the paper towels are sticking out of his mouth?

Out In The Yard

It is the end of the year, unfortunately.

This poor butterfly showed up at night and slept in the window. He’s rather beat up. See where he’s missing a section of one wing?

This little one sat in the sun for hours. Faded and slightly tattered.

Mr. Toad sat buried in this pot for 3 days. He didn’t even get out at night. Then suddenly, three days ago, he took a bath and left.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike winter?

Mugs

Yep, back to this one. The past couple of nights have not been fun.

And, WOW!, it’s only 9:30!  I’ll have time to work on crocheting a tissue box cover!  Night!