.....in the country to experience nature. Our neighborhood is getting old. Our house was built in 1974 but it has grown up very nicely. All our neighbors are nice and clean and maintain their property very nicely.
But there is nothing rural about it. the houses are so close together that you can stick your arm out your bedroom window and almost touch the house next door. Still, we get our share of encounters with nature and we still get to enjoy the convenience of city life.
We have been working for over two weeks to get our yard back up to snuff from the little 2 day winter we had with temperatures in the mid 20s and things are looking a lot better now. We have been having some absolutely gorgeous weather. Bright blue skies and morning temps in the mid 60s to mid 70s. We like to sit out on the deck and have our morning coffee. The mild breeze feels great and we now have humming birds on all 4 of our feeders.
Currently we were only having 2 feral cats come around but about a week ago a new to us little female we call Miss April showed up. Very friendly, sweet and affectionate. She jumps up in my lap and stays awhile and then goes to the food bowl and eats a little and get a drink of water then goes and gets on Miss Pam's lap. She purrs and talks and takes little cat naps.
She has been declawed on all for feet and I'm pretty sure she has been spayed. She is positively someone's pet and Monday I'm going to take her to our vet and let them scan her and see if she's been chipped. She's a sweetie and I know her people would love to have her back.
We now have 3 different kinds of lizards. They eat flies and other insects so I leave 'em alone. I used to play with 'em when I was a kid. Now we just watch 'em.
We have long enjoyed all the nature that we have going on in our back yard. But Wednesday was a very eventful day with lots of drama and a very close encounter with the natural world. About 3 weeks ago I put out 4 humming bird feeders. Wednesday We saw our first hummer. Others in the area have had them for weeks but we seem to be on the edge of their migratory path. Sometimes we don't see any and never more than 2 or 3.
I immediately brought the feeders all in and cleaned them and put fresh nectar in them and set them back out. We have 4 big trees in the back yard and I hung one from the tree in the middle of the yard and one from the tree next to the little yard building. The other two on a Shepard's hook 8' out from the bay window in the dining room. As soon as I had them up the hummers arrived. It appears we have 4 of them but it could be more. At least 2 males and 2 females. They all fight over one feeder at a time and then they all move to another feeder and eventually the wars occur at all the feeders. Lots of fun to watch.
For a couple of years now I've been locked in combat with Possums. My count is at 10 I think. I used to go to the city animal control center and borrow one of their traps but they got tired of me and I got tired of them. So I finally went to Home Depot and got my own trap. It looks like this is going to be an on-going situation so I am geared up and open for bidness. I take 'em to the animal control center and the take 'em off some where and let 'em go. Easy-peasy.
Well, Wednesday morning I just happened to notice a baby possum hiding under my smoker just off the end of the deck. He was a tiny little thing and I doubt he weighs enough to spring the trap. But I just made a note to keep an eye out for him another time.
I have saved the most exciting even of Wednesday for last. We have feeders up for all the regular birds year 'round. One of the most common visitors are white wing doves. Literally dozens of them, just about every day. They are slow and stupid and easy pickin's for the hawks the keep a constant vigil over out feeders.
They catch 'em on the ground. They catch 'em in flight. They rarely miss. And the ones that do miss do so, we believe, because they are young and inexperienced. It is a spectacular sight to see. But we were taken to the next level of the experience Wednesday morning. A full grown Harrison's Hawk (a good sized bird) jumped up a bunch of doves and took off after one it targeted. The dove headed for he house and the hawk was gaining on it very quickly. The dove suddenly turned and headed straight for us...and so did the hawk. The dove hit the window above Pam's head and the hawk juked left and hit the bay window. He missed Pam's face by mere inches. He turned at the last possible moment before hitting her in the face.
The air was full of feathers. The hawk had slowed considerably and hit the window a glancing blow. He flew away seemingly un hurt. The dove was not so lucky. It hit the ground just off the deck and Miss April was on it in a heart beat. It was flopping around but unable to fly. April got tired of fooling with it and went and ate some cat food. The injured dove made it's way out to the area under the bird feeders and ate some off the ground. Then it went through the chain link fence into the neighbors yard and we lost track of it.
I hate to think what might have happened if the hawk had hit Pam in the face. It was a very close call and I'll never sit out on the deck again without remembering that.
But the back yard has never looked better and we are taking full advantage of the mild weather for as long as it lasts. And for as long as Pam has these good days where she feels like sitting out. We know that the triple digits and bad days are probably just around the corner so we are making hay while the sun shines.
But there is nothing rural about it. the houses are so close together that you can stick your arm out your bedroom window and almost touch the house next door. Still, we get our share of encounters with nature and we still get to enjoy the convenience of city life.
We have been working for over two weeks to get our yard back up to snuff from the little 2 day winter we had with temperatures in the mid 20s and things are looking a lot better now. We have been having some absolutely gorgeous weather. Bright blue skies and morning temps in the mid 60s to mid 70s. We like to sit out on the deck and have our morning coffee. The mild breeze feels great and we now have humming birds on all 4 of our feeders.
Currently we were only having 2 feral cats come around but about a week ago a new to us little female we call Miss April showed up. Very friendly, sweet and affectionate. She jumps up in my lap and stays awhile and then goes to the food bowl and eats a little and get a drink of water then goes and gets on Miss Pam's lap. She purrs and talks and takes little cat naps.
She has been declawed on all for feet and I'm pretty sure she has been spayed. She is positively someone's pet and Monday I'm going to take her to our vet and let them scan her and see if she's been chipped. She's a sweetie and I know her people would love to have her back.
We now have 3 different kinds of lizards. They eat flies and other insects so I leave 'em alone. I used to play with 'em when I was a kid. Now we just watch 'em.
We have long enjoyed all the nature that we have going on in our back yard. But Wednesday was a very eventful day with lots of drama and a very close encounter with the natural world. About 3 weeks ago I put out 4 humming bird feeders. Wednesday We saw our first hummer. Others in the area have had them for weeks but we seem to be on the edge of their migratory path. Sometimes we don't see any and never more than 2 or 3.
I immediately brought the feeders all in and cleaned them and put fresh nectar in them and set them back out. We have 4 big trees in the back yard and I hung one from the tree in the middle of the yard and one from the tree next to the little yard building. The other two on a Shepard's hook 8' out from the bay window in the dining room. As soon as I had them up the hummers arrived. It appears we have 4 of them but it could be more. At least 2 males and 2 females. They all fight over one feeder at a time and then they all move to another feeder and eventually the wars occur at all the feeders. Lots of fun to watch.
For a couple of years now I've been locked in combat with Possums. My count is at 10 I think. I used to go to the city animal control center and borrow one of their traps but they got tired of me and I got tired of them. So I finally went to Home Depot and got my own trap. It looks like this is going to be an on-going situation so I am geared up and open for bidness. I take 'em to the animal control center and the take 'em off some where and let 'em go. Easy-peasy.
Well, Wednesday morning I just happened to notice a baby possum hiding under my smoker just off the end of the deck. He was a tiny little thing and I doubt he weighs enough to spring the trap. But I just made a note to keep an eye out for him another time.
I have saved the most exciting even of Wednesday for last. We have feeders up for all the regular birds year 'round. One of the most common visitors are white wing doves. Literally dozens of them, just about every day. They are slow and stupid and easy pickin's for the hawks the keep a constant vigil over out feeders.
They catch 'em on the ground. They catch 'em in flight. They rarely miss. And the ones that do miss do so, we believe, because they are young and inexperienced. It is a spectacular sight to see. But we were taken to the next level of the experience Wednesday morning. A full grown Harrison's Hawk (a good sized bird) jumped up a bunch of doves and took off after one it targeted. The dove headed for he house and the hawk was gaining on it very quickly. The dove suddenly turned and headed straight for us...and so did the hawk. The dove hit the window above Pam's head and the hawk juked left and hit the bay window. He missed Pam's face by mere inches. He turned at the last possible moment before hitting her in the face.
The air was full of feathers. The hawk had slowed considerably and hit the window a glancing blow. He flew away seemingly un hurt. The dove was not so lucky. It hit the ground just off the deck and Miss April was on it in a heart beat. It was flopping around but unable to fly. April got tired of fooling with it and went and ate some cat food. The injured dove made it's way out to the area under the bird feeders and ate some off the ground. Then it went through the chain link fence into the neighbors yard and we lost track of it.
I hate to think what might have happened if the hawk had hit Pam in the face. It was a very close call and I'll never sit out on the deck again without remembering that.
But the back yard has never looked better and we are taking full advantage of the mild weather for as long as it lasts. And for as long as Pam has these good days where she feels like sitting out. We know that the triple digits and bad days are probably just around the corner so we are making hay while the sun shines.
