I'm not sure if there are two or three babies in that picture. I know initially the nest sat for a couple days with just two eggs before the other three showed up, so maybe these are on timers, and the first two will hatch a couple days earlier than the other three? Just to see what was going on out there, I took the camera for a super quick peek today and, hey, guess what!?
So there were three baby birds by mid-afternoon today - will have to give it a day or two before I take another peek.
That's not the only bird activity out here lately, or more specifically, woodpecker activity. I got this guy at the bird feeder last week:
And then today the piliated woodpecker was all over the place. She (I don't know the sex for sure) was stuck to the side of the small maple I planted in the backyard at one point. She must not have liked the fact the suet feeder is empty (I just restocked it late last week!) because she took off just as I was getting the camera. Here's all I got of her...
I tell ya, a bird that big stuck to a tree that small, and it looks like a monster sized bird! Later she was on one of my cucumber trellis posts, and again, I couldn't get the camera fast enough.
This morning started off with some excitement as well. I looked out the window and saw this little shit on the birdfeeder!
For those of you who haven't been to NE Ohio, you might not know about black squirrels. Kent, where I work, is especially well known for our black squirrel population - we even have the black squirrel festival, black squirrel stickers for cars, etc. What's a problem is how aggressive these guys are - they chase out the gray squirrels. There's rarely a day on campus where you don't see squirrels chasing each other around! Anyhow - this is the first I've seen in our neighborhood, and gee, he's hunkered down right there on the bird feeder! So I took a risk, and decided to let Doogie earn his keep. I showed Doogie the squirrel and slowly slid the back patio door open, and whispered "Go get 'im!" Doogie took off like a rocket, only the squirrel was faster - that thing SHOT across our backyard, passed through part of the neighbor's yard with Doogie in hot pursuit, and then shot up a tree. Luckily Doogie came back when called!!! (And, yes, I got hollered at by Brett for just letting him loose like that!) Hopefully that squirrel won't be making any visits back here in the near future!
And while on the subject of backyard bird stuff, now that the temps are warming up I was finally able to put out my gift from Sharon from Christmas!!
I'm not 100% certain that's where it'll go, but I kinda like it there. I didn't fill it with water - we've been having a lot of rain this weekend, so I let Mother Nature take care of that. Here's Doogie checking out the new bird bath.
I think it looks really nice out there - adds a nice splash of color, is near a bird feeder, and not too far from the faucet I've run to the back corner for filling/refreshing. It'll look especially nice once all the plants fill it - it's positioned right in front of where I'm HOPING a nice big butterfly bush will be returning this year. Once I remulch the beds, I'll have to make sure it's anchored down in place better...although it's got some good weight to it, so barring any dogs careening into it while they chase frisbees, I figure we'll be ok.
3 comments:
Oh my gosh those little babies are so cute - and so blind! Make sure you keep your pets away from there!
And the birdbath looks cute there! I sort of forgot how many colors were in there so it should work just peachy! Yay! Now I should have bought one for myself too.
p.s. I am not anti-squirrels in my bird feeder....they need to eat too, so I let them pick at my $1.00 suet.
I think I like the idea of baby birds more than I like actual ones. Really, they're not that cute. BUT, it is so cool to see that I overlook the lack of cuteness and abundance of awkward giant purple eyeballness.
Those friggen black squirrels are around here, too. They're awful. They even make an awful chortling noise that I hate. I, however, take the same tact as you do - I let Jada out the back door to chase them. Even though I *know* I shouldn't because then when we go for walks she's going to want to chase them, but WHO CARES, I can't have them in my vegetables.
You're right. They're little shits.
Yeah, I know we're supposed to think "aw, baby aminals - CUTE!" But seriously? Baby birds? Not so cute.
Brett was off yesterday and said the babies got loud around 730am and wouldn't let him sleep in. >:-) Heh heh... Granted, it won't be as funny if they're doing the same thing this Saturday!
I didn't realize CA also had the black squirrels.
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