Turf Wars

The battles are raging this morning at my birdfeeder. Last night the House Sparrow was back in the bird house, but this morning the Bluebirds have it back while the Sparrows sit on the deck and watch. It will be really interesting to see who ends up living there this summer. Maybe we'll see both Sparrow and Bluebird babies in the same nest!
The mood at the feeder is showing signs of spring edginess as well. Normally calm and busy, today it is jumpy and fluttery. I must admit, my cherished Bluebirds are at the center of it. Papa swoops down at the Sparrows as they eat, sending them away. The Cowbirds, Sparrows, and Juncos are jumpy. When the Cardinals fly in, all of the other birds fly up and around in circles before resettling on the ground. The Robins take turns searching the ground for worms and watching the goings on from the deck rail. The little birds fly off in retreat, while the larger ones resettle on the ground.
Spring is definitely in the air. There are new breeds, new energies, and new behaviors at the feeder. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks as mating season begins. The watch should be truly interesting!

Mother (Nature) Knows Best

Mother Nature is speaking pretty loudly these days. This morning I noticed a lot of Bluebird activity around the Bluebird box. As I watched I saw Papa Bluebird on the box, looking in. After a few moments he went in. A minute or two later he flew out, followed by Mrs. Bluebird. As I watched they flew back and forth with grasses. Meanwhile, the House Sparrows watched from the railing of our deck. I've also noticed a good bit of Sparrow activity under our deck. This afternoon I saw a pile of grasses, not yet knitted into a nest, stashed on the rafter. It would seem, the Bluebirds are reclaiming their home and have put the squatters on notice.

It was another reminder that I need to learn to leave "Life" alone. It seems Mother Nature has things well under control. I'll keep watching to see how things develop. Isn't life fascinating?

Messin' With Their Minds

They say it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. I've decided it's not nice to fool WITH Mother Nature either, but this week I tried.

Anyone who has read this blog knows I was not happy when the House Sparrows took over my Bluebird box. As spring returned this year, I watched the Bluebirds. Every day they would check out the box and who had moved in. The Sparrow watched as well, and I must say, everyone seemed very courteous. I never saw a bird fight. The Bluebirds weren't run off by the Sparrows. Papa Sparrow spent most mornings watching the yard from inside his box. Even so, Larry and I really wanted the Bluebirds to have their home back.


One day I decided to see if I could help the cause. I opened the box to check the nest. It was empty, so I removed it. I know that sounds mean. It was. And I felt really badly about it. The nest was beautifully made, with feathers from the bird attack we had a few weeks ago, and some grasses with feathery seed pods attached. The more I looked at it, the worse I felt. I hoped if it was gone, the Sparrows would sleep somewhere else for a couple of days and the Bluebirds would be able to move back in. After removing the nest I cleaned out the box well. At least that was a positive move. It really needed it.

Of course, you've probably figured out what happened. When I watched the box the next morning, the Sparrows were in it. Papa Sparrow surveyed the yard as he so often did, from inside the box. The Bluebirds didn't stand a chance.

Now, I really felt badly. These two little birds had spent quite a bit of time building a lovely nest. I had tucked the nest into an alcove high up under the deck the day before. So later in the day, while the Sparrows were out, and with a humble heart, I went and put the nest back in the house.

I can only imagine what Papa Sparrow thought when he returned once again to his house to find the nest back in place!


One thing I do know...Papa Sparrow spends much more time sitting on his perch outside of the box. I'm guessing he wants to make sure his nest doesn't disappear again!


Sorry Papa. I've learned my lesson. I won't fool with Mother Nature any more.

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Maggie, my buddy and traveling companion, turns 10 today. In honor of this special day we decided to have a special birthday dinner for her. Fortunately, for us, that also means we have a treat for us.

Maggie's favorite food is PIZZA!

Our first Lab was the traditional Garbage Can. She ate anything, including stuff she shouldn't. She ended up at the vet's on a few occasions until we decided her stomach had something in common with a goat. Soap, charcoal, hardboiled eggs in the shell, boxes of Girl Scout cookies, including the cellophane, whole chocolate easter bunnies, poisonous plants.... nothing seemed to inflict permanent damage.

Our second Lab had a more refined appetite. Food was not snatched out of your hand, it was delicately lifted. If you were eating a brownie, cookie, apple,...and you happened to let your hand hang at your side between bites, she would come up from behind and gently wrap her tongue around it and pull it from your hand before you realized what was happening. Feeding her pills was a breeze. "Caia, Sit. Caia Catch". The pill was caught and swallowed. But her real love was fruit and vegetables. She could peel a tangerine and eat all the sections and leave the skin intact. She stole tomatoes or bananas off the counter, leaving only a red stain or a banana peel. As soon as anyone began to make a salad, she was by their side, waiting for a treat.

Maggie has her own eating idiosyncrasies. For one thing, she is a picky Lab. She sniffs her food before eating, and from time to time decides she's really not hungry. She does not take pills... ever! She will hold it in her throat until you think it's gone, and then give it back. If she needs antibiotics, the vet knows she has to have a shot. She also is allergic to beef. Go figure! But one food that never fails is Pizza.

For years we had pizza night. As soon as she saw us write the check for the delivery guy she'd stand guard at the door. Casually say the word "pizza" in conversation with someone and her ears perk up and she starts the dance. Sometimes I make my own from a bread dough recipe. As soon as I pull out the pizza pan instead of the loaf pan, she begins to hover. This does not happen if I get the pizza pan out to make something else. Dogs have a sixth sense, and this one can sense when pizza is in the air. One day I pulled a foil wrapped package out of the refrigerator--leftover cold pizza. She awoke from her nap and was under my chair as I ate it.

Maggie only gets the crust. In spite of her great love of Pizza, she's never had a whole slice to herself. In honor of her 10th birthday, we've decided to break tradition and let her eat what, until now, she has only smelled.





Happy Birthday, Maggie! This one's for you!






(By the time she was finished her treat and we were finished with dinner, her bandana was soaking wet from drool and we had brought her a towel to cover the floor. But she was happy!)

A Change in Seasons

After the long month of February, March has proven to be a month of welcome change. It started out with lots of snow leftover from the month before. It was the end of February before we could shovel our steps out. The snow was just too deep there. This picture was taken on March 1, mainly so I could document the progress as we moved through the month.


And we have made progress! We have had wonderful weather lately. We had at least a week of sunshine and some days it actually warmed up in the mid 60's. It felt like summer!

It started out with several crisp days of sunshine. One day when the ground was still covered with snow, the sun was out but it was still in the low 30's. These two Mourning doves gave me a chuckle. They huddled together on the railing of our deck enjoying the sunshine.

Maggie agreed and stretched out in front of the sliding glass doors to soak up all the sun she could. I'm glad to see evidence that all God's children love the sun, not just me!

We walked almost every day. After a week of moderate temperatures (in the 40's) it began to really warm up. The last couple of days I actually walked in a t-shirt! It felt wonderful. Each day more snow melted away.

As the last of the snow melted off, the true sign of spring appeared! Robins! This little fellow hopped all around looking for a fresh meal...no seeds from the feeder for him! By the afternoon several of his friends had joined him and I watched as they scoured the grass for food.

The yard looked more and more clear, but as I walked around the grassy areas, I discovered the ground was really a saturated sponge. Some spots that are part of the water runoff route were underwater of course, but the areas that looked dry, bubbled up under my feet as I walked across them.

Finally the snow is gone and with Spring coming the yard is starting to call my name. The snow was pretty heavy on our bushes and I'm watching to see the how long it takes for the branches of some of them to bounce back. I'm checking to see what bulbs are coming up and occasionally I find a surprise; like the huge chrysanthemum that never got cut back last fall. The snow laid it flat but I can already see the new leaves growing on the stems at ground level.

Most exciting of all was to see our first crocuses! The tiny white blooms are a true delight in March! At the time, half the yard was still under a good blanket of snow, but where it had melted, they were blooming.

Ah Spring! I'm so happy to see you!

News Worth Sharing

Recently, I was going through some emails in my inbox that had been sitting for awhile until I had time to check them out. They were the ones that start with the 'Forward' sign, letting the reciever know right away..."I didn't write this, I'm just passing it on." Those sit in my inbox until I'm ready to look at them, and most of them get deleted after I have my chuckle. Occasionally I will pass it on to the next person that I think will enjoy them.

On that day I read a really wonderful story about a baby hippopatumus that had taken up with a tortoise. This hippo had survived a tsunami, but was left an orphan. The pictures that accompanied the story are precious. And the end of the story goes into the usual moralizing about how people should take a lesson from how well animals from different species get along.

I love those animal stories. They are sweet, uplifting, and very touching. I can skip the moralizing. I get it. I don't need someone to spell it out for me. But this time as I was reading it a different thought came to mind. I started thinking about one of my pet peeves; 24 hour news. The idea behind 24 hour news may have been good, but with the addition of instant connectivity to the world, I think it has invited a number of newer issues.

One result of our instant connection to the world is the new awareness we have of events taking place everywhere. An earthquake in Chili, a flood in Georgia, a tornado in Kansas, and a mudslide in California.... sometimes it's one right after another, making us wonder if the world is coming to an end. War in Afghanistan, Terrorism in England, Unrest in Iran... we may go for weeks with little major news, and then be bombarded by event after event, and we wonder if there is any hope for people to get along. That may be a result of our connectedness, but the 24 hours news makes it a constant bombardment. The media fixates on an event, and as a result, so do we.

What does this have to do with those cute animal stories? They show up on YouTube and get passed around on spam email. Once in awhile they show up as a 'wonderful story to share with you' at the end of the Friday night news or in passing on Good Morning America. The unfortunate thing is that they aren't that rare! There are alot of these great stories showing animals of different species that care for each other. If we can feel as if the world is in serious trouble when we hear the non-stop coverage of troubling events, maybe we would feel hope if we could hear these delightful stories just as often.

I understand the human need for conflict. Any good writer knows that tension is needed to keep the reader going. Tension, conflict, climax, resolution. The problem is that the daily news focuses on the tension and conflict. They down play the climax and resolution. The bad news of the day may not have resolution, but we can offer hope in the news by letting people hear the good news stories, not just in the last 5 minutes, but as an integral part of the the daily news.

The good stories can get boring when we hear them too often, I know. Even so, we don't hear them enough. They are news worth sharing.

A Winter Hobby

This winter I joined the Cornell University Feeder Watch. Last year, I didn't even have a bird feeder, but then a friend sent me a Bluebird box.

I was so excited and I couldn't wait to put it up. Within a week of our mounting the box in our backyard 2 Bluebirds moved in. It was such fun watching them come and go and then, several weeks later, we watched as the fledgling tried it's wings and off flew the little family.

One of my great disappointments is that inspite of the fact I cleared the old nest out, as per instructions, a pair of House Sparrows moved in for the winter.

For my birthday I asked for a bird feeder. Larry gave me one, a sweet clear tube with copper fittings. I added a suet box and a finch sack. The feeders were hung in the middle of the yard, not too close to the bird house, and then the real fun began. I kept binoculars and a bird book by the window, and 2 days a week I pulled out my tally sheet to track the birds that visit.
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I was delighted at first to see the Junco's and the Cardinals. The BlueJays were not too rude, and added color. The Starlings that come en masse in the summer, seemed to disappear. Only 1 or 2 would show. I learned to distinguish between the male and female Downy Woodpecker. The little Nuthatch with it's broad black cap and bright white breast and the Red-Bellied Woodpecker are a treat to see because they are occasional guests. But I wonder who named that breed of woodpecker? It's belly is light colored, but it has a red head! Seeing a new bird just makes me feel good. My most recent find is the House Finch, a very pretty sparrow with rose tinged feathers. But my favorites are still the 4 bluebirds that visit regularly.




One day I saw two hawks high in the trees beyond the birdfeeder. I have little doubt that with all the snow we've had they were hungry. Two days later, I discovered lots of feathers, scattered across the deck and the snow below. I missed the action, but I can only assume that at least one hawk found a meal.


The snow has finally begun to melt. The days are warming and it won't be long before I spy my first Robin. And the House Sparrow? He frequently perches in his little house, looking out, keeping an eye on all that goes on around him. He is so cute that I've almost forgiven him for taking over my bluebird box.