THIS SUMMER WAS FOR THE BIRDS !!

Yes this summer was for the birds !! As I am self employed I spend most of my time at home. Fortunately I have a small chunk of land and birds. LOTS of birds. Having  a small herd of terribly inbred chickens I also have local birds that appreciate the free food and ample water .
  
  The most amazing thing happened this summer. Yes that's a hummingbird nest and Yes it is on an extension cord and Yes this happened right outside my kitchen window.

  It was fascinating watching the process. It seemed like she built nest , layed eggs, and hatched them in about a week.  Three weeks later this was the result . It made doing the dishes bearable.

 One day there was only one little bird left. He sat on the cord for at least 3 days. I was sure the other one was a kitty snack. It broke my heart. I can honestly say I felt a bit of loss . For a couple weeks I would stare at the poor broken little nest wondering what happened to the babies.

  Early one morning I went out to water and out of the corner of my eye I saw something dart by. Then another something. It was 2 hummingbirds playing a game of chase. They would fly way above the house and dive to about 5 feet above the ground. There was no doubt in my mind who these birds were.

    

 I had less chicks this year. We culled alot of the flock  last year so that didn't surprise me. What was surprising is that out of a clutch of 5 chicks to hatch all 5 survived. My evil nemesis the Red Tailed Hawk has moved out of his tree because  the old Farm House across the street burned down.

 One day I looked out my magic kitchen window and saw this. The most amazing part of this picture is that is not the mama chicken. It is a rooster. Yes a rooster. At about this size Mama chicken dumps the teenage babies and starts laying all over again. Well I have never seen this before but Papa took over. Believe it or not he has a least 4 chicks under him. He took care of those chicks for weeks afterward. And for this loving kind act he has spared himself from the Rooster culling soon to occur.



Some birds need to be discouraged. This would be Pierre's job.

One Saturday morning I looked out to see

20 crows in the neighbors backyard. One by one they would fly over the yard and circle the garden. It then occurred  to me that Pierre was hard at work. Those crows were just waiting for him to leave the yard. When I told my husband he said in a surprised voice, "Oh!!! Thats why they call them scarecrows! What a city boy he is!