let the sun shine in...

We had our last torrential rain storm on Friday!  Thankfully we didn't lose any trees this time, although we heard the cracking of trees or big limbs falling in the woods fairly regularly.  It's gardenia time, but delicate white flowers and constant wet do not mix well.

However, they persevered, and new blooms are ready to burst open!

The ducks love the rainy weather.

The goz do too.  I see them daily feeding on soggy vegetation down by the pond.  They're getting so big!  The oldest ones have finally taken on their adult coloration. 

They grow up so fast...sniff sniff!  At least the babies are still babies!

Meanwhile, since the weather is finally dry, Clotilde has settled on the stairs outside our sun room.  Tabitha objects strenuously but there's nothing she can do, really, except be grumpily watchful.

A bit of excitement on the front porch!  Last week, I noticed a finch egg smashed on the driveway.  Odd...how did it get out of the nest?  When I had time the next day, I checked and saw this:

Amazing!  See the larger speckled egg?  That's a cowbird egg.  Cowbirds don't make their own nests.  They watch and wait.  When they see a bird leave an existing nest, they sneak in, steal and destroy an egg, and replace it with one of their own.  The nest owner doesn't suspect a thing, even when the cowbird egg hatches a week before the others and the young bird is unusually big.  So the young cowbird will be bigger, stronger, and get more food than the other finches in this nest.  Sometimes they smother their competition. Mama cowbird, however, can move on without a thought and continue depositing eggs.  She can lay up to EIGHTY EGGS in a 2-year period!  But many don't survive, which will likely be the case here.  Cowbirds eat insects, and these finch fledglings will be fed seeds.  The young cowbird will probably starve.  There's a big internet debate about whether people should remove and destroy cowbird eggs when they are found in other nests, but I try to have a non-interference policy.  I'm curious to see what happens here! 

Work has been slow, and I've been working on things that don't make a big mess that have to be frantically cleaned up for showings, like puzzles.  I am an addict and have finished two in the past 2 weeks.

But soon, I won't have time for puzzles.

We sold our house!  As long as all goes well with inspections, etc., we close in early July.  It still seems unbelievable.  I'm not sure when we're packing up the house...where we'll stay when we reach Indiana...if we'll be buying or renting while we look.  For this type A person who's a compulsive planner, this is both exciting and scary!  Especially when we'll have truckloads of merchandise, 2 cats, and a dog.  But at least I know that it's going to be an adventure!

Have a great week!

snake double take

With the temperatures climbing into the mid-90s every day, I'm trying to do my prowling around the property in the mornings.  I haven't seen the little fawn, but evidence of its existence is evident in the daytime pacings of its mother.

It's rare to see a solitary deer in daytime, unless there's a baby about!  Meanwhile, our goz are playing coy.  Most of their time is spent at the far end of the pond.

But sometimes they'll come by for a visit.

Six is now five, but we still have three older goz in our other group.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of other activity.  A turtle traversed our driveway on his way to the pond...

...and an anole watched me from a fence post.

Another snake slithered by as I walked the pond edge.

It looked like a copperhead at first, but I then verified that copperhead markings, while similar, have an hourglass shape. 

This was a non-venomous banded water snake.  Harmless!

Someone didn't make it...

Of course, the outdoor cats that we feed are usually around, getting into some sort of mischief!

Our indoor cats are somewhat less active.

Borga, however, watches everything with taut-nerved attention.

Have a great week!

empty nest syndrome

Every couple of days, I've been peeking into the house finch nest in our front porch fern.  Normally the babies just stare at me, and I replace the fern quickly.  But last week, I noticed a lot of activity.  Birds were standing and stretching in the nest...

...and the parents were hovering nearby, making a lot of noise.

I decided to investigate.  When I peeked inside the nest, there was a moment of startled silence before the babies exploded out in different directions.  I checked the ground around the fern, but they were all truly airborne.  I was afraid that I'd frightened them into prematurely leaving the nest, but after a little reading discovered that once they can fly, they're fine.  I'm just left with their feces-studded nest.

Yuck!  This fern went straight into the trash.  But speaking of empty nests...

That's right!  The nest I've been watching has been vacated.  Now we have an additional six goz!

They were so tiny and continually stumbled as they tried to walk.  Even though the weather was warm, they rushed to squeeze under mama's wing.

They tend to stay on the other end of the pond, where the bank has a gradual slope and they've got lots of grass.  Our end has a more angled bank, and lots of ivy and wild ajuga.  Hopefully I'll see them once they get a little older.  Of course, our original three goz are still around!

An old familiar face is making an appearance...the southern toad!

And another unseen friend:

Nearly unseen in the underbrush at our property edge: a newborn fawn, just a few hours old!

Mama was nearby, hovering nervously.  I moved away quickly to minimize their stress.  So sweet!  Later, I stumbled on another newborn in our front flower bed!  Tis the season!

Tabitha keeps a close eye on things from her usual perch.

Nothing gets by her.  Have a great week!

...and then there were three

These first peonies are fading fast...

...but I planted many different varieties.  Ruffles and more ruffles.

Peonies are such great old-fashioned flowers.  I'm going to have a massive bed of them when we finally settle somewhere!

Our house finches are growing quickly.  Do you see the feces around the edge of the nest?  For the first week or so of their lives, the adults eat the feces of the young, but after that, the babies void at the rim of the nest.  The rim of feces grows and grows until they, at last, fly away. They're considered pretty messy birds, although so far everything is staying in the fern.

The big news around here, though, is...GOZ. 

The nest I've been watching is still occupied, but ANOTHER clutch of eggs has hatched in an unknown location, probably a week or so ago.  First we had four little goslings, but now (gulp) there are three.  And we love watching them!

I was weeding by the pond this weekend and the adult geese brought the babies, bumbling, over the bank.  I sat quietly and watched as they fed all around me. 

Actually, it's quite wonderful to just sit outside with a camera.  I did the same thing in Indiana and there's so much to be seen.  This weekend, the weather was mild, and I worked quietly as the goz padded around.  Small brown birds skimmed the water for gnats and mosquitoes.

A pair of ducks preened and swam in lazy circles.

A slug, disturbed by the sudden loss of weed cover, headed for darker pastures.

A black rat snake popped his head up in the ivy to watch my progress.

It was so peaceful.  The weather has been so delightfully cool around here, mostly in the 60s and lower 70s, so it's been the perfect time to get outside and work in the yard.

Everything is fully green now...

...and maybe the long, hot summer won't feel quite as long, since spring has been so good to us this year.

Have a great week!