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May 03, 2008
Nature and wildlife...
I dunno what happened, but we have a reprieve from the heat and we're taking advantage of it in the yard...it was 65 today, getting up to only 75, which is crazy cool in May in Central Texas...I attacked 7 roses, deadheading all the blooms that are spent, and shaping up the plants for the Next Big Show...We checked on the cardinal baby, since I hadn't heard him/her in a few days, and he was missing...boo...I have no idea what happened there...was he kicked out of the nest? Did last Sunday's strong rainstorms knock him out? Was there another bird who booted him? And why are there only 2 eggs in the nest...where'd the others go...nature is awesome and confusing, and we let it all play out as it's supposed to...I have seen the female in the nest, only once...I hope they haven't abandoned it, but who knows...
The nuthatches are going great guns, they are hard to tell apart...they both look identical...could they be two females nesting together? Lesbian nuthatches? I love watching them flitting about, always picking up the bugs and returning to the nest...and they are very loud, powerful little birds...I just moved a bag of mulch out of the weeds, and both of them pounced in there, looking for new bugs...I found 5 BlueJay feathers amongst the weeds - I wonder what happened there...I took them inside so the cats could sniff them...While on the porch, I discovered another monarch chrysalis in another unexpected place...I didn't realize there were still caterpillars on the plants, i thought the 37 all died off (yes, it was tragic and sad), but I discovered 3 more monarch caterpillars still eating, so there will be more monarchs soon...I prefer 3 or 4 at a time, not 37...we just don't have the food source for that many...
The roses look good, I plan on feeding everyone tomorrow...we expect another sunny, cool day, so we'll be back out here finishing the weeding, mulching, trimming and whatever we need...While sitting on the porch, a female hummingbird zoomed right up at me, squeeked at me, and flew off...apparently i was too close for her comfort zone...i must be a closetalker or something...I'm sure she or her mate will be back tomorrow...and I'll bring my camera out to try and capture what I can...its a fun yard and I'm enjoying it thoroughly...
Posted by Donner at May 3, 2008 06:34 PM