Critters, the Tree

We have been enjoying sparrows, cardinals, black capped chickadees, and now, in the last few days, house finches eating the safflower seeds on the window feeder.

Here's a house finch on the top of the garden window, getting ready to go to the feeder.

It noticed me right away, and seemed to wonder what I was doing.

The rosemary plants look like they've made it through the winter.  I'm hoping it gets warm enough for them to go outside in the next few weeks.

Look at that face!  I hope to see more house finches around.

The black capped chickadees are such characters!  They are the most frequent visitors to the feeder, and are still pecking at it from time to time.  I almost wonder if the pecking causes more of the seeds to go into the feeding area.  They seem to face away from the window a lot.

We had a covering of snow this morning, and could get more tonight.  When I looked out this afternoon and saw that it had melted, I also noticed a squirrel eating something by the curb.

Larry added some food to the back feeders this afternoon, and I kept looking out the back door window to see if any birds were eating.  This suet has been out awhile, but only a little has been eaten.  I saw a female woodpecker eating, but the photos did not turn out very well.  Maybe now that it's cold again, they will eat from it more.

Do you think this sparrow is thanking me for putting the rest of the seed mixture out, or trying to figure out if I'm planning on opening the door?

The dark eyed juncos are good looking birds.

When I looked out later, I saw a male woodpecker.  Again, the photos were not so great.  They don't stick around once they see me with the camera.

We have had three estimates for cutting the silver maple down, and are expecting one tomorrow, and one Monday.  The first one was the highest so far.  The last one was a little more than half of what the first one was.  The first company is a landscape company, and the third, a tree service.  They are both certified arborists, licensed with the city, as are the others we are considering.

It is going to be a huge adjustment losing the tree.

I was going to put these photos in a SkyWatch Friday post, but didn't get it done.  The branch veering off to the left is the one that has the biggest hole (that we know of) in the base of it.

This is where the baby squirrel is.  The extension office said it will be out of there in a little over a week.

Larry and I continue to have different ideas for this area.  From what I've read, we shouldn't plant another tree for a few years.  It's going to have to be a smaller one, because the city said it has to be 5 feet from where the sidewalk would start if there was one.  The tree is about 8 feet from that area as it is, and I've read and been told that one should plant the new tree 5 feet from the cut down tree.  It's going to be a challenge.

I need to move the plants at the base of the tree, and some in the planter by the house will also need to be moved.  They won't like the full sun.

At supper, Larry mentioned putting in a raised bed the size of the one that's there.  I told him I was thinking the area with the ground stump would probably be bigger than that.  I said I was thinking we could put some bricks in the area between the planing area and the sidewalk, where we usually have a bench and a couple chairs.  I thought we could put a fence across the front of the bed, and plant some big flowers to make the area more private.  I still am thinking about annuals, but some tango lilies and other tall plants may look nice there.  I had mentioned sunflowers, but Larry reminded me the squirrels usually knock them down. He's not thrilled with more dirt or mulch showing, and said he thought a raised bed would look nicer.  I said, OK, let's put a big raised bed in there, and plant some veggies!  Well, that's not what he had in mind, either.

What would you do with this area until you figured out whether you can plant another tree?

 

I wonder how many critters are going to be homeless due to cutting the tree down.  I have an area in my garden across the street where I'd like to put a big branch or two in for them.  We hope to cut circles to put in some flower beds, too.

I am linking into Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  The link is in my sidebar.

A Few Critters Near and Far

Well, it's Saturday, the day Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters.  Click on the link in my sidebar to get to the links to see what critters folks are posting photos of.  I've been seeing cardinals, chickadees, and sparrows eating the safflower seeds yet this week. 

This morning, I vacuumed the dining room, which is really a bedroom that we use for the purpose.  I then set up the wood train tracks that our grandson loves to play with when he comes over.  Usually, we set them up in the living room, but I wanted to do something different, which would allow Heidi to stay upstairs.  When KJ is over, she gets into his space, puts his toys in her mouth, and wants to be the center of attention.  She can't relax and lie next to him or us.

While vacuuming, I noticed the female cardinal on the window feeder, but she flew away while I was reaching for my camera.  Then, while setting up the tracks, the male cardinal and black capped chickadees gave me more opportunities to take photos.  I'm going to have to clean the window when I get a chance.

The little rose Larry got me for Valentine's Day is still blooming, but the blooms are fading.  I suppose I should cut them off so the plant will be ready to go into a bigger pot and maybe bloom again this summer.

About an hour ago, I noticed a squirrel higher up in a tree than this, but it was gone by the time I got out.  This one saw me right away.  My zoom was refusing to move, so by the time I got it to work, it was in the thicker part of the tree, hiding.   Can you see it?  The squirrels had eaten all the corn, so I went out and put another cob in.  

Some folks couldn't find the squirrel, so I went back and cropped the photo.  Can you see it now?  When I got closer, it was too out of focus.

Heidi knows what all critters are making their homes under the deck, and where the main entrance is.  I've mentioned that sometimes it's hard getting her in at night, because she has the opossum  or some other critter cornered somewhere.  I hope they never get into a real scrap.  I think it would mean a trip to the vet for Heidi.

I was so proud of my train track creation, I had to post a photo of it.  I figured the photo is somewhat garden themed since it has dried flowers from my garden in it, and the cool poster of herbs Larry got me many years ago.  Oh, and there's a poster of sunflowers I got at a garage sale.

I quit trying to use the directions for the configurations that came with the main track set because I couldn't tell where to start in order for them to fit in the area we have for it.  I just start at the edge of the space we have, then put tracks where I want them to go.  I have great fun doing it, and sometimes, KJ helps.  He probably will more as he gets older.  If I don't have it done when he gets here, he'll usually just start playing with the trains as I set it up, and add a track here and there. 
 

There was a cat in the back yard today, when we got home from The Mill.  I haven't seen cats around much since the neighbors across the street moved a few years ago.  I suppose it was stalking the bird feeders.  I'd rather have it do rabbit patrol.  There has been a big rabbit living in one of the front curb beds.  At least it spends a lot of time there, because most of the time when I go out that way, it runs out and leaves the yard for awhile.  I've taken to throwing sticks in the general area whenever I get a chance to go out there.  I saw a rabbit in the back yard a few days ago.  I am determined to put rabbit proof fencing along the existing fence in the veggie garden, and figure out a way to block them from the open entrance.  I have always planted extra for the rabbits, but they have gotten more and more greedy, and I am tired of them.

I hope you are having a great weekend.  Oh, someone mentioned using my car as a blind to get some photos.  I am thinking about doing that some time.  Do any of you do that?

Challenges to getting Critter Photos

I was sitting down already when a cardinal landed on the window feeder this morning, so I thought I'd be able to get a photo that included the head.  The color showed up beautifully, but the focus was off.

I decided to take the top shelf down to get a better view of the feeder.  Still, I was too slow to get both of the birds eating, and the rosemary plant was in the way.

A sparrow and a black capped chickadee came next.  I'm sorry I cut your head off, birdie!

Well, there are still some obstructions due to the ice on the window.

Here is a female cardinal, and I still wasn't smart enough to move the rosemary plant.

After I thought to move the rosemary, no more birds came around for awhile.  I kind of like the look of the feeder with the cap of snow on it. 

 After a couple days of snow, I threw some seeds out for the birds this morning.  The squirrels had destroyed the sock thistle feeder we had put out after Christmas, so I put a pile of thistle down to see if any birds would eat it from the ground.  In less than five minutes, the sparrows and dark-eyed juncos noticed the fresh food.  The mouse did, too, but I wasn't fast enough this time to get it in any photos.

After a few minutes, the female cardinal flew in for a brief snack.

When the male arrived, the female left.  I got more photos of the male, because it stuck around longer.  The only birds I saw eating the thistle seeds were the dark-eyed juncos.

When a couple birds did come to the window feeder, they didn't stick around long.  I'm sitting in the dining room to do this post, looking up at the feeder, which is not currently attracting birds.  I wonder if they don't like being able to see into the house.  

I keep going back to check to see what critters are out in the back yard.  This blue jay came to eat for a few minutes.  I know the behavior of blue jays is not supposed to be so great at times, but I think they are pretty.

Larry had seen the squirrel earlier, when he went out to put 2 new suet cakes into the double feeder, and refill another feeder, but I didn't until early afternoon.  This one seems to prefer the sunflower seeds in the bird food over the corn Larry put out for the squirrels. 

It was sunflower seeds in the window feeder when the squirrels knocked it down.  That's why we put safflower seeds in it when we put it back up, because they say squirrels don't care for it. 

I don't think the woodpeckers have noticed the fresh suet yet.  Larry put the piece of uneaten suet cake left from the suet feeder with the corn he had put out for the squirrels.   This junco spent quite some time munching from it.

Larry moved this feeder to where we could see it from the back door. It's supposed to be squirrel proof, but they still tried to mess with it when there were sunflower seeds in it, and I'm thinking they've knocked it down before.  They are not bothering it with the safflower seeds in it.  I enhanced this photo of the sparrow on it in my iphoto edit program.  I didn't see the manual adjustment feature I used to use before the last update.

Finally, some black capped chickadees came to the feeder, as I was typing, but still didn't stick around long enough for me to get great photos of them.  I guess I'll take what I can get.

 While the above photos were being loaded, one came and stayed awhile.  It was pecking the edge of the tray for some reason.

It is a pretty bird.  I love the striped look of the feathers.

I had been thinking about participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count last week, but was not feeling well, so I didn't get it done.  I am tickled, though, over the variety of birds in our area, and that I get to see them from time to time.  I haven't seen mourning doves lately, but expect to soon.

(Added at 5:57:  Look what I saw out the door at suppertime! It was darkish, and I did the "enhance" thing again.  Oh, and Larry showed me where to go if I want to adjust things manually.)

I have been working on this post off and on much of the day, and need to get it published so I can participate in Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. The link is in my sidebar.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Critters

I didn't get a chance to show some critter activity the last part of January, when we were having cold temps, and I'm thinking, these were from days school was closed due to the snow and cold.

After the last winter critter photos I took, Larry asked me if I'd taken one of the place the opossum, we assume, dug out the entrance to its home under our deck. 

I tried taking some photos of the inside.  Is that a dead mouse to the left?  (Larry thinks it's a rock.) One of the photos had some fur, which was about the same color of Heidi's, so maybe the wind blew it there.  I really would like to see what it looks like under there.
 

The next ones were taken a few days after the previous ones.  A lot of snow had melted, and there were mud tracks.

I'll have to look up opossum mud prints like I did critter prints in the snow.

We had some very cold temps in January.  I felt sorry for the critters.

Can you see it was 5 degrees here?  I really like the dark-eyed juncos.

I finally got some photos of the woodpecker.  There was no red on this one.
 

I've seen a few cardinals, but they fly off too fast for me to get a photo.

I tossed some bird seeds on the sidewalk out the back door so I could get some photos.  We have lots of sparrows.
 

The blue jays were wary of me watching from the house, but stuck around long enough for a few snapshots through two door windows, like most of these were.

The woodpecker was still around later when I took more photos.

At supper Thursday, I spotted my first robin of the year out the window.  I had noticed one of my Facebook friends from my city had already seen one, and I was a bit jealous.

The rest of the photos were taken Friday.  This is the feeder that squirrels had gotten down to the ground so they could eat the sunflowers Larry had put in it.  He had to wait until the temps got above 32 to put it back up.  I had gotten the mixed seed for it, but Larry didn't know that, and put the safflower seeds in it.  I wasn't sure if the black capped chickadees would eat it, but was pleased to see them back after it had been up a few days.  There was also a beautiful red male cardinal, but it flew off as I was slowly moving my hand to my camera.

Heidi has been eating some of the seeds we put on the sidewalk, so Larry put some corn for the squirrels up higher.  I added some bird seed to see if I could get some bird photos.  Sure enough, the sparrows showed up.  The dark-eyed juncos came, too, but I didn't get them in a photo.

Heidi knows there are critters under the deck, and where the main entrance is.  I have planted clematis in that area, but the critters clear the area and the plants don't survive.
 

It didn't take long for a squirrel to find the bird seed.  Hey, squirrel, you are supposed to be eating the corn!

I was spotted, and scolded a bit, but stood my ground inside the door, taking a few more photos.

Well, it's not just opossums that live under the deck.  After the squirrel took over the spot with the seeds, I put a few on the ground in this one spot by the herb garden.  I watched this mouse RUN back and forth, getting a seed, then taking it under the deck.  It was very hard to get a photo, because it moved so fast, and didn't really stop as it was picking things up.  I have been wanting to take the deck down because it is so huge, and takes up so much of the back yard.  This gives me some incentive to do it as soon as we can.  Plus, it will be in need of repair soon if we keep it.  The yard isn't level, though, so I'm not sure how much of the work we could do, and how much it would cost.  I'm thinking I'd like a covered gazebo of some kind, and a brick patio under it. 

How common is it to have mice in one's yard?  I suppose most of you with larger properties have cats to keep the population down.  We had mice in the house a few years ago, but we haven't seen any signs of them for a number of years.  I wonder if they will come in if we take the deck down.  Anyone know about these things?

I am going to link in to Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Her link is in the sidebar.