Birds to the Left of Me

 Song - Stuck In The Middle with You by Stealers Wheel

 

And hawks to the right.....here I am.....

 

 On Wednesday morning while Henry & I were having breakfast I noticed a small hawk right outside the door.  It was difficult getting a clear shot of him as there were branches in front of him everywhere I focused.

 

I believe he is a Cooper's Hawk.  Very small -- only about 10 inches from his head to the base of his tail.  

But he sat so still as I snapped away.  I think he might have been interested in this little Bushtit who was hanging out on the suet feeder.

After about 40 minutes he flew off with out any breakfast.....at least none from my backyard!

So now you know who was to the left of me and who was to the right but guess who was above me on my roof?

A marching Canadian Goose!

And his partner. They come every year about this time and call to their friends and lovers to join in the rooftop party!

After they are through waking up the whole neighborhood..... 

off they go to party at some one else's place!

The Birds Have Taken Over

Song - Stop! In The Name of Love by The Supremes

The birds seem to be everywhere this Spring!  They are on our patio.....

...on our string lights.....

...in our pool...yuck....

...looking through our windows....

....hanging out on the deck railing.....

...in the bird houses.....

.....overhead......

....on our roof (6:30 am sharp they land with a thump)...

...in our spa...yuck....

...and the trees are full of them looking like colorful Christmas ornaments!

But they come in the name of   L  O  V  E  .....

And nest making on our outdoor speakers!

Here are the happy couple - Marge & Fred Finch

They are the ones building the nest in the speakers

He sings her beautiful love songs while she's tidying up the nest!

Luckily it's right outside my office window so I get to enjoy his joyful tune.

 

Proper Distancing

Song - Mother Goose by Jethro Tull

Above - This is NOT proper social distancing....

...and this is PROPER social distancing!

The geese have been enjoying our roof as well as our neighbors.

Here comes Spring!

A Bare Spot

Song - Animal Crackers in My Soup by Shirley Temple


The critters were abundant in Lake Tahoe over the last two weeks.

There was a Ladybug hatch one day at the beach.  They would float in on the water, land in the sand, dry off and fly away.  It was hard to cool off in the water with out stepping on them as they blanketed the shoreline.

The Canadian Geese and Sea Gulls were out in record numbers as well.  They could hear you opening your lunch from across the lake! 

The Merganser's and ducks would float in and out.

Every morning several Tiger Swallowtails would great me "good morning"! It was lovely to watch them float through the forest weaving in and out of the trees.

I saw squirrels, chipmunks, huge Carpenter Ants, deer and this little fellow came to visit Mr. B and me when we returned to the cabin from the beach.....

I named him "Bobby Bear".

Doesn't that just fit this big guy (who was about the size of a VW bug!)?

I think he needs a pedicure........

Cute, fuzzy-wuzzy guy who was focused on getting to the creek behind me.

There were lot's of Robins, Stellar Jays and songbirds. I even saw a Bald Eagle but wasn't quick enough with my camera.

Can you see the White-Headed Woodpecker?  I had never seen one of them before. It was just after a thunder shower.

The Forest Rangers had a "bird show" going on near Camp Richardson, just down the street from our cabin.  There was a Kestrel which was found in someone's swimming pool.

A Red Tailed Hawk.........

And a Gyrfalcon or "white falcon" who had to wear a blinder the entire time because he was raised by one man and never saw any other people.  When the man died, he would become traumatized if he saw other people.

This is the woman who is now raising him.  She is a Master Falconer and the young woman several photo's above is her apprentice.  Falcons were used for hunting before guns were invented.  It's how they got food on the table for the family!

But one of my favorite critters was a litter of Coyote pups who were having a great time playing with each other on this log. We saw them on our way home from Yemmonaide Lake (Angora Lake).

And now to show you the fiercest animal of the forest.......

She was on-guard all day long and in the afternoons she was plain tuckered out!  Probably dreaming about chasing squirrels......


"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.  The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." 
- May Sarton

Wild Goose Chase

Song - Little White Duck by Burl Ives

You have probably heard me complain about the Canadian Geese overpopulation in our neighborhood. They fly overhead and "honk", they land on our roof and in our pool, they are noisy and at times messy.

They even follow me to Lake Tahoe!

 But I have to tell you that they also bring me a lot of joy

Some years they nest right under our deck, near the creek.

Some evenings at sunset they fly overhead in a large flock and are beautiful to watch.

Did you know that they mate for life?

And that they were nearly extinct in the 1950's?

This afternoon my son, Tyler called for me to watch the two geese in the top photo, down in our little creek. They seemed to be enjoying the waterfall and the warm sunshine.

After a few minutes, these six little goslings came out from behind a bush.

And floated away with mom & dad........

Who were keeping a watchful eye on Tyler and me!


(Did you happen to see the horse head shadow on the floor of the creek? I have been teaching them to do shadow puppets all year now and it finally paid off!!!)


"If you feel the urge, go on a wild goose chase.  What do you think wild geese are for anyway?"  --Will Rogers

Natures Comfort

Every morning I wake to birdsong, although lately there has been a little lamb bleating from somewhere across the creek, along with a very young rooster who starts to crow at 2:30am....yipes!

Year round we have a flock of Canadian Geese overhead or down the creek and an occasional turkey or more often a night time skunk. Last night we heard two Coyote's for the first time in awhile.  There are a lot of squirrels and deer that like to nibble my rose buds.

We don't live in the country but in a semi-rural suburban neighborhood. I like these sounds as it feels comforting to live with nature. As I get older, I find I have trouble killing a spider or an ant. Even snails that destroy my garden give me pause as I just fling them away from my garden instead of mushing them like I used to. Is this because I am older and have more respect for life?

This morning I found myself cheering for a bee that came through our bedroom screen door....while my husband was trying to find the electric bug-zapper, I was cheering for the bee to escape before he came back...................the bee escaped! .......yes....!  Although, I'm still not sure how I feel about living with a mosquito all night long.....itch, itch....! I grew up in this neighborhood that we still live in and when I was small, there where so many toads every summer that you could not walk across our lawn in the evening with out stepping on one...where did they all go?   I know some of them went down the back of my blouse to be squished by my two brothers who .....were boys....and my loving brothers....who liked to torture me!  But there used to be thousand's of these toads and tadpoles....also, there used to be Walnut tree's in Walnut Creek as well as Oak trees in Oakland.  Mr. b always says, "Places are named for things that they destroy"....like Walnut Creek and Oakland. 

“Birdsong brings relief

to my longing

I’m just as ecstatic

as they are,

but with nothing to say!

Please universal soul,

practice some song or

something through me!”

--Rumi