Another shot of Heidi licking the ground.
Heidi Chronicles: Winter Slow Down
Several shots later, Heidi still eating egg
Lastly. Heidi STILL eating egg from the ground. Blondie still eating cat food. Cissy haven taken Blondie's empty egg shell into the pool to play with it.
The garden is gorgeous, Cheryl, as we knew it was. I'm also the "messy cottage garden type;" have never had the patience to establish and maintain a formal design, nor the self-restraint to resist buying a plant I love and finding a place to put it...
Bluebirds are just unreal, aren't they? They're pretty when perching; but when they fly, that flash of ethereal blue is just awesome. From what I know of them, they're primarily insectivores, though they will sometimes indulge in peanuts and suet. Mostly, they like open space; they're birds of the meadowland, not forest. Areas with lots of trees won't attract them. The best bet of attracting them, if you have the open space they need, is to put up a nesting box or two, and then monitor the boxes to ensure they're not being taken over by house sparrows. English house sparrows will quite literally kill baby birds and parents of other species to take over the nesting site; I've seen this happen myself, so know it's valid. Nesting boxes for bluebirds should be no closer than 100' to each other, so you might have room for only one; but it's worth trying if they're in your area. Watching the male bluebird sit on top of the box, surveying his domain and protecting his brood, is priceless; and it's fascinating that the birds from the year's first clutch stay around and help to raise the second. I saw our pair here just last week, so they apparently haven't migrated: maybe the mealworms in various feeders help with that...
I envy you the indigo bunting and summer tanager; haven't seen those here. Back on topic, the phots of the egg adventure are priceless.
Ruth,
Thanks! After all those photos of weeds and such, I was afraid people would start to think that was the garden of which I spoke. LOL.
About those blue birds (and then I'm going to try to get back on topic myself), when I realized they were bluebirds, I did a lot of research. I wanted to try to encourage them to stay. I'm not so sure my yard/garden met the 'requirements' from what I'd read, but sure enough they sure were here pretty much all day every day. They didn't eat from the feeder but used an 'empty' shepherd's hook as a perch from which apparently to watch for insects around the garden and in the small patch of lawn. Every morning when I awoke and every evening when I came home, one or more of them (male, female, and later young chicks) would always be sitting there. I was SO ecstatic! I mentioned the cherries because I did read that they eat some fruit and are particularly fond of cherries. Also, flowers in general and fruit trees in particular draw a lot of insects so that they become a giant smorgasbord for the birds. After the bluebirds were already established in the garden I bought them meal worms along with one of those meal worm feeders where they go inside and are protected. I also bought one nesting box but never got it put up - couldn't figure where to put it. Incidentally, I have a number of mockingbirds who call my garden home (and the front yard as well). They didn't seem to appreciate the bluebirds sharing their space/insects. The mockingbirds would chase the bluebirds around the garden. I used to fear they would drive the bluebirds out but (at least that year) the bluebirds just flew around the garden with the mockingbird in tow and then came right back to their favorite perch. when the mockingbird gave up.
When I 1st saw the Summer Tanager I was standing there thinking "now that's certainly a strange looking cardinal". Then I realized he had no crest. Just once in spring I saw a Scarlet Tanager, but I think he may have been just passing through town. I ID'd him temporarily as a 'black wing red bird' (LOL). The Indigo bunting must live close by as he shows up rather often in summer, and I've seen young ones, too. He is amazingly beautiful, an indescribable color. Perhaps the most incredible scene of all was the day I stepped out to find the male cardinal and male bunting sitting just a foot or so apart in the same small tree just beyond the patio. Together their colors were even more incredible. So far I have never had the luck to see the bunting when I have a camera in hand, except that one time when the battery was dead. But I keep hoping...
Well, now I've learned that one surely must be very careful with auto spell check because it just converted an innocent sentence above into a ridiculous sentence with adult content. Oops! Glad I caught that one and changed it back. You guys would really wonder what I was thinking.
OMG! Just came back in from the back yard where I was sitting on my bench in the feeding area while waiting for Widget to finish his morning routine. A bright red object in the Heidi tree caught my eye. At 1st I thought it was a Cardinal but on closer inspection found it to be some sort of now dirty and rain soaked stuffed 'animal' with string attached. Hmm. (I must go back and get a photo of that.) It was apparently caught in the tree, right there in the limb of the Heidi tree, just beyond the fence.
At 1st I thought one of the raccoons must have tried to take it with them and gotten it hung up in the tree along the way - but then I realized it was NOT one of the many items I had given them! It appeared to be something with a Christmas theme, a Santa or a stocking maybe. So it now appears that one of the raccoons must have either stolen a toy from the kid next door or borrowed a decoration from someone's house. It would seem as though the 'thief' had then brought the loot back with him to the buffet, or at least tried to do so only to get the attached cord stuck in the tree. LOL at those crazy coons! Now I see that I'm not the only one from whom they 'borrow' objects of interest. Hmm. So maybe my missing feeders are in my neighbors' yards now?
LOL.. Maybe since they didn't have any pockets or coins to jingle in those pockets , or a local five and dime to shop they brought ya the next best thing they could find as a Christmas present for ya. : )
Ya outta leave it there to hang through the holidays. They sharing Christmas with you. Then again could be they reminding you not to forget to fill a stocking for them too. : )
I love your cottage garden. I love looking at them and to me thoise types of gardens take alot of work gettign just the right plants and developing that airy flow acros s the yard.
( p.s. can we have a new thread. Taking real long to load again. Thanks ; ) )
ROTF, starlight! Either way, whether they hung it there as a gift, a reminder, or even just an attempt to be festive and decorate the forest, I love it!
I can't take it down anyhow since it's on the other side of the fence and beyond my reach. Now that you suggested it might be the raccoons' way of sharing the Christmas spirit, I think I'll enjoy seeing it there through the holidays.
Thanks for the compliment on the garden. It's still a work in progress and probably always will be, and although I love to spend time there and find it a magical place, it's far from perfect. There are lots of things I'd like to move, but I think that's 1/2 the fun. Otherwise, once the garden filled up the gardening would be over. Right? And, yes, I've spent a lot of time (and money) out there working on it over the Yeats, but I consider that part of my workout and anti-stress programs.
Thanks for letting me know the thread was getting way too long. Please always feel free to tell me when that happens. Sometimes I just forget to check.This is probably one of the longest threads yet. Oops! I will create a new thread in a few minutes.
Meanwhile, below is a pic of the strange stuffed 'thing' the raccoons 'hung' from the bottom limb of the Heidi tree just above and over the fence.
Ok, as this thread is getting way to long, here is the new thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/799016/
Hope to see you all there! (Don't forget to 'watch' the new thread so you will stay with us.)
Cheryl, You have a beautiful garden...one that I could only dream about
I was really sadden to hear that they may be trying to build up in your area...has anything happened to stop this ...I hope so Heidi and all do not need to be transplanted
Jeani
Thank you, Jeani,
Inertia seems to be working quite well. LOL. And I suspect the current state of the economy is also working to our advantage. With real estate sales down sharply, the builder may not be so eager to get started on such a costly project. The most expensive homes in Charleston are those 'South of Broad', the historic mansions along the Battery that can be seen from the ocean. The plans for the area beside me are for a very high end development including duplicates of the houses South of Broad. Such pricey homes are not likely to sell very quickly in the current economy, and I doubt the builder wants to be left sitting on them for any length of time. The project was envisioned in the midst of the recent housing boom when we were building homes, on wetlands, no less, by the thousands - and displacing wildlife at a similar rate.
I bought this house in 2001. Almost immediately I learned that the city was planning to build a road through here, a road residents did not want. I sweated it for a while. The proposed road is part of the housing development they are planning. It will connect our two communities (and funnel lots of people through both communities. Argh!) It's been 8 years now. We've had meetings about the road, discussions about the road, newsletters about the road, arguments over the road, newspaper covers about the road - but still no sign of an actual road, not even the 1st sign of 'broken ground'.
At the rate they are going, I think there is a good chance that the raccoons will all live long, happy lives and die of old age before the city even gets started on the project back there. Heck, I may not even live to see the thing. Although they were supposed to start before now, the time table shows them completing the last phase in 2025 or 2035. We probably have some time.
Cheryl how goes the iris vandals????? Watching these ground squirrels as was working like a dog in the yard yesterday, weed eating etc.....the little ones rumbling and tumbling and having a great time made me laugh.....I was so mad at them for eating my flowers, (still am:) ) but I guess I have quickly forgiven them and getting a kick out of them having a good time......
That is so good to hear cheryl ...ty