Bird and Bees

Let me tell you 'bout the birds

Mr. Lazuli Bunting

Mrs. Lazuli Bunting

Mr. Goldfinch

Mrs. Goldfinch

and the bees

Honey Bee on Chokecherry

Honey Bee on Apple Blossom

and the flowers and the trees

a

Crabapple Tree in Bloom

And the moon up above ...

You may have thought I was going to tell you about a thing called "Love", as the song goes.  But I'm not taking this any farther.  I've created the atmosphere.  You're on your own from here!

Just Ducky

Our creek has provided good bird watching this spring. 

Here are the mallard pair who reside there full time.

They made a nest in the cattails.  Steve saw the mama duck proudly leading about 10 tiny ducklings a few days ago, but we haven't managed a photo of them yet. 

A cinnamon teal stops in to visit sometimes.

Black swans from our neighbor's pond add a touch of class.  They are exotics, native to New Zealand and Australia.

Snowy Egret

In the creek behind our house, the snowy egret hunts for prey.  As he walks, he lifts one foot and shakes it in the water to stir up insects and small fish.

In breeding season, he has long feather plumes on his head, neck and back.  *

He stares toward his human photographer (Steve) with great curiosity.

Later, he perches high in a nearby cottonwood tree, balancing on a slim branch.

If you look carefully, you will see his yellow feet.
*At one time, the beautiful plumes of the Snowy Egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the USA by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded. - Wikipedia

Spring?

Some days it's hard to tell the season.

Irrigation water is running, indicating the start of spring runoff, but the spray ices the grass each morning. 

The birds are wearing bright breeding colors.  Surely the frosty mornings won't be with us much longer.
*I've been away for a few days and I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things.  I'll be back to regular posting and visiting soon.

Good morning, Moon!

She glows like ghostly embers of the night, even as dawn's rosy fingers lure her to the horizon, and out of sight.

Swallows' Choice

Last year the swallows built a nest on our back porch's brick wall:

The chicks hatched and did all right for awhile, but the west facing location and radiated heat did them in.  

This year, since we were late in using the horse trailer, birds seemed to find the underside of the gooseneck to be a prime nesting area.
We had two nests there.  This one (type of bird unknown.  The nestlings were gone before we noticed.):

And this one, the swallows' choice for the season:

Unfortunately, hatchlings were still hanging out in the nest when we hitched up the trailer and went on our first ride. 

I didn't think the little ones would survive, but they hunkered down and did okay.  The nest must be as solid as a rock.  It lasted through travel over some very rocky dirt roads. 

When we returned home from the first day trip, we tried to park in the same location, and the parents quickly found the youngsters.  After the second day outing, we parked in the driveway, a hundred feet away from where they'd started.  Mom and Dad Swallow again found their chicks. 

After our third trip, four fledglings flew out of the nest.

This morning, we saw them sitting on the fenceline, probably waiting for Mom and Dad to return with bugs for breakfast.

All is well in Swallowland.  We'll see if they choose the mobile home option again next year. 

For more cute critters, click here.

Boys and Toys

Here's the giant lawn mower in action: 
The neighborhood boys are fascinated.  Two of them are shown crammed into the cab in the photo above, but later there will be up to 4 males of all ages riding in the newest boy toy.

It even attracted an audience.  

To what's happening under a variety of skies from all over the world, click here.

The Super Mower

The grass in our "yard" has gotten a little out of hand.
Bring out the Super Mower!
Actually, the new MoCo (mower-conditioner) belongs to our neighbors, and their teenage son can't wait to make hay with this fancy-dan machine.   It has headlights, air conditioning, and an on-board GPS guidance system.  This baby will go up to 12 mph, and if programmed to turn at the fence lines, there is no steering required.  Amazing, isn't it?

Pasture Life

The birds enjoy sitting on the wheel line, keeping watch for insect movement in the tall grasses.  Above is a western meadowlark.
(Feel free to correct my I.D. on any of these.  I'm guessing from pictures in a bird book and could easily be mistaken.) 
This appears to be a western kingbird.
He didn't hang around long.
This juvenile Say's Phoebe stayed on her perch, watching us while waiting for mom and dad to bring lunch.

Nearby, a couple of ants were hard at work hauling home a grasshopper carcass.

 To see more cute critters, click here.

Growing Summer Pasture

Our pasture is a mix of alfalfa and grass.  It's over 2 feet tall now, almost ripe for hay-making.  A neighbor cuts it for us in late June. 
Our semi-arid region gets under 8 inches of precipitation per year.
To grown anything other than sagebrush, we must irrigate using water than comes from mountain snow melt. 
Our first irrigation was in early May.  As you can see, the mornings were still so cool that we had frost on the wheel line.
No more frost. Temperatures are in the low 90's this week, favorable for alfalfa growth. 

Birds in the Neighborhood

Every morning we hear meadowlarks singing.They serenade us from fenceposts...
or from a perch in an aspen tree.
During the day, they hunt for bugs in the pasture.
Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch enjoy the feeders,
or wait impatiently in the apple tree for the seed competition to leave.
Mr. Robin must have already filled up on worms.  He's spending his morning singing to the moon.