A Plethora of Tales to Tell

Where to begin? Well, I guess it's best to start with the sad news and work our way up...wouldn't you agree?

Monday evening, there was more carnage...this time in the butterfly/hummingbird garden. A dead juvenile Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). It appears that he flew into the window of my office, as there was a very large smudge mark and a single feather stuck to the window. Chris noticed the poor thing and told me. I went out to remove him from the garden before Oscar found him. I took a plastic grocery bag and used it to pick up the bird. Before we determined the cause of death, I did a visual examination. I noticed that one of the bird's eyes was cloudy/milky and that there appeared to be a small amount of blood coming out of its mouth on the same side of his head as the ruptured(?) eye ball. It was then that I looked up at the window and realized just how this little guy expired.

I think what's saddest about this is he was one of about six juvenile Blue Jays that had been visiting our yard and feeders since Friday. Saturday they were all flying about, squawking, eating, and otherwise playing around. It is easy to tell they are juveniles for several reasons. 1) They are still very awkward in flight and landing, 2) their feathers aren't as smooth and full as an adult, and 3) well, they carry on like a bunch of teenagers! They were a source of entertainment all weekend long. And now, one of their own has fallen. I was home sick yesterday and I swear the rest of the Blue Jays were looking and calling for their sibling. So sad...

Now onto happier thoughts, eh?

In an effort to catch and relocate our resident groundhog, I believe I previously mentioned that we borrowed a trap from someone from my office. Well, we finally caught something, but it wasn't a groundhog. Thankfully, it wasn't a skunk either...it was a rabbit. On my sick day. I had a terrible headache - a sinus headache - and had just woken up at 9:30 AM and decided to go down and fix myself a cup of tea. I let the dog out and went to the sink to fill the kettle and turn it on. No sooner did I do that and Oscar started barking, barking, barking! I looked out and lo and behold, there's "Thumper" in the trap. I march outside in my bathrobe and slippers and try (in vain) to get Oscar to calm down, sit, and let me release the rabbit. Yeah, right. So instead, I carry the trap with the rabbit back to the house, where I fool Oscar into going into the house, and then turned around and released the rabbit from the deck. The poor thing was terrified. Of course Oscar was barking at it a mere inch from its face the whole time we were walking back to the house. At one point, the rabbit moved as close to me in the cage as it could get and looked at me like, "Human? Help me!" So much for my subsiding headache...it came back in full force. I think we might be done with that trap. I'm convinced the groundhog has moved on.

The five House Wren babies fledged from their nest late last week. They hatched on August 6th and were due to fledge on or near August 20th. I checked the box on the 20th and they were still there; by August 23rd, they were gone.

On Saturday, I spent an hour picking "stuff" in the garden including one pound of green beans, 20 Roma tomatoes, 28 other tomatoes, SIX POUNDS of grape tomatoes, a nearly five-pound zucchini (I have no idea where it was hiding!), a cantaloupe, and a dozen ears of corn. Needless to say, I spent Sunday morning blanching and freezing quite a bit of vegetation!

Chris planted the red hibiscus I bought at the beach - it is a Bordeaux variety and it is really beautiful. It is supposed to bloom through autumn and I hope it thrives in its new location. It should get plenty of sun. I am very excited to have a hibiscus...I just love them!

Another thing I love is having hummingbirds be such frequent visitors to the feeder and garden! I suspect that the pair from earlier this summer may have nested and had babies. I have routinely observed a small female visiting the feeder and another, larger female who seems to watch over her from the trees. Occasionally, they will fly together, squeaking and chirping. in addition to eating at the feeder, I have seen the hummingbirds visit the bee balm and the Russian sage often.

Hmmm...what else? Oh, yes! Chris counted AT LEAST 18 fish in the pond yesterday. I swear we are going to have to feed those fish birth control pills! I keep telling everyone that "Fertile Myrtle" lives in our pond and just keeps having babies! And there have been no sightings of Fredrick Von Hoppenstance since before we went to the beach on July 19th. My brother and a friend of mine both think Fredrick fell victim to a raccoon. I suppose it's possible. I prefer to think he found "greener pastures" at the neighbor's pond. Either that or...hmmm...the neighbor kids did feed our pond fish while we were gone on vacation. What if Fredrick didn't FIND his way over to there pond but rather was taken to their pond? What if Fredrick was frognapped?!?

Until next time, keep your eyes open for wild wonders...