Spent some time this morning trying to get a photo of this mockingbird flaring his white wing patches to scare insects.
Close, but no cigar. I have been wanting to get some guinea hens to keep the tick population down. However, there is concern over how long birds as bereft of brainpower as guineas would survive with so many foxes and coyotes around. They are pretty expensive to buy just to put them on the menu for the local wildlife. With the mockers on duty maybe I won't have to get any.
And a foggy sunrise, which is about all we have been seeing lately. Word is that it may be going to dry out though. I am ready!
Guess who!
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11 comments:
I love the way the feet are splayed out as if she's afraid shell topple over if they were directly beneath her.
Calves are so cute when they're tiny like this.
Love those collages you have doing. Good idea on just letting the mocking birds do their job. I know what you mean about being the National Park Service. Our turkeys just arrived the other day, and on Friday, the dogs were sniffing the air, and the horse was on edge, (he's a bomb-proof nag)and I had just been by the greenhouses and saw the neighbor drive into their wooded property. I came to the house and there was a msg from the neighbor, "We just saw a huge cougar coming from your hay field by the greenhouse." Holy crap - that's explains the dogs and horse. So know I'm reconsidering pasturing those turkeys when they get old enough to go out. That cougar was here at 2:00 in the afternoon, just right near the house. Poultry is expensive, I don't want to feed the wildlife population around here any more than I already am. I don't blame you. Do you have a large tick problem?
Liz - that calf is gorgeous, I love her wide blaze, she looks great.
Ditto on the calf cuteness.
On the guineas, I find that if I let them free range, they get eaten pretty quick.
I'm down to one and she is in protective custody.
I like mockers and your collage shows how busy they usually are.
Looky at my pretty baby! I wuvs my baby...
That calf is adorable! I would love to hug her around the neck :)
We have a dozen or so guineas. We have coyotes and fox but we also have three dogs and that seems to be a deterent enough to keep the predators away. They have a house they go in at night just before dark and I close them up. They roam during the day and seem to stay fairly safe. We have such a terrible tick problem here that we couldn't be without them. Would you like to try and incubate some eggs next year? I'd be happy to send you some.
The evenings have been looking like the mornings too, with the fog.
I got 6 guinea keets in late June (they were 2 days old). I LOVE them!!!! They live with the chickens and go in with them to roost at night. The six walk around as one, never apart. And guess who their two best friends are - the Wyandottes! Way too cute. I think you should get some!
I have mockingbirds all around, but I haven't paid attention to their feeding habits. Do they scare the bugs out of hiding by flashing white feathers? I want them to patrol nearer to my house and get those high-pitched crickets that gather outside the bedroom windows at night.
I love your pictures. Thanks for continuing to share them!
And no worries, I'm still around checking out Blogriculture and your blog. I may start blogging from Nebraska next ... a little closer to your end of the country!
Joated, she is so cute. I was happy to see Liz had a halter on her when she is small. Lots easier to teach them to lead when they don't weigh 500 pounds. lol
Nita, I love the collage tool.
I know you deal with cougars as part of your routine where you live and I admire you for it. I would be scared spitless every time I went out doors. There is constant talk of introducing them here and I pray it stays just talk. However a couple of years ago one of my friends found a gigantic cat track near her sheep...BTW, I love your daughter's blog!
Ticks aren't too bad right where we live but we are starting to see a few and we are in serious Lyme disease territory. Just a few miles from here there is a serious problem with them.
FC, I forgot about that one You folks have...and thanks...we get such a kick out of the mockingbirds. They are better than TV
Paints, she is a cutie..thanks for bringing her over to the house for a visit.
Deb, she is so spoiled already that I am sure she would love it. I have been wondering if I could get them to run in and out so I could shut them up at night. Day times we are pretty much around and would hear the commotion if something got one....and I would love to try to hatch some eggs! We have a small incubator I have used in the past...Thanks
Teri, that's right...I remember you were looking for some. Our wyandottes are growing wonderfully and I can't thank you enough for them. Becky is our chicken person and she loves them. They are in with the big hens now. We used to have 75 free ranging guineas that ran with our hens, but I had to part with my poultry at one point when my father in law became very senile and we couldn't keep him out of the hen house....he didn't hurt them, just filled the chicken house with junk and broken glass and such. After a while I just gave up on cleaning it up and sold the birds and locked the door.
Susan, I haven't actually read that they do that, it is just my own observation, but if you watch them on the lawn they walk around peering for insects. Then they snap those bright wings up like an umbrella and grab a bug. I think that is what is going on...I think the big in one picture is a Japanese beetle.
Elaine, Thanks, so much...I was so disappointed to read that you were leaving Capital Press. I love it when you are the blogger of the day at Blogriculture. If you do begin blogging at your new position I hope you will send me a link so I can continue to enjoy your writing. I wish we had something like Capital Press nearer to here.
Hi there,
You can reach me at editaurus@comcast.net for now. Might have it for a while after I move to Nebraska. I definitely will let you know if/when I start blogging again.
Back to packing -- I hit the road tomorrow and start my new job on Aug. 4.
Elaine
Thanks Elaine. I wish you every kind of good luck at your new job. Your writing always shines so I am sure that will be fine.
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